3c Washington Shade And Flaw Help

hi all,

would the top left numeral be a flaw or just a smudge,also any help with the shade aswel
thanks

Can you post an image of the stamp only? I can't tell if is a double transfer or something else.

hoping this is better...

Looks like a kiss print. They are/can be similar in appearance to a double impression. Nice item to a specialist.

Can you explain the difference and what to look for when determining it,thanks

That's what I thought too. It is double just in the top left corner. A double impression would have the same effect across the stamp. The stamp you have touched again after printing giving a doubling effect in a small area. I forgot to mention that is a fine strike of the Washington DC CDS during wartime.

Odd that it is so strong just in that upper left . Almost like a re entry but to strong - very well could be a roller slip (kiss) - Look at it like you were rolling paint onto a wall - everything is going smooth and even then you apply just a bit to much pressure and the roller slides instead of rolling. Have to say its a really nice pc and nice bright rose as well. Bet Raymac and some others are gonna drool a bit.

Thanks for the explanation,i do get it now,the stamps on cover dated to reverse march 29th 1863 to Philadelphia

Paid £1.95 inc postage for it

im still struggling with identifying even basic types of the 3c

my best guess is this stamp is f grill but what sc no. thanks

The F grill is a Scott 94. You might want to look through these websites if you haven't yet. The two of them combined will help you a lot.
http://www.1847usa.com/
http://www.theswedishtiger.com/

thanks very much

We love looking and answering questions. They are good reference though.

awesome sites!

one last question then, where it states in my catalogue of a 3c stamp printed on the reverse,does this mean actually printed on the reverse aswel or just where the sheet has been laid down onto another wet sheet and the image is reversed?
if that makes sense?

Yes, it has a stamp printed on the back as well as the front.

Just a couple of Questions more,

1. How do I identify paper types of the 3c (web-link would be good)

2. what is double paper?

3. Is there a site or a book available to help determine shade varities?

any info greatly recieved,thanks

The websites above have description on papers. On learning paper types you need to be specific in your question regarding the years the stamp were made. There is an evolution in papers that were used and you don't want to confuse one that was used in the 1800's and another in the 1900's. The 3c Washington of 1861-1868 made by the National Banknote Co. had 2 types of paper. The main paper is the white wove. It has the generally hard snap with a semi opaque appearance when holding against a light source. These are the majority of papers you will find. The other is laid paper. It is described as having lines from the wire mesh showing on the back. I've never seen one but read they are somewhat similar to the France quadrille papers.
Double papers are a tissue thin printed surface applied with an adhesive to a thin backing. I'm sending one in now I suspect is a double paper variety. It looks like a soft porous paper but is very firm and acts like a hard wove paper. The one I have is used and the adhesive is noticeable all around the perfs and at first looked like the stamp was toned.
shades are impossible to really learn by computer. Each computer and photo device would to calibrated the same. You can get a good general sense of color. Learning the shades of the 1861-1868 3c stamp is collecting by date. There are some sites that have shades sorted by dates. Let me know if you need them. Many of the early US cover weren't dated. You would need to go by contents. So keep those contents and covers together. Also, Great Britain dated many letters. That would be nice to have.