Chcking Grill On #88. Appears To Be Correct. Could We Verify

Al.E.Gator wrote in another thread

So I was double checking. The grill appears to be an E. The color seems deeper than rose though

Appears to be an E grill to me. Color wise appears near lake but we all know how scans and screen images can be.

Yes, it is a #88. 14 columns by 17 rows of grill points.

I wish all grills had such a good impression.

Not just the scan, but the stamp is 150 years old. There is no way to know what shade it started out as or what has happened to it in all that time.

Great point revcollector which makes me ask the question; if the stamp is not tied on cover with a date, how can one determine the beginning color? Not that I would be able to figure it out anyway, but are there known variables that one can use to determine the color, or is sending it to a service like Bill Weiss the only true way?

There are many colors/shades of the 1861-1868 three-cent Washington stamp both grilled and without grills. The Scott catalogue does not list but a very few shades. Jack Daley and Mike McClung have done a lot of work on determining and writing about the colors/shades of this issue. There is a thread on this site, "A few shades for the US #88 E-grill" by Ray.Mac that discusses/shows some shades for this particuliar stamp. Also, www.3cent1861.com is a site by Jack Daley where he discusses/shows several colors/shades for the three-cent, and his E-Bay store, www.ebay.com/sch/jdaley3.703/m.html also shows 3-cent issues he is selling and is a good source for a variety of colors. Mike McClung has had articles in "The Chronicle" by the U.S. Classic Society that members can access through their web site dealing with colors/shades of the 3-cent 1861-68 Washingtons.

Al E. Gator pretty much nailed it so I cant really add anything else other than it's an art and that people specialize in just this. Ray.mac comes to mind or maybe revcollector? One of them is doing just that at the moment.

Great link. Thanks Al E.Looks like mine is a typical Rose.

stampcrow, it isn't a rose at all.

The "E" Grill is found in 6 different shades (listed in order of when they appeared):

Pale rose
Brownish red rose
Lake red
Rose red
Dull rose red
Orange red

None are any rarer than others, and the most common is Rose Red.

A few you can rule out on your copy-- dull rose red, pale rose and orange red.

My guess is that it's either brownish red rose or lake red (88a). If you can magnify it and if you can see any violet or purple in the color, especially in the darkest area under the upper right "3", it could be lake red. If it's lake, it would have the violet.

Here is brownish red rose:
http://i1218.photobucket.com/albums...42f9276b.jpg

Here is a lake red:
http://i1218.photobucket.com/albums...dc92991c.jpg

Yours doesn't look red enough to be lake red. My best guess, which is really, really a wild guess, is brownish red rose.....

Hope this helps!
Ray

ray.mac thanks, I will try what you suggested and enlarge it to look for those color clues.

When I wrote it was a typical rose I was meaning one of those rose shades that seem common and not the Lake version.
Also, is it useful to look at a scan of the back when looking for shade hints?

Ray is becoming another of the "go to" guys on color for this issue. He's worked with Jack Daley on how to determine the colors from high-rez. scans. I think the short answer is yes, determining the grill size can help some in ID'ing the color/shade on some of the grilled stamps. Determining the color/shade on both grilled and non-grilled 1861-68 3-cent Washingtons can also help narrow down the date range on covers that are not year-date cancelled. Ray can add a lot more to the answer for your question.