3 Cent Washington Rose Or Pink?

I am new to the stamp forum, but not new to the coin forum...

was digging through some storage and I came across 2 old letters.

Both have letters in them but only one letter was dated 1863

they seem to be corresponding to each other.. anyways.. I read on the the last forum topic about this that there is a ROSE and a PINK version... from the photos side by side, one looks rose and the other looks "red" can someone help confirm if they are rose or pink and possibly determine a value? THANKS!

I replied to another Post in this forum just a couple of days ago on another Pink vs. Rose and same thing for this one...

The pinks were the original color of the stamp and were found very early to not be stable so they were only printed in August of 1861... so the biggest key in finding a pink on cover or any kind of pink would be an 1861 date.

There was in 1863 a very pink shade that is known by specialists as Brooklyn Pink, and that stamp is number 65 not number 64.

Just by looking at them I don't think that either of your stamps can be pink. Any stamp on the cover with an 1863 date would not ever be certified as pink.

Your Indianola cover dated in October could be possibly October of 1861 however it doesn't look pink to me at least looking at a screen on my mobile phone. Also therein lies the other problem of trying to identify shades over the internet. Very difficult to scan accurately even with color correction, and then the image will look different on everybody's monitor.

So good luck in your endeavors, hope you find a pink. Your best bet would be to look for covers with Year date 1861.

Hope this helps, Ray

Ray

This helps a lot. I am a complete NOVICE with stamps... I know nothing about them

the October stamp has the letter dated 1863. and the other letter is Stamped April. and inside the letter is dated November 20.. no year.

with your information and being that in 1861 was the only year they issued the pink. I think it is safe to say I have the rose.

are there any other markers on my stamps that can tell me more about them ?

what did you mean when you said it is a 65 not 64??

again, I know nothing about the stamp world. I will soak up all information like a sponge! THANKS

Those are some interesting pieces. I stumbled into postal history accidentally after seeing some pieces from my hometown. Even though I haven't lived there since high school, I knew enough about the history and geography of the area that I was drawn in. Enjoy...

sdcoinguy - Numerous online resources such as http://stampsmarter.com and http://usphila.com can give you basic information about Scott Catalog No. 64 and Scott Catalog No. 65.

To get better comments from this forum, you will need to post high-resolution scans (not photos) of your stamps.

When you take photos with black objects in the background, as you did, the iris of the typical digital camera seeks to average the reflected light from the black object and the cover or stamp and the result is that color, lumenance and even hue cannot be captured accurately. The images always will look different to someone on this forum than they do to you in person. Using a scanner, which is hopefully properly white calibrated (so that scanning a white card or sheet produces a true white image), will ameliorate these effects in part. Judging color is highly subjective so often only in-person inspection with an expert can yield useful results. Scanning is the next best thing.

Scanning usually is the only method that can produce enough detail in the image, as well.

As I'm a HUGE CW Buff as well as former CSA Reenactor can you tell us what the letters are about? I tried reading but was hard to do.

No war content in these - they are family notes within securely Northern territory. The penmanship is okay, but the spelling and manner of speech is typical rural midwestern. I had a grandmother who wrote and spoke like that.

The longer letter, on the "Up Boys and At 'em" stationery, from Urbana, Ill, is from a woman to her brother chiding him for not writing for almost a year. Her main upset appears to be that he was close enough to have called on her a few times in the interval, but never made contact, let alone a visit. She speaks about the shortness of life, and her late parents as arguments to value family connections more dearly. The only mention of the war is in a short reference to a woman who had planned to marry a widower but he went to war. She then moved in with his mother to help take care of his son. She also discusses family matters and toward the end: "I would like to see you all but I do not now when I shall if times keeps so hard. James has gone into the shop again his pardner dide and he had to take the shop back. he is doing very well give my love to Poly and the Children. James sends his love to you all brother."



The shorter note from Indianola is from a man to his wife also on the theme that he expected a letter that never came, but that he would be coming home that weekend so she is not to send him more clothes. We did not see the second page.

I bid on and picked up 2 envelopes from the civil war era (from overseas). To my delight one had a letter in it from a soldier stationed with the Army of the Potomac in Alexandria writing back home in Boxford, MA. Complained that the 'south' was not as warm as he expected, ha, and that the city was meaner than any in New England ( I supposed maybe because it was an occupied city). He expected to be moved to protect the city (Washington). The other cover was written by an Acting Ensign ...aboard the Steamer Heliotrope, St, Inigoes Naval Station, Potomac Flotilla. After some on-line research come to find out this ship was part of the Atlantic blockade and used mainly on the Rappahannock river. Not a bad pick-up for $4.58 + shipping!

Very interesting stuff that had to talk about back then. Times were tough and people were tougher than nowadays.

I'm sure that guy writing back to MA was a Red Sox fan, LOL!