What Happened To My 295?

I took a really close look at my Pan Americans today -- first time I've done so in a couple of decades at least. And I'm somewhat troubled over what I saw when I inspected my 295:

Image: 295front.jpg
75.01 KB

Image: 295back.jpg
46.68 KB

294 does not seem to have had the same trouble with the color bleeding through the paper to the back.

In spite of it being not a terribly valuable stamp, it is one I got when I was a kid, and I have always been kind of proud of it, so I'm a little dismayed. But life goes on, I guess.

What could have caused this to occur? Humidity? Age of the paper? Has anyone else had this happen to one of theirs?

My 294 seems to be just fine in back, so it's only the red ink that appears to have been affected.

Image: 294front.jpg
69.38 KB

I just want to make sure that I don't have a problem here that's going to put the rest of my collection at risk in the long term...

It looks as if the stamp has been subject to some type of moisture. It looks unused and if it was soaked in warm water there could have been some bleeding.

I'm not sure if long term exposure to light could have this effect.

Of course this is my best guess. I have looked at several dozen MNH and used stamps from the front and back and I have not seen the same results you are showing.

Like I said this is only my best guess, can you add any more info to the storage of this stamp?

Both of these stamps are used, no gum -- 295 has a very, very light cancellation. That was what I remember liking about it so much when I first got it. I do not remember the color having bled to the back when I first got it, but I'm going back in time over 30 years. It was already soaked off of paper when I got it.

It's just been mounted with a hinge in my Minkus Comprehensive all these years, and stored indoors vertically in a bookcase. I don't see any instances of the ink having made it to the album pages

None of the other carmine stamps in the album of the same approximate (and in the same general location in the album) age have had this happen -- only this 2c Pan American. Weird.