The Registration Issues - 1875-1897

Mid-Montreal Printings (1875-1880)

These printings are always on stout vertical or horizontal wove papers that are NOT soft. They include all three values, including the rare compound perfs on the 2c and 5c. Unitrade lists them as 12 x 11.5, but as per notes in Stanley Gibbons, these can also measure 12 x 11.6 or 12 x 11.75. 

The domestic registration rate was 2c during this period, with the 8c only being required for foreign mail from 1876-1877. Starting in 1878, the foreign registration rate decreased to 5c. So, during this period 2c values are far more common than 5c ones, and the 8c value, as every experienced collector knows, is genuinely scarce. 

Late Montreal Printings (1880-1888)

These printings are also generally on stout horizontal and vertical wove papers that are not soft, but they also so not include the three compound perfs noted above, nor is the 8c value represented. The general range of shades is different, and is the primary factor that distinguishes these printings from the earlier ones above. Perfs. generally range from 12 to 12.2 on each side.

The domestic registration rate is still 2c during this period, with the result that the 2c stamps are still more common than 5c values. 

Montreal Gazette Printings (1888)

These printings all come from a very brief transitional period in 1888 after a fire destroyed the Montreal plant of the BABNC, and printing was moved to the Montreal Gazette, while preparations were made to relocate printing back to Ottawa. They are generally identified by shades, but also by the perfs, which generally include 12.25 on at least one side. The paper also becomes soft for the first time. 

A note about the 2c shade. A lot of collectors misclassify it as vermilion, believing that they cannot have the scarce shade. Vermilion, always reads as a very deep shade of red orange, not as a shade of rose or carmine. So, if your stamp is rose or carmine in colour, it is from this group, and is not vermilion. 

The domestic registration rate is still 2c during this period, with the result that the 2c stamps are still more common than 5c values. 

The Second Ottawa Printings (1889-1893)

These printings are always on soft horizontal or vertical wove paper. The quality, although not as good as that used for the Montreal printings, is still vastly superior to the paper used for most printings of the low values of the Small Queens. It is a lot like the paper used on the 8c and Widow's Weeds, for the most part, though thinner, lower quality papers can also be found. Perfs. are seldom exactly 12, with most being some combination of 12.1 or 12.2. 

What is significant during this period, is that the registration rate rose to 5c across the board on May 8, 1889, which is why the 8c Small Queen was issued: to replace the need for a 3c stamp and 5c registered stamp. This is why very few registered stamps are found cancelled after 1893. The implication of this is that the 2c vermillion is actually a much scarcer stamp than Unitrade's price would suggest. In fact, I would say that it is actually scarcer than the rose carmine. 

The vast majority of 5c registered stamps on the market, mint or used, come from this period.