What Do You Think It Is #510 Or #510A

The first photo is a US Scott #510
The second photo is a Scott #510a a color error Brown orange yellow

The third is my stamp and I think it is one of the rare color errors

what do you think

Tim, try using the "New! Free Image Optimizer" that is located just below "Upload Image" in the window frame that you see when you post.

Your posts make me wonder what you are attempting. Please try to do so or ask for help.

Tim, if you sign up on a free hosting site like photobucket then you can scan your stamps at 1200 dpi and post nice large scans of this size.

Hi Tim. As you will find by searching previous threads on color identification, it is almost impossible to do in a vacuum due to scanner/photo changes or monitor differences. To get a better answer, please scan your stamp beside other known varieties so that we can see them in the same light/exposure. (One scan to show everything, not multiple scans.)

In addition, a bigger picture is always better, using the Free Image Optimizer or other techniques. For color differences, though, we don't necessarily need a large image, just side-by-side comparisons.

My first thought, though, is that you have a normal stamp that might be oxidized or discolored by some other means ... not a rare stamp.

If the bottom stamp is a 510a, it has a very serious perforation error as it is perf 12x12.

Tim - I had a similar used 10c Franklin that was so dark, a mustard color, that I sent it to Bill Weiss. He declined an opinion but suggested Philatelic Foundation. I was hopeful.
PF returned it saying that is was a color changeling, not an error. It was worth the cost of the cert although disappointing.
PS - I have a nice unused #510a which is similar in color but as it is unused would have been very unlikely that anyone or anything could have produced the color. It has a good cert.
Conclusion: generally, used stamps with dramatically changed colors were not printed that way.
Bill Weiss and many collectors could write pages about this topic.

Tim, Orange/Yellow ink use on the third bureau issues is a bit unstable and subject to changing color from exposure to strong light and other chemical reaction conditions. Sulfurization causes a darkening effect which can imitate the brown yellow color. I've had examples of #416 and #510 that resembled the scarcer brown yellow, but after exposing them to hydrogen peroxide, they all were proven to be the normal yellow/orange yellow color. That's not to say yours isn't brown yellow. That's a bit hard to determine from a scan due to factors in scanner and monitor variations when viewing on this site. Does your stamp perf. at 11 or 12? it looks more like a perf 12 #416, which also has a brown-yellow (416a). Just based on how I see yours on my monitor, I don't think yours is brown orange

I scanned a page from RH White, but I still had to manipulate slightly to get it to look right on my monitor. You should be able to see the obvious color difference between the 416 orange-yellow and brown-yellow. Others, maybe not quite so well.



Sorry, but no 510a in the book.

What in the world? 8 different colors/shades of a stamp? And I though collecting varieties in coin collecting was hard, wow.

Which one of those eight colors is considered the rarest?

Bluegrassriver2, some colors are shared by rare and common catalog numbers. What makes some rare are other factors such as perforation or printing types. It would take too long to list them all here. You can find out for yourself by using a Scott Catalogue and an easy to read site such as http://1847usa.com/

bluegrassriver2.....WITHOUT a doubt....#416a brown - yellow.

Kevin, my catalog is 5 years old, but it lists #364 at a much higher CV. It doesn't make any distinction between colors of the #364 and the #338. My point was that design color doesn't necessarily indicate rarity. Some issues have listed color variations, some don't. Some issues have color variations throughout their production run. Some colors and/or variants are shared between issues.

You tried to specifically answer Bluegrassriver2's question. I didn't specifically answer it. Thank you for helping me realize that the topic needed more elaboration.

One more thing that merits mentioning, higher rarity does not always correspond to higher catalog values. Rarity is related to the number in current existence. Catalog value is related to supply and demand.

-EDIT: I just did a quick search of PSE's population reports.
- 1 recognized 510a
- 4 recognized 416a
- 30 recognized 364

So by that non-authoritative research, the 510a is the most rare of the three. I didn't research every other possibility to see if another type also has a single example known.

HDNAC.....
#364 has nothing to do with the color of the stamp....
it is the PAPER of #364 that is different.

With this particular 10c stamp....
color does indicate rarity.
Thus the #416a brown yellow....
also the #510a brown yellow.

This color is often mistaken as the "sullfered"
normal issue. (oxodized)