CANADA 3c dark grey CBNEP Lithographed ESSAY

3c dark grey lithographed Queen Victoria lithographed essays on smooth surfaced coated wove paper, large even margins.

In or around 1891 the Canadian Bank Note Engraving & Printing Company (CBNEP) prepared essays of stamps as part of their submission for a competitive tendering process for the printing of Canadian stamps. As part of this, they included LITHOGRAPHED stamps, probably as a way of showing a cheaper option to print stamp. At the end, they were not successful and the contract was re-awarded to the British American Bank Note Company.

Historically, these were categorized as Large Queen essays, since their size is that of the Large Queen stamps, but given they were prepared in or around 1891, these are Small Queen-era essays.

I am currently offering a number of Small Queen items from my collection of Small Queens. I am an international exhibitor of the issue which I have seriously collected for 30 years. I guarantee that the identification of these stamps, as to the printing period, perforations, etc., is 100% accurate. These items are offered with starting prices which are below my cost and which compare very favourably to other sellers for similar quality stamps.

Shipments over $200 will be required to be shipped via registered mail at a cost of $12.00 to Canada, $22.50 to the rest of the World.