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The Printings of the 4d Lilac and Black Queen Victoria Keyplate Stamp of Lagos - Part Three

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Last week I looked at the printings made from the third state of the plate, for the 4d lilac and black Queen Victoria Keyplate stamp of Lagos. This week, I am going to segue a bit and look at the half-penny provisional overprint, which appeared in August of 1893. By way of background, the quantity of halfpenny stamps that were sent to the colony in 1893 was badly mis-judged to the point where, by August 1893, there was a severe shortage of half-penny stamps. So, to alleviate the shortage, over the next six months or so, a quantity of 4d stamps were surcharged with the words "Halfpenny". According to Pemberton, a well known philatelist from the 1930's there were six separate printings of the surcharge, which were made over the six month period before fresh supplies of the halfpenny were received from London. So it is quite likely that there was one printing per month from August 1893 until about February 1894. The total quantity of stamps surcharged is not known with cert

The Printings of the 4d Lilac and Black Queen Victoria Keyplate Stamp of Lagos - Part Two

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Today I continue my examination of the printings of the 4d lilac and black Queen Victoria definitive from Lagos, with the printings made from the third state of the plate. In this state, there is an almost complete loss of detail in the hair at the back of the head, and merging of the top 3 or five hairlines at the top of the head, and the first 2 or three lines of hair within the jewels of the crown. Group 3 - Printings 17-31 Made From the Third State of the Plate - June or July 1891-March 1895 In this group of printings, mint and used examples are fairly evenly matched, and on the used, the barred oval obliterator cancels predominate, though there are a few early CDS's. I have one cover from this period, and one large mint block of 12 of the last printing in the group. Seventeenth Printing The head plate colour of this printing is closest to Gibbons's dull mauve, but without the brownish undertone that the dull mauve swatch has. It is a perfect match in terms of t