Description:
FOUR PENCE - IMPERFORATE: 4d deep dull blue SG 3b, good even margins, unused, Cat £2750. Much scarcer than SG 3c, the "slate-blue", which is priced 45% higher. BPA Certificate (2008) refers to a totally undetectable "vertical crease in the right margin". [This stamp has slightly larger and more regular margins than Sir Gawaine Baillie's example that sold for $4600] This is a rare shade from the first printing and, as noted above, should therefore be renumbered SG 3. According to Brian Pope it is difficult to correctly identify. At page 18 he states "The first printing sometimes seems to have smaller lettering & a greenish tinge & often lacks detail in the water below the swan", which might help identify the printing but is quite unhelpful for identifying the shade. In any event, most examples offered as SG 3b are deep but not dull shades of blue.
Symbol : Ω
Grade : a
Categories: Stamps & Postal History > WESTERN AUSTRALIA > WESTERN AUSTRALIA - 1854-55 Lithographs