Canada #537ii 6c Multicolored Autumn, 1971 Maple Leaves, A VFNH Single On HB10/HB12 Vertical Wove Paper

A VFNH single of the 6c multicolored Autumn from the 1971 Maple Leaves on HB10/HB12 vertical wove paper.

This is the first printing of this stamp made on what I have referred to as horizontal ribbed paper on the spring & summer stamps. It is a vertical wove paper with visible horizontal mesh that bends easily from side to side, but not top to bottom. Most of these stamps were printed on a thinner horizontal wove paper, giving a lower fluorescence reading. The paper on this stamp is still HB, jsut a tough less bright than whats in lot 197.

Unitrade values this at $20. The stamp offered here grades 75 as follows:

Centering/Margins: 45/70

Paper Freshness: 5/5

Colour: 5/5

Impression: 5/5

Absence of Visible Paper Flaws: 5/5

Perforations: 10/10

This issue continues the use of a new type of paper, which is chalk-surfaced, and either horizontal, or vertical wove. It usually has clearly visible mesh, which resembles ribbing. So, I tend to call it horizontal ribbed, even though the surface of the paper is smooth. The fluorescence readings on this paper are nearly always different on the front and back, and the gum is usually a very matte PVA that has very little surface sheen.

In describing fluorescence on these issues and all the stamps issued after 1970, it is critical to understand the Irwin-Freeman scale of fluorescence, which ranges from 0 to 12 and that a particular designation like say HB or HF will correspond to more than one fluorescence level. One pitfall that many collectors fall into is to compare the papers, rank the fluorescent reactions from low to high and then try to force them into the DF/LF/MF/HF and HB nomenclature, rather than recognizing that three different levels of reaction may actually correspond to the same designation. This is why Unitrade's listings for this period are so confusing. Generally HB corresponds to levels 10 through 12; HF, levels 8 and 9; MF, levels 7 and 6; F, level 5; LF, levels 3 and 4; DF, levels 1 and 2 and finally NF corresponds to 0.