How To Sort Small Queens?

This is my first serious attempt with Small Queens. I'm relying on Unitrade's Identification Table and particularly on its inclusion of perforations gauged in old Kiusalas imperial standard and their equivalence in my tool, SG's Instanta standard. Is this a reliable method of sorting? Is it the best? I've tried color and paper quality, but those lead me only into indecision and despair.

Stamp collecting should be fun. Do what gives you satisfaction.Queens are lovely stamps.

Hi EMaxim
Boy you walked into a quick sand of study...haha
Small Queen identification will drive you crazy.

But, go to BNAPS, a good place to start.
http://www.bnaps.org/hhl/n-lsq.htm

There are lots of books out there like the one I will show you below.


Here is a list of a few book to get....There are lots more...
1 - "The 2 cents small Queen" by P.J. Hurst
2 -"The small Queen's series of 1870-97" by P.J. Hurst
3 -"The three cents red of Canada 1870-1897" by E.G. Mason
4 – The collectors Club Philatelist, Vol.38, No. 2 March 1959 "The 5c entry on the 6c small Queen plate" by W.S. Boggs
5 – BNA topics "Canada small Queens" The two cent green. By Rev. G.F. Dewey.
6 - BNA topics "Queen variety proves constant" by J. Sievert.
7 - BNA topics "Triple printing variety two cent small Queen" by Rev. G.F. Dewey.
8 - BNA topics " The strand of hair variety on 1c small Queen" by P.J. Hurst
9 - BNA topics "varieties of the small Queen Victoria 1/2 cent black, plate 2, left" by Hans Reiche

Robert

There are also PDF's available..I have many, but hard to place here.

Also check out Ralph's re-entries.com shown below.
https://www.re-entries.com/index.html

Robert,
If you have PDF of books that are in the public domain, I would be happy to post them on Stamp Smarter. Contact me via email to discuss if desired.
Don

Hi
The best site is Brixton Chrome. Just google and go to his articles. A step by step guide will walk you through it.
Regards,
Ross

The main book on the subject is CANADA'S POSTAGE STAMPS OF THE SMALL QUEEN ERA 1870-1897 (240 pages - 2008) J. Hillson, J.E. Nixon http://www.greenefoundation.ca/books.htm#books

The Postage Stamps of Canada in the Small Queen Era, 1870-1897 is a new book which builds on earlier works by John Hillson and adds research on the printing plates by Ted Nixon. It covers proofs and stamps of the Small Queen issue, plus the Widow Weeds and the 1891 essays by the Canada Bank Note Engraving and Printing Co. It presents colour illustrations of the full range of shades of each value, and the prominent re-entries on each value. In addition it traces the printing characteristics through the three distinct periods involving Ottawa and Montreal locations. Finally it identifies and illustrates the rates and uses of each value.

Also see the following link for the Large and Small Queens study group: http://www.bnaps.org/hhl/n-lsq.htm

Literature link: https://www.rpsc.org/reference/lit/lit_smallq.htm

So how useful is this aspect of Unitrade's SQ ID Table?

Here is what I have been able to find on used single stamps by using the perforation gauge put together by Brian Cannon:

Small Queen Perforations

1/2 cent (SQ)
11.94 x 11.94, 11.94 x 12.00,
12.00 x 11.94, 12.00 x 12.00, 12.00 x 12.12,
12.12 x 12.00

1 cent (SQ)
11.63 x 11.75, 11.63 x 11.94, 11.63 x 12.00, 11.63 x 12.12,
11.75 x 11.63, 11.75 x 11.75, 11.75 x 11.94, 11.75 x 12.00,
11.94 x 11.94, 11.94 x 12.00, 11.94 x 12.12,
12.00 x 11.75, 12.00 x 11.94, 12.00 x 12.00, 12.00 x 12.12, 12.00 x 12.25,
12.12 x 12.00, 12.12 x 12.12, 12.12 x 12.25

2 cents (SQ)
11.63 x 11.75, 11.63 x 11.94, 11.63 x 12.00,
11.75 x 12.00,
11.94 x 11.75, 11.94 x 11.94, 11.94 x 12.00, 11.94 x 12.12,
12.00 x 11.75, 12.00 x 11.94, 12.00 x 12.00, 12.00 x 12.12, 12.00 x 12.25,
12.12 x 11.94, 12.12 x 12.12, 12.12 x 12.25

