This item was likely printed from the original vignette plate used in printing the 90c 1869 issue. It is described in both Brazer and Scott as being printed on "rough pitted paper thick gray paper" (actually a grayish brown). 

What is so very intriguing about this item is that if held to a light, an albino impression of the frame appears to surround the vignette. There is good evidence to suggest that the frames were printed after the vignettes (to complete the bi-color printing). But what purpose could be served by making an uninked impression of the frame upon the paper?  

This essay is known in multiples, the largest being a block of four.

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