Old Paper/Silk Paper?

Getting a little hooked on revenues, and I have a R81 $2 Conveyance that would catalog at $3.50 if "old paper" and $40 if "silk paper". Don't have a clue how to identify the difference? Any help for me?

(Sorry I originally said this was an R82)

Silk paper will have a blue tint and little hairs imbedded in the paper, kinda like US currency.

try this:

http://www.revenue-collector.com/1s...papers.shtml

-p

You can also post a hi-res scan of the back of the stamp. Should be easy to tell from that.

thanks peterc4 - that is a great page to be bookmarked by me. I will try to do a hi-res scan to put it to a vote - I think I see the blue threads?

OK - lets see if these 2 scans help - I see blue I think?

What do others think?

Yes, I agree. It's silk paper.

That is an interesting link, too. I might have to go check my stamps for blue threads! ;-)

Since this is my first post, by way of introduction I should say that I have been collecting and studying revenues for 42 years, and that I have the privilege of expertising them for the Philatelic Foundation. Dan (revenuecollector) and I have traded many emails over the last few years.

This is an interesting example. Although it is always difficult to be certain from scans, much of what is on the back of this stamp are not silk threads, but the various flotsam and dirt that can accumulate on the back of a 142 year old stamp. It was only by increasing the size of the scan 300% was I able to find what appear to be silk threads on it. Silk is a difficult paper to learn, and study is essential, but there is one helpful hint. If the stamp was cancelled before 1870, it cannot be silk paper, since that was when it was first introduced.
Bart

Welcome to Stamp Community Forum, revcollector!

Good to see you and your expertise over here!

k

rev... it's about time you post here....
Welcome...

Bart,

Welcome to the Forum! It is always nice to have a resident expert onboard.

Steve