3 cents (SQ)
11.63 x 11.75, 11.63 x 11.94, 11.63 x 12.00, 11.63 x 12.12,
11.75 x 11.75, 11.75 x 11.94, 11.75 x 12.00, 11.75 x 12.12,
11.94 x 11.75, 11.94 x 11.94, 11.94 x 12.00, 11.94 x 12.12, 11.94 x 12.25,
12.00 x 11.75, 12.00 x 11.94, 12.00 x 12.00, 12.00 x 12.12, 12.00 x 12.25,
12.12 x 11.94, 12.12 x 12.00, 12.12 x 12.12, 12.12 x 12.25,
12.25 x 12.12,
12.50 x 12.50

5 cents (SQ)
11.63 x 11.75, 11.63 x 11.94, 11.63 x 12.00,
11.75 x 11.75, 11.75 x 12.00,
11.94 x 11.75, 11.94 x 11.94, 11.94 x 12.00, 11.94 x 12.12, 11.94 x 12.25,
12.00 x 11.94, 12.00 x 12.00, 12.00 x 12.12, 12.00 x 12.25,
12.12 x 12.00, 12.12 x 12.12,
12.25 x 12.00, 12.25 x 12.25

6 cents (SQ)
11.63 x 11.75, 11.63 x 11.94, 11.63 x 12.00,
11.75 x 11.63, 11.75 x 11.75, 11.75 x 12.00,
11.94 x 11.94, 11.94 x 12.00,
12.00 x 11.75, 12.00 x 11.94, 12.00 x 12.00, 12.00 x 12.12,
12.12 x 12.12

8 cents (SQ)
11.94 x 11.94, 11.94 x 12.00, 11.94 x 12.12,
12.00 x 11.94, 12.00 x 12.00, 12.00 x 12.12, 12.00 x 12.25

10 cents (SQ)
11.63 x 11.94, 11.63 x 12.00,
11.94 x 11.94, 11.94 x 12.00, 11.94 x 12.12,
12.00 x 11.75, 12.00 x 11.94, 12.00 x 12.00, 12.00 x 12.12, 12.00 x 12.25
12.12 x 11.94, 12.12 x 12.00, 12.12 x 12.12
12.25 x 12.25

Large Queen Perforations

1/2 cent (LQ)
11.63 x 11.94, 11.63 x 12.00,
11.75 x 11.94,
11.94 x 11.94, 11.94 x 12.00,
12.00 x 11.94, 12.00 x 12.00

1 cent (LQ)
11.94 x 11.94, 11.94 x 12.00,
12.00 x 11.94, 12.00 x 12.00

2 cents (LQ)
11.94 x 11.94, 11.94 x 12.00,
12.00 x 11.94, 12.00 x 12.00

3 cents (LQ)
11.94 x 11.94, 11.94 x 12.00,
12.00 x 11.94, 12.00 x 12.00

5 cents (LQ)
11.63 x 11.94, 11.63 x 12.00,
11.75 x 11.94, 11.75 x 12.00,
12.00 x 12.00,
12.12 x 12.12

6 cents (LQ)
11.75 x 11.75,
11.94 x 11.75, 11.94 x 11.94, 11.94 x 12.00,
12.00 x 11.94, 12.00 x 12.00,

12 1/2 cents (LQ)
11.75 x 11.75, 11.75 x 11.94,
11.94 x 11.94, 11.94 x 12.00,
12.00 x 11.94, 12.00 x 12.00

15 cents (LQ)
11.63 x 11.94, 11.63 x 12.00,
11.75 x 11.94,
11.94 x 11.94, 11.94 x 12.00
12.00 x 11.94, 12.00 x 12.00, 12.00 x 12.12,
12.12 x 12.00, 12.12 x 12.12

Impressive work, jogil. Must have taken a toll on your eyesight. Now, do you try to equate these perf gaugings with the various printings in Ottawa and Montréal? If so, how do you go about it? (I too use Brian Cannon's perf guide.)

Emaxim, welcome to the quagmire that is sorting SQ.

It is a journey I have been on for many years and still learning.
Here is my 2c worth..

1/ If you are serious, get the book referenced above - it will save you much pain. Other references are great as wert mentioned, but this one is a great starter and worth every penny.

2/ Don't get hung up on precise perforations in the beginning. If you can get within 0.1 accuracy, you will be fine.

3/ I recommend the Yellow Instanta (SG) or the Unitrade equivalent perf guage, but use what works for you.

4/ Get lots of examples. Paper quality and colour become much more understandable if you have lots of samples. Keep in mind that most collections of 3c (for example) will be mainly #41. Finding some good sample #37's are getting harder to buy in bulk without spending good money.

5/ Did I mention, buy the book referenced above and you will be well on your way.