10's And 11's, Trying To Get A Handle On Color

I agree with Sinclair about the right two stamps in the bottom row. 10A are frequently seen with superb impressions, like these two exhibit. Details this sharp are the exception on #11/11A. Washington's clothing, below and to the right of the button on his shoulder, is fully detailed on these two stamps.

Your Galena pair, Southpaw, shows significant plate wear in comparison. The first two stamps in the top row show advanced plate wear (in addition to poor-quality ink).

Part of the reason the two #10As in the bottom row have superb impressions is lack of plate wear, but also, the orange brown ink formula was of superb quality. The ferric oxide (rust) and mercuric sulfide ink formula used to print the orange browns may have caused rapid plate wear, however, and it may have contributed to the decision to switch to a brownish carmine formula in November 1851.

Southpaw,


I specialize in 1851-57 3-cent imperforate stamp colors. At least four of your stamps are discolored by the elements, so are not showing their original color. Proper treatment with household hydrogen peroxide can help mostly restore the color of some discolored stamps from this series.

Your scanner doesn't appear to be rendering quite as much orange as it should for the #10As.

I know it's controversial, but here is a scan of eight colors of this issue, all scanned together, with scanner settings adjusted to show close to true color as I see them in hand. The disclaimer is that scanners and monitors all render colors differently, so use this image for color contrast within this group of eight only. I used Stampcrow's rose red for this scan, since it is better than any rose red in my collection.

Classic Coins: My newbie account doesn't let me e-mail you so I'll post:

Have you seen the paper on the colors of the 3c 1851 by Allen and Lera published by the Smithsonian in 2013?

https://repository.si.edu/handle/10088/21391

Contrary to conventional wisdom they found no mercuric sulfide in any of the the pigments; the OBs are colored by iron oxide and the "reds" are typically colored by red lead.

Hi Classic - interesting about the color. Each computer/monitor will display color in different ways, and while my Mac and 30" monitor seems to be fairly accurate (based on my experience and calibration) I'm sure what I'm seeing is a bit different from what you are seeing. I actually take the saturation down just a touch as my scans seem just a bit saturated once I've adjusted the lights and darks. Maybe I shouldn't be doing this.

ttreen,

You have my yahoo email address with the stampsmarter plating group.

Thanks for the link to the Allen and Lera document. I seem to be out of date on the 3-cent color forensics.

Classic Coins:

Have you ever dipped a vermilion 2c Jackson bank note in water? It practicaly floresces orange. The 3c OBs do too. So I was very surprised that Allen and Lera didn't find vermilion in the OB pigment. Yet it seems clear that their tests would have found mercury if it were there. I would very much like to see reseachers apply similar tests to a larger sample of the 3c 1851s, from the Chase and Amonette color charts if possible. Then we might have objective tests for "pinkish", "copperish", "plum", etc.

ttreen,

Yes, I have soaked vermilion 2c Jackson bank notes and watched as it appeared to turn fluorescent.