Lithograph Vs Engraving - Greece - Early 200's For Scott #'s

Hi there,

I am trying to determine which of many stamps in the Scott #'s 198-231 set (I believe they are around 1909-1911 years for non-Scott users) are engraved and which are litho. I know that the 15 l and 40 l only come in litho and I know that many times you can run your finger over to feel a "raise" in ink for engraved but these stamps are very very difficult and very hard to discern. I've heard of using thin foil and rubbing it over the stamp to see if any impression shows up. And I've also heard you can tell using a 25x magnifier. However, I only have a 10x and I do not have thin foil (only regular). Are there any other ways to identify which is which?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Hello stamps 101 and welcome to the forum.

If you go to one of the everything for a dollar stores and buy a roll of aluminum foil, it is really thin. Don't know if it is thin enough, but it is not the thickness of a name brand.

Me being an el cheapo I use the foil wrap of a chocolate candy. I just smooth it out between my finger and thumb.
Works for me!

Dave N.
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Thank you both for the replies. I will look for some ultra-thin foil and see if that helps. I'm finding Greece to be one of the more difficult countries to go through but I've learned a lot lately since becoming more serious and detailed.

stamps101 it does not have to be ultra thin. If you take a soft pencil eraser and rub the foil over the stamp, engraved stamps will show their design quite readily. I use just regular foil and it works fine. The key to the whole deal is the soft (regular soft, not ten year old) pencil eraser. - Jeff

jhlovell, the pencil eraser trick worked perfectly. Thank you to all who assisted!