Scott 73 Or 84

I am trying to figure out what stamp this is. I'm not sure what is meant by grill points down. Does any one have examples of these and can show the differences? Thanks.

Hello asanders.....

Welcome to the club....

Points up or down refer to grills......I don't see any sign of a grill on this Black Jack.....without a grill this would be a #73.

Here is a good, basic discussion of grills:

http://www.jamesdire.net/grill.html

Good luck.

Collin

Cool, thanks for the link on grills, based on that it looks like this one is not 114 but may be 125. What is the difference between ultramarine and blue? Thanks for your help.

Hello asanders......

I'd soak of the hinge and check to see if the grill has been ironed out, it was a common practice by unscrupulous sellers.

I don't know how to soak it, and I don't want to mess it up. I'm not exactly sure where this would have came from other than it is in my grandmother's collection and labeled as #114. I think she received these older stamps from another family member's collection in 1957. I doubt she would have purchased it, especially if someone claimed it was #125 and cost a significant amount of money, but who knows. Would it be worth paying someone to look at it? Are blue and ultramarine that close in color that it is too hard to tell by that? Anyway I'm enjoying going through this collection, and appreciate every one's help.

asander.....


Soaking a stamp is really easy....in this case it's just a hinge....even easier.....set a small drop of cold tap water on the hinge....in just a few minutes it will be free of the stamp....wipe of any excess water with a paper towel and let the stamp dry.

Before you consider asking someone to look at it, check it for yourself with a decent 10x magnifier.

Ultramarine is a odd blue color.....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultramarine

In my opinion your #114 is blue not ultramarine.

Ok, thanks sounds easy enough. It looks blue to me too, I was trying to find another stamp in the collection that I know is ultramarine to compare against, but havent found one yet.

Here's one......

.........note the obvious cancel on this "mint" stamp.........
http://cgi.ebay.com/212-US-1-CENT-U...NE_W0QQitemZ350323332982QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item5190e5d776

asanders0001, welcome to the forum. The 2c Jackson appears to be a 73, at least with the front view. Can you scan the back and post it.

As for the train; a very hice stamp with a very nice cancel. A definite keeper! But it does have an extremely faint grill directly under the hinge remnant and nearly perfectly centered on the stamp. That would mean it is a #114.

Here is the back of the jackson. I dont see a grill, but I didn't notice one on the 114 either, I need to get a magnifier, maybe that will help. Also sorry I dont have a scanner so these are pictures with my camera.

I don't see a grill on this so it is a #73. Shine a flashlight horizontally across the back of a stamp. It can reveal grills as a setting sun creates easily seen shadows, on a pebble for example, just before disappearing on the horizon. I've found a number of weak or ironed out grills with this technique.

Just in case this will help anyone else... to see grills, put the stamp in lighter or watermark fluid and then pull it out and watch it dry. If there is a grill (even a really faint or pressed out one), you will see it just before the stamp becomes totally dry.

-Allen

I have the same problem. I recently purchase a #73 on ebay, but when I received the stamp, noticed a faint 84 and 11 x 14 penciled on the back. I viewed it with a 10x lighted magnifier, and there is a grill. I counted 18 one direction, but it get's too faint to tell how many grill squares in the other direction. My stamp is not a #73 correct? Seems to me it is either a #84, 85b, 87, or 93. I'm an amateur and don't know the secret to stamp identification. I have looked at the grills over and over (old eyes) and can't make out the direction or type of grill. Can anyone help?

scan the front and back and someone will see whats needed to identify it. good luck.