Die Proofs in Brown, Grey Black, and Ultramarine
The 6c Small queen was printed using three plates.
Plate 1 had a Type IV imprint(Montreal & Ottawa), and an unshaded counter at the left. It was a single pane of 100 subjects.
Plate 2 was similar except that it had an 'A' above the top imprint.
Plate 3 had a Type V imprint(Montreal). It had two panes each of 100 subjects. The left pane had a 'B' above the imprint and a shaded counter at the left. The right pane had a 'C' above the imprint and a shaded counter at the right.
There is some question regarding the existence of the first plate. I don't have an example of a Type IV imprint without the 'A' and I haven't seen one in person.
Plates 1(if it exists) and Plate 2 were used for the printings at Ottawa in 1872 and at Montreal from 1873 to 1889. These printings were in various shades of Yellow Brown.
Yellow Brown perf. 12.1x12.1
Brown perf. 12.0x12.0
An 'R' has been added to show that the plate was repaired.
Stamps from the first two plates can be distinguished by the presence of position dots below the bottom left edge of the stamps in rows two to nine.
The position dot or dots can easily be seen below the lower frame.
In later impressions taken from these plates(IE those in Red brown) the dots tend to grow and in some cases merge due to plate wear.
The second plate continued to be used after printing moved to Ottawa in 1889 but the color changed to Red Brown.
Red Brown perf. 12.0x12.0
Left imprint perf 12.0x12.0
Right imprint perf 12.0x12.0
Plate 2 was used to produce imperforate stamps at some point in its life. These may be favours or printers waste.
Upper imprint Red Brown
Left counter Red Brown
Right imprint Red Brown
These shades don't show up perfectly but they do indicate that there was more than one printing of these imperfs.
Chesnut Brown
Light Chocolate Brown
Plate 3 was used from 1889 to 1897 and normally was printed in a Red Brown shade. The stamps were printed on either a white or a yellowish paper. Those on white paper appear as a slightly darker shade.
Left pane with a 'B' above the imprint
Red Brown perf. 12.0x12.1
Right pane with a 'C' above the imprint
Red Brown perf. 12.0x12.0
Bottom imprint Red Brown perf. 12.0x12.0
Left partial imprint Red Brown perf. 12.0x12.0
Chocolate Brown perf 12.0x12.0 from the right pane
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