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 Replies: 15 / Views: 307 |
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Valued Member
United States
128 Posts |
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I received another ebay purchase and found this strange-looking stamp in it. So far, I haven't been able to find any explanation for this unusual color.  |
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Bedrock Of The Community
12700 Posts |
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Valued Member
United States
72 Posts |
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Valued Member
United States
128 Posts |
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rogdcam - So, are you saying that the purple ink somehow completely faded, while the red ink in the center was completely unaffected? |
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Bedrock Of The Community
12700 Posts |
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Yes, different colors can degrade differently and violets are notorious for being affected by environmental conditions. |
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Pillar Of The Community
Canada
2028 Posts |
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I know nothing of these stamps, quick look.
The 1 in 1919.
the A in national.
Couple other spots, could be normal for these? |
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Pillar Of The Community
United States
1026 Posts |
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It looks to me like the gray version has been chemically altered, not just UV damage to the pigments. |
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Valued Member
United States
128 Posts |
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I also think that the gray color is too uniform, and it seems unlikely that it is simply the result of UV exposure. On the other hand, how would it be possible to discolor only a specific area of the stamp's surface without affecting the surrounding areas? |
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Valued Member
United Kingdom
362 Posts