3 Cent On Bluish Paper Used.

Looks like it to me. What say you?

Violet to compare.

1. Bluish paper stamps did not come in coils;

2. They are perf 12, while the stamp you've shown is perf 10.

Hope this helps.

I do not see how you can tell if it is bluish paper. Bluish paper has a gray cast over it - there are several posts on this forum with pictures. I do not think this stamp is on bluish paper.
Scanning the stamp on an orange background would help a lot!

Peter

themachine99, Peter, Thank you both! Knowing that the bluish stamps are perf 12 helps tremendously.
Peter, I will look for a sheet of orange construction paper to make scans with. Would that suffice for the orange background? Thanks, Jon

Yes, but don't go to too much trouble. Bluish paper stamps are harder to find than winning the lottery, and the orange background is only good for bluish paper

Peter

Bluish paper has a double line watermark and was used experimentally to see if uneven paper shrinkage could be controlled to improve the quality of flat plate sheet stamps (perf 12 at the time). Bluish paper can be tentatively identified by looking for a strong watermark visible when holding up the stamp and viewing it with back light. Normal paper won't show the watermark as clearly except in watermark fluid.

Because the stamp shown is a perf 10 rotary press coil, it cannot have been printed on bluish paper.

to me all the bluish paper stamps come with a cert. While its not impossible to "find" one the odds are so far against it just not worth looking

They appear regularly in non-eBay auctions. An example is Daniel F. Kelleher Auctions, LLC sale 686, in which 13 examples of different Washington-Franklin issues on bluish paper are offered. In the average thrift store album or album from grandpa's attic - not so much. Any collector of classic US material ought to own one of the less expensive ones, like Scott 358, which is widely available, as a reference copy. Keep it with a square of orange paper for testing patients, and you're set.