The 3 cent green Bank Notes.....these and the others in these sets can be a difficult group. With any luck, this info might help.
#147...National Bank Note Co..........NBNC
#158...Continental Bank Note Co....CBNC
#207...American Bank Note Co........ABNC
The backs look very similar in different views but the #207 always looks slightly different.....(thinner, cleaner)
In wm fluid.
With back lighting.
At about 30x
At 400x there are several obvious differences in the size and color of the fibres and impurities.
#147...Thick large dark fibres (yellowish) tightly compressed, many different impurities both large & small, very few gaps.
#158...smaller fibres (more gray than yellow), less impurities and smaller in size, numerous small gaps
#207...very small fibres, (light gray to semi-transparent) not tightly compressed, numerous small to medium gaps.
#147...1870-71, white wove paper...minor shading under leaves on left.
#158...1873, white wove paper...heavy shading under leaves on left.
#207...1881...soft porous paper...heavy shading under leaves on left, extra line on right, oval shading reduced.
Flex test is inconclusive as all three respond very much the same except that the #158 CBNC has a somewhat softer sound.
Please keep in mind that these findings are for these three stamps only and others in these sets could show a variety of differences. I would recommend that the "secret marks" be used to determine which item you have rather than trying to id one of them only by looking at paper type even with modest magnification. Without the use of a high power microscope very little difference can be seen.
Posted 11/25/2008 5:22 pm
