Canada #540-541 6c & 15c Multicolored Copper Mine River & Maple Leaves, 1971 Samuel Hearne & Radio Canada Issues, 6 VFNH Inscription Pairs On Different DF/DF, NF/DF & HB Papers, Large Red Inscriptions

6 VFNH inscription pairs of the 6c & 15c multicolored Copper Mine River & Maple Leaves from the 1971 Samuel Hearne & Radio Canada Issues on different DF/DF, NF/DF & HB papers, large red inscriptions. The lot contains:
• Larger red inscription, NF/DF bluish white
• Larger red inscription, DF/DF grayish white
• Larger red inscription, DF/DF yellowish gray
• Larger red inscription, DF/DF bluis gray
• HB11 & HB10 untagged

Unitrade values these at $12.4. The stamps offered here grade between 80 and 84 as follows:

Centering/Margins: 50/70, 54/70

Paper Freshness: 5/5

Colour: 5/5

Impression: 5/5

Absence of Visible Paper Flaws: 5/5

Perforations: 10/10

The Samuel Hearne issue continues the use of the paper that BABN introduced for the LJ Papineau issue, only in this instance, every single stamp we have ever examined is on DF/DF or NF/DF paper. There are some differences in the colour under UV light, but so far we have seen no fluorescent versions of this paper, nor have we seen any type of gum other than the normal PVA. The Radio Canada international stamp is on the same crisp, translucent paper with the spotty white gum that we saw with the Emily Carr issue. All the examples I have seen are some form of hibright, which ranges from 10 to 12 on the Irwin-Freeman scale of fluorescence.

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.