1881 Illustrated Bank Check Color Question?

A cool old check I found online. This isn't mine however, I love the color! Has this been "enhanced" or was these really that vivid? Any information is most welcome. Thank you.

This check is blue, and the color is usually pretty strong. It's not a particularly uncommon check. There are various colored checks and drafts around, pink and blue were popular colors. I assume it was an anti counterfeiting device.

You can also visit the website,
http://ascheckcollectors.org for a lot of interesting background.

Your check is also "revenue stamped paper," with the imprinted diamond-shaped revenue stamp; these are listed in the US Scott Specialized. I can't make out the details to know which catalog number it is. There are about 25 major varieties listed, with several hundred sub-varieties ranging from $3 to $3000+.

Why thank you. I have a few old checks both wit and w/out the imprinted revenue stamp and realize that most are quite common and are of low resale value, I just like the color.

Hey I_Love_Stamps, here's one for comparison. This one is pretty true to color, have another blue one that looks a bit grayer as well. Guess there were all kinds of shades, the different types of paper used probably made a difference as well.

These are both RN-G1, which is a very common stamp. In the 2012 Specialized it cat $6 unused and $4 used which seems on the high side to me for most checks, truthfully. It's the second most common design, only the RN-X6 (yellow) and RN-X7 (orange) design from 1898 is more common.

Thank you for the ID. I like the fact that these are easy to come-by it would make collecting them fun! I wonder if it's possible to put together a good profile of these by design and color?

If you decide to get serious about these, there is a six volume series by Castenholz called Field Guide to Revenue Stamped Paper organized by geographical area and then by Scott number. Richard Friedberg or Eric Jackson should have them.

I know very little about these things, but I think the initial scan was color enhanced given this similar check, drawn on the same bank, directed to the same payee, and signed by the same John Dietz later in 1881 shows a much duller shade of blue.

In fact, the check below is Check No. 25653 dated August 24, 1881 as compared to the original scan showing Check No. 25055 dated May 5, 1881:



(By the way, that was quite a few checks ... 598 to be exact ... that was written in only 3-1/2 months time!)

No way to tell from a scan. Plus these checks are 132 years old, and there is no way to know what outside influences they might have come under; light, chemicals, moisture, etc. And the idea of quality control at that time was just a dream as well.

See the last two look right to my mind. I think someone done some contrast work on this image...lol Thanks you.

I_Love_Stamps- As for collecting these, there are alot of them out there as stated, some imprint/color combos are scarce. I am collecting Philadelphia related ones and the Castenholz Field Guides that revcollector mentioned are great.

Thank you for the information NeoRev!