Help Me Figure Out 64 Or 65...

I have 3 of these, each on it's own cover.
They are all from 1861 and 1862. I don't
think that the scans show the difference
between the colors of the 3 stamps, so it
may not be good enough to determine which
stamp each is... ???? IDK?

The catalog values swing wildly depending
on color. Like I said, all 3 of these are
different shades in person, but don't seem
so different on my monitor looking at pics.

One is hand cancelled and gets add-value
for an 1861 cancel. The other 2 get adds
for 'blue' cancels. Btw: I am in a 2007
Scotts Specialized US catalog...

Color choices are:
64... Pink
64a... Pigeon blood
64b... Rose pink

65... rose

So, in your opinions, which are which?

The top one is postmarked front:
Sarversville, PA
Back:
Slate Lick, PA, with a detached
floating star away from the town
portion of the cancel, same ink.
Date is Dec 6, 1861
Both are retired POs.

The other 2 are from the same stash,
and are from April 16, and July 16, 1862.
Postmarked in Saltzburgh, PA.

Edit:
Added an "h" to Saltzburg...
I believe that is how it is spelled in the
cancel. All these years, and never noticed.

Edit 2:
Okay, I verified...
Must have been local mailing.
"Saltsburgh, Indiana Co., PA 1828-1892"
at this site:
http://www.postalhistory.com/postof...rchtype=word

Sarversville, Butler Co., PA 1849-1906
Slate Lick, Armstrong Co., PA 1830-1906

These have been handed down through family, so I
would never consider selling... However, I am doing
the research out of curiosity, since I will probably
never have a 64 in my binder, would be nice to know
if I have one on cover. I have some that are higher
value on cover, and note the blank hole in the binder
as I may never fill the spot with a loose stamp.

Also, if one of these is a 64 on cover, it would likely
be the most valuable piece in the collection, and it would
be nice to know for insurance type situations.

Dad told me a few times that he had "one" cover that was
extremely valuable, and that he had turned down 4 figure
offers for it in the past. I am pretty sure it was the
1861 cover, and I seem to recall him using the term
"Pigeon blood" for it.

It's amazing how you take conversations like this with
loved ones for granted when they happen! I look back and
wish I was paying attention.

You are one serious cover collector.

Edit:

No disrespect to Fred Cobbs

Well, thanks, but I am a newbie that very much likes cover.
Dad was the stamp collector. I was coins, and we didn't mix
hobbies much. Now that he is gone, I wish I paid more attention.

If we have a cover here that is higher value than average, would
it be worth it to have it (what would be the term?) 'certified'?
Expertized, mounted, whatever?

The 65 Rose has a very large number of shades. It is very hard to determine exact shade/colors from scans due the the differences in scanners and monitors. Based on the images I am seeing, the last 2 would be Rose. The first one shows a much brighter shade very similar to bright rose.However, the colors that I am seing could be very different that the actual stamp. A note on pigeon blood, it always has a kind of bluish tint in it.

In hand, the 1861 looks a bit like 'lake'.
Light shade of lake...

Washington has better detail that the other 2,
and looks a bit 'creamy', only way to describe it.

I'd go with the rose based on the scan; color is very specific. I know I'm a newbie, but I'm good at carrying color in my head. AND I thought I had a "pink" until I went to the first stamp show ever with my "goodie" in hand, and the "color expert" there put it side by side with one which really was PINK and Pidgeon blood is redder.

This is harder, I think, to see because color fades / changes over time too. I'd take them to a show as I did and hope someone is a color expert.

That would be Fred C Dobbs I'll have you know, and if I did collect covers I sure would like to have these in my non-collection of covers.

Any opinion Mr Dobbs?

The April 16 looks very light. Ink is light, paper is bright white,
George looks a bit pale. This one is lightest/brightest. Might
call it slightly fuzzy at the details.

The July 16 looks... well, 'normal'. Nothing stands out.
The ink is darker, the details are crisp and clean, the
paper looks average. Nothing to write home about, nothing
stands out as particulary special, right or wrong.

I admit my horrible embarrassment at mis-typing your great name Fred.

By no means am I qualified to determine the color of these, I would go along with Russ on this, with five to seven colors for #65 the conservative side of me would guess #65, and that is just looking at scans, now in the flesh this may be a horse of another color.

Or a George of a different color?

I wish I could find a decent color chart.
I am finding that the Scott catalog leaves
a great deal to be desired when it comes to
certain info, especially color identification.
If Scott is going to be the authority and
benchmark for these things, you would think
they would have more in the catalog.

"PSE Certified" 64:

The Scott 64 was printed exclusively from plate 12 and were probably all shipped in Aug. 1861. Plate 12 may have also produced bright rose (65) stamps. The Aug shipments were from plate 11, 12, 13 and 14.
The ship quantities were:
Aug 16 3,281,000
Aug 17 1,726,000
Aug 20 945,000
Aug 22 81,000
Aug 24 1,451,500
Aug 28 1,430,000
Aug 29 928,000
Aug 31 540,000
Total 10,382,500

Based on these numbers, it would be resonable to believe that less than 2 million scott 64 varieties could have been printed.