Lot 275 Southern Nigeria SG#1a 1/2c Gray & Bright Green, 1901 Queen Victora Oval Portrait Widow's Weeds Keyplate, A VFNH Left Pane Of 60, Plate 1, Showing Full Selvedge & Gutters, Showing Jubilee Lines, Selvedge Showing Marginal Wmk.

A VFNH left pane of 60 of the 1/2c gray & bright green from the 1901 Queen Victora Oval Portrait Widow's Weeds Keyplate, plate 1, showing full selvedge & gutters, showing jubilee lines, selvedge showing marginal wmk.

The marginal wmk reads 'Crown agents for the colonies.' Some perf separations between columns 4 & 5 along the first 3 rows and between the interpane gutter and column 6 along rows 7 & 8 and the sheet has been folded along the perfs between rows 6 & 7. Sheets like this are very rare and worth more than the corresponding singles.

Gibbons values this at £150, so we estimate it at $500. 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