The Unwatermarked Queen Victoria First Waterlow Issue of Niger Coast Protectorate Part Four - The 1d Blue



Last week I covered most of the aspects of the 1d blue stamp from this first Waterlow printed series. However, the two aspects that I did not cover were the paper, gum and perforations. Those aspects of this stamp will be the subject of this week's post.

Perforations

According to Gibbons, there are 4 basic perforations:


  1. 14.5 to 15.
  2. 13.5 to 14.
  3. 13.5 to 14 compound with 12-13 and
  4. 12-13.
However, in reality the measurements are quite a bit more complicated than that. So far, I have found the following perforation measurements:

  1. 14.9 x 15 x 15 x 15
  2. 14.6 x 14.75 x 14.6 x 14.75
  3. 15 
  4. 15 x 14.6 x 14.8 x 14.6
  5. 14.6 x 14.5 x 14.7 x 14.5 
  6. 14.5 
  7. 14 x 12;12.6
  8. 14.2 x 14
  9. 14.5 x 14.5 x 14.8 x 14.5
  10. 14;12.3 x 14 
  11. 14.4 x 14.6 
  12. 14.6 x 14.5 x 14.5 x 14.6
  13. 15 x 14.8
  14. 15 x 14.6 x 14.5 x 14.6
  15. 13.9 x 12.4;14 x 14 x 14
  16. 14.8 x 14.9 
  17. 14.8 x 14.5
  18. 14
  19. 14 x 13.9 
  20. 14.7 x 14.7 x 14.7 x 14.6
  21. 14.5 x 14.5 x 14.5 x 14.75
  22. 14.5 x 14.7
  23. 14.9
  24. 14.6 x 15 x 14.8 x 15.1
  25. 15 x 14.9
  26. 14.9 x 14.6
  27. 14.6 x 14.5
  28. 14.6 x 14.8
  29. 14.75 x 14.5
  30. 14;12.3
  31. 15 x 15 x 14.7 x 15
  32. 14.6 x 15
  33. 15.1 
  34. 15 x 15.1 x 15.1 x 15
  35. 14.6 x 14.7 x 14.7 x 14.7
  36. 14 x 13.7;12.4
  37. 12.1;12.7 x 13.2;12.8;13 x 14 x 13.9;13 
  38. 15 x 13.65 x 15 x 15
  39. 15 x 14.6 x 14.8 x 14.5
  40. 14.3 x 14.5 x 14.5 x 14.5
  41. 15 x 15 x 15 x 15.1
  42. 14.4 x 14.1;12.1 x 14 x 12.1;14.1
  43. 14 x 14.1;12.2 x 14;12.2 x 12.2;14
  44. 12.5 x 14; 
  45. 14 x 14;12.2 
  46. 13.5 x 14;12.8 
  47. 14.9 x 14.9;14.4 x 14.9 x 14.7
Where I have a measurement denoted as say 14.9;14.4 this means that for a portion of the side the gauge is 14.9, and then it switches to 14.4 for the remaining length of that side. If you try to obtain a single measurement for the entire side, you will not be able, try as you might to match all of the lines on the instanta gauge with all the teeth. 

What is very interesting is that by far, the most common perforations are 15 and 14 exactly on all 4 sides. I have 23 examples of the perf. 15 and 5 of perf. 14, compared with just 1-3 examples of all the other measurements. In most cases I have only one example of a measurement. 

In terms of the Gibbons listings:

  1. 14.5 to 15 would include 1-6, 9, 11-14, 16-17, 20-29, 31-35, 39-41, 47 above.
  2. 13.5 to 14 would include 8, 18-19 above.
  3. 13.5 to 14 compound 12-13 would include 7, 10, 15, 30, 36, 37, 42-46
I have never seen an example of a perf. 12-13, and 38 is an unlisted compound which would be closest to 15 compound with 13.5. What is curious about this is that it shows how catalogue values are often not tied to scarcity in the strictest sense. Clearly the perfs between 14.5 and 15 are the most common, and represent the majority of examples. Yet, the 13.5 to 14 measurements are scarcer than the 13.4 to 14 compound with 12-13 perfs. But the perf. 14.5-15 list in Gibbons for 5-6 pounds, whereas the 13.5 to 14 measurements list for only 4-4.75 pounds, even though they are demonstrably scarcer. The 13.5 to 14 compound with 12-13 measurements list for 25-30 pounds. That is probably on the mark, given that I only have 1 example of each measurement - 11 stamps. But the perf. 13.5 to 14 measurements are clearly undervalued, given that I have just 3 examples out of 85 stamps. 



Paper

In examining these stamps, I have found four different paper types. All four are vertical wove papers. I have yet to find an example of the 1d stamp on horizontal wove paper. The four paper types are shown all together below:


The main difference between these paper types is the opacity, and the fineness of the mesh. The two stamps on the left are relatively translucent, while the paper of the two stamps on the right is opaque.
To appreciate the differences in weave, it is necessary to look at each paper individually, close up. So, to that end, I show each of the above stamps below:


Here, you can see that the paper is highly translucent, and you can just make out the coarse vertical mesh in the paper, though it is not particularly strong. 


This paper is also translucent, but this time the coarse mesh is much more visible and prominent. 


This paper shows a slight translucency, but the mesh is so fine as to be almost invisible. 


This paper is largely opaque, with coarse mesh that you can clearly see if you concentrate your gaze toward the middle of the stamp. 


Gum

The gum on this issue shows only slight variation it is generally thin and colourless. However, there is a fair amount of variation in the sheen, with some stamps showing a satin sheen, and others having gum that shows a definite semi-gloss sheen.

This concludes my examination of the 1d blue from this series. Next week I will look at the 2d green.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Unwatermarked Queen Victoria Waterlow Issue of Niger Coast Protectorate Part Nine

Image
Today, I explore most aspects of the last value in the first Waterlow series, being the 1/- black, which in many respects is my favourite from the set. At least is a close toss up between this and the 2d green. The aspects that I cover today are the paper varieties, which are more or less the same as for the other values, the cancellations, which do not show up as easily on these black stamps, and the plate varieties. The plate varieties are interesting. There are three varieties that can be found on every single stamp in the sheet, two that can be found on about half of the stamps, and six that are specific to just one position in the sheet. I have been able to illustrate all but three of these in my detailed post. For the full post, including illustrations of the varieties, please click on the following link: https://brixtonchrome.com/blogs/nigerian-stamps-and-postal-history/the-unwatermarked-queen-victoria-waterlow-issue-of-niger-coast-protectorate-part-nine
Read more

The Unwatermarked Queen Victoria Waterlow Issue of Niger Coast Protectorate Part Ten

Image
This week's post is much shorter than usual, as I am finding it necessary to write shorter posts if I want to have any chance of being able to continue to post on a weekly basis.  Today's post finishes off this first Waterlow issue, with a detailed study of the perforations on the 1 shiling black and then a quick look at some of the postal history that can be found from this issue.  In terms of perforations, my detailed study turned up some 36 different measurements. Most of these were very close together, but it was common to have different measurements on three or sometimes 4 sides of the same stamp. By far, the most common perforations were variations of 15 and 14.5 x 15. I proposed that I believe the Gibbons practice of grouping 14.5-15 and 13.5-14 together in the same ranges to be too simplistic, and I argue that there are really 6 basic measurements, that also exist as compounds.  Postal history is scarce for this issue, and much of what can be fou...
Read more

No Posts Until Further Notice

I am very sorry for the fact that I haven't had any new posts in over 3 weeks. I have been incredibly busy trying to keep my business afloat, so that I can continue to conduct philatelic research and publish my findings. A key to that has been getting all of the functionality in my website working and developing a marketing plan to build traffic to my website. All of these things take a tremendous amount of time, and I have been finding for the past few weeks that I simply do not have enough time to do everything that I need to do, and write two blog posts each week. So, regrettably I am going to have to put this blog on hold for a while. Hopefully, it won't be too long, but I will certainly let all of you know when I am ready to start posting again. Thanks so much for your support!
Read more