QV 1d Red Die Reference Strip - Four Used on the Collector’s Annotated Album Page

Four used 1d reds still mounted on the page where a previous owner studied them, with his pencil notes alongside. This is a working reference strip, not a made-up group: someone sat down with these four to separate Die I from Die II and wrote what he thought beside each one. WHAT THE ANNOTATIONS SAY. Read directly from a 1200 dpi scan: “Die II.” written down the strip; “17” beside two of the stamps, each with a tick; “? Die I” twice, the query mark his own; and “Tail” against the fourth. A longer note runs down the outer margin but the album page is trimmed through it and only the tops of the letters survive - it cannot be read, and I am not going to guess at it. WHAT THAT MEANS, HONESTLY. He wrote “?” in front of both die attributions, so he was not certain and neither am I. Nothing here has been verified against a die reference, and the annotations are evidence of his opinion rather than of the stamps' identity. The four stamps themselves are ordinary used 1d reds; the interest is in the strip as a piece of someone's plating work, and in the chance to check his conclusions yourself. Sold as it sits, annotations and all. Photographed from the album page, shown in two halves so the whole strip and every note is visible. IMPORTANT - PLEASE READ BEFORE BUYING. The identification, condition assessment and valuation in this listing were produced by an AI analysis of scanned images only. No stamp has been examined in hand by a philatelic expert, and no authentication or certification has been carried out. Gum, thins, creases, repairs, re-perforation and cleaned or removed cancels frequently do not show in a scan and have NOT been ruled out. Catalogue (SG) numbers, plate numbers and shade attributions are indicative only and are not guaranteed. Mint stamps are described at mounted-mint level because gum cannot be assessed from an image. ALL PURCHASES ARE MADE ENTIRELY AT THE BUYER'S OWN RISK. Nothing in this listing is a guarantee of authenticity, condition, catalogue attribution or value. Sold as seen. Buyers are strongly advised to satisfy themselves independently and to obtain an expert opinion (BPA or RPSL) before relying on any attribution.