Canada #1172A, 1176a, 1180 46c, 63c, 78c Multicoloured Various Mammals, 1987-1991 Mammal & Architecture Issue, A VF First Day Cover HB White Envelope

A VF first day cover of the 46c, 63c, 78c multicoloured Various Mammals from the 1987-1991 Mammal & Architecture Issue. HB white envelope, 46c perf. 13.1, others 14.4 x 13.8. The envelope appears to be the standard one for this issue: the initial realeases utilized cream coloured envelopes which were either DF or LF under UV. Later releases in 1989 and 1990 utilized white envelopes, which were generally HF or HB under UV light. The fluorescence of the envelopes is an important characteristic that has been ignored by all the catalogues. Why does it matter? Because the envelope is an integral component of the FDC in the same way that a cover would be to a complete booklet, or the cardboard insert would be to a pack of plate blocks. The expectation, and general observation would be that Canada Post would utilize one type of envelope for a particular issue, so that if a different one from the standard type is found, then there is a good chance that it will be scarce, and is therefore, in our opinion collectible. We have noted for this cover that it exists with the stamps on it having different perforations. It is not known how many combinations of perforations exist, but on this cover the 46c is perf. 13.1 and the other two stamps are 14.4 x 13.8. We would assume that the Unitrade price applies to a cover with the least expensive stamps, which would be perf. 13.1 on the 46c and 80c, but perf, 14.4 x 13.8 on the 63c. So this cover should be worth a slight premium over the standard cover.

Unitrade does not list any variations of the FDC's. Therefore, our estimate of the value is $6.