GB QUEEN VICTORIA 1840, ERRORS, 1d RED-BROWN, Sg.8, Pl.12, F-E, 4 MARGINS, FU

It was printed and used during the early reign of Queen Victoria (between 1841 and 1854). Most everyday items from that era have long been destroyed.Stanley Gibbons Number: SG 8 (SG B1) - Great Britain 1841 1d Red-Brown on very Blued paper.

Letters Position: F-E (Lower-left corner: F / Lower-right corner: E).

Cancellation: 447 Barred Numeral, identifying it as posted in Leeds, Yorkshire.

Plate Number: Identifying the exact printing in this case the distinctive letter E therefore Plate 12.

There are few minor errors on this stamp. The check-letter orientation and border frame does not layouts match regular production runs.

With the correction to a Leeds 447 postmark and given its clean four-margin state,

The Left Box ("F"):

Vertical Position: The letter "F" sits relatively low inside the box. There is a very clear gap between the top horizontal serif of the "F" and the upper framing border line.

Horizontal Position: The letter is cantered quite well left-to-right, but it exhibits a slight tilt, leaning marginally forward to the right.

The Right Box ("E"):

Vertical Position: The letter "E" is pushed low, nearly resting its bottom horizontal bar against the lower frame line.

Horizontal Position: The letter sits slightly to the right of centre, closer to the rightmost vertical frame margin than the left side of its box.

Because this stamp features a Leeds 447 barred numeral cancellation, it must have been cancelled after the introduction of numeral postmarks in May 1844. This helps group the likely plates:

Alphabet Type: This stamp uses Alphabet I, which was utilized for Plates 1 through 131.

The 1844 Postmark Timeline: Numeral postmarks were applied to sheets printed from concurrent plates in active service. By May 1844, plates roughly in the range of Plates 40 to 45 were active, and plates continued to be generated up to Plate 131 by the early 1850s when imperforate stamps were retired.

Some "FE" stamps from specific active plates during this period show known flaws. Notably, Plate 73 contains a distinct, catalogued constant variety: a printed dot after the lower letter E. This stamp's lower-right "E" box shows the background engine-turning lines are clean without an anomalous solid inked dot therefore confirming this is not Plate 73

In Special SG catalogue B1 of which:

• SG Spec. B1(1): Red-Brown on more or less blued paper (The standard primary listing).
• SG Spec. B1(2): Orange-Brown shade variant.
• SG Spec. B1(5): Deep Red-Brown variant.