1861 Washington 3 Cents - Pink Or Rose?

I wasn't sure where to post this but, because my questions are about the stamps rather than the covers, I decided to go with this forum.

These covers were mailed between 1861-1864, so I know that none of the stamps are grilled. I think the stamps are all rose, rather than pink. Do you agree? Are there any varieties in this stamp issue I should be looking for?

Here are scans of 6 of the stamps separately, followed by one of them together for color comparison.

cool covers. I'll take a shot at the color-- they all look rose to me, not pink.

Yes, they are nice covers, part of a collection of Civil War letters which my mother inherited from one of her friends. (Edited to add that if " inherited" is underlined, I didn't do it on purpose)

I'm afraid I have to agree with you that they're all rose, rather than the more valuable pink.

Here are a bunch more 3 cents, none with grills I believe (I separated the grilled ones earlier.). I initially thought some of these might be pink, but now I'm leaning towards red or rose. Does anyone see pink?

I know it doesn't make for the best close-ups, but I decided to scan a bunch together.





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None of those are pinks. A true pink is like.. bubblegum pink, it's very distinctive. I found one tonight in an album of old covers and it just jumps right out at you.

Thanks, Bill.

Some of the old cancels are really interesting, although they sure don't provide obvious information about when or from where letters were mailed!

Hi Montage,
I collect the shades of this issue, and the cover always has a better chance of being pink/rose pink/salmon rose pink/pigeon blood pink if it's '61, sine the pink shades were the originals. Possible in early, early '62, but mostly impossible, even though the shade may be very pink, after early '62.

Love your July 4th cover... and I have a couple of those, but always neat to find covers dated on holidays where it's not possible today....Christmas, NYears, July 4th, etc.

Hope this helps...Ray

The small print Memphis Tenn. cancels are from late summer of 1862 or later. The larger print Memphis Tenn. cancels are from 1864 or 1865 or perhaps later, after the end of the war. Both cancels were used when the post offices were reopened after federal occupation of Menphis.

Thanks, Ray and Al.

Ray, I hadn't thought about the July 4th cancel being unusual; that's an interesting point! I just read that it's only been a Federal Holiday since 1941.
My batch of Civil War letters does include one from 1861, but the envelope for it might be one of several with missing stamps.

Thanks for the information about the Memphis cancels, Al. That might help me match envelopes to letters. Between the difficult-to-read handwriting and the smudged or missing years in the cancels, it can be challenging.

A very nice group of stamps and Post marks---There is a book all about them there 0.3 centers--I think his name was Carrol something--vast amount of info in that book--nice pics!

I wish there was a great book on the 3c 1861. The book that Stang is referring to, I think, is on the 3c 1851-57, and is authored by Dr. Carroll Chase....

I'm going off my own topic a bit here but, since you all seem to know way more about 3 cent stamps than I do....
I'm trying to learn how to identify grills, although I'm not sure my vision and patience are up to the task!

Am I correct in thinking that these are all F grills? I've included scans of the fronts to help me keep them straight, even though those scans might not help. The perfs might have been trimmed off one side of the first stamp, which is a shame because I like the "Mickey Mouse ears" look of the cancel

Monnaie, count the columns in the grill. Less than 14, it's an F grill. Exactly 14 it's probably an E grill. 15 columns in you've hit the jackpot and you have a D grill.

14 columns, and the points are horizontal, it could be a Z Grill (none of yours are)

The bottom stamp looks like there could be 14, but it's very weak on the left side.

To make the grill stand out you can use a soft pencil, scribble on a piece of paper, rub your finger on to the carbon on the piece of paper and transfer it to the grill with your finger.

Hope this helps..Ray

That was very helpful; thanks. Rubbing carbon on them helped make the grill points much easier to count.

Here's a scan of the stamps after the carbon-infusion. It's a batch of E- and F-grill stamps.