155 Or 166

I'm trying to get a handle on this stamp. I'm pretty sure its a hard paper with no grill. So by process of elimination I believe it to be either a 155 or a 166, both being printed on similar white wove thin to thick paper. The only difference between the two stamps is that the 155 is carmine and the 166 is rose carmine and I'm having a tough time differentiating between the two colors. I keep looking at the different shades of the two on stamps2go but all I'm getting out of that effort is a view of a multitude of shades, possibly due to the scanners involved. If anyone can give me an idea of which of the two it might be I would be most thankfull.

You already understand the problem. I'm sorry to say it won't be any different here. Wanna bet that no two monitors will display it the same way?

Color discrimination online? fugeddaboudit!

Thanks, Are you aware of any decent color guides available for off-line ID?

I finally decided that its a 155 carmine. I put it up against a #215 4 cent Jackson (carmine) and it compared well. It doesn't seem to match some of the early commemoratives which are listed as carmine rose. The 166 is noted as rose carmine and I'm assuming that rose-carmine and carmine-rose are the same color.

The difference between rose-carmine and carmine-rose is in which pigment is dominant. Rose-carmine will be a rose color with some carmine tint, carmine-rose will be carmine with a rose tint. They aren't the same...

I think this flips the convention on this nomenclature. The convention that I have always followed has the dominant color listed LAST, with the first color in the name as a modifier.

rose-carmine is a "rose flavored" version of carmine.

carmine-rose is a "carmine flavored" version of rose.


I am willing to be shown otherwise by a mutually recognized competent authority. Can anyone here set the record straight on this?

When I see a color name with a hyphen, I assume it's taken from the ACNS (Artist's Color Naming System). The ACNS, like the HSV color model it is based upon, names colors specified by their hue, saturation (whiteness) and value (blackness). So I guess this is going to boil down to, where the poster got the names he is using.
Don

I'm an incompetent authority and I say that no one agrees on much of anything when it comes to color.