Color Bleeding

I was going through some things and found a few stamps I had long since forgotten about.

Unfortunately, the color "runs" on it. Look at the lower right corner.


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Is this common? I guess this trashes the value of the stamp. I must admit, it is pretty annoying and now my eye automatically goes there.

It's almost like a freshly painted park bench or something!

It's hard to tell from here, but this looks like a mint stamp that has never been soaked. Also, green is a color that doesn't tend to bleed. Purple is generally a bleeder on some stamps. To me it looks like a slight ink smear that happened when the stamp was printed. I'd say it was a minor printing flaw that doesn't take too much away from its value, especially if it's a mint, never-hinged copy. To me, a missing perf would stand out more and make it worth less.

To add to that, what I notice is that it's mint and very nicely centered.

Thanks Modern,

I guess I didn't know what to call it. But smear might be a better word.

Yes, it's MNH, OG. Nice stamp, maybe a tish on the faded side.

I shall consider it to be "unique" and therefore will be the happy daddy!

I totally agree with modern_who. It is a minor ink smear freak. "Excess Ink" is freak type #54 on John Hotchner's list of Errors, Freaks and Oddities. If the smear was larger and more noticeable, then it would command a premium.

I think it is a very nice looking piece and I would't have the slightest hesitation putting it in my album!

t360,

Thanks for that link! I haven't done much searching on the net for stamp stuff. So I'm starting my collection.

So far, I've gotten more than the price of admission!