Hello, Ratio411. The current American Philatelic Society magazine (American Philatelist November 2010) talks about color and color charts, and you should be aware that the consensus is that color charts are only realtively accurate, but not the final word for a lot of reasons (see article). And this applies to the basic chart one can purchase for $15 as well as the in-depth text books which address philatelic color that sell in some cases for over $100. The advice our forum members render about expertization is good advice.
Pigeon blood pink is supposed to have some blue undertones.
There are some sites on line that might be helpful as they show the actual stamps. But remember that the lighting on-line distorts color even more than any light you could direct upon the specimen in your hand. These are 1861-1867 issues, so go to
www.theswedishtiger.com and look at the various types there. At least they have several types of inks presented, and on-line you can get an idea among them, and then adjust your eyes to what you really have in your hand. That would be a start before you went to expertization.
Another help with color is that in a stamp column many years ago it was suggested to use a mask of a gray 4A color card, 6x9 inches. You take a 4A gray color card and cut a hole the size of the stamp in it and lay the card over the stamp. Gray 4a color cards are a color card used by photographers. When film was a big thing for cameras, Kodak had a 6x9 darkroom manual spiral bound that had a 4A gray color card in it. I have used the 4A Gray card, and it does help. Blank Page
Posted 11/10/2010 11:03 am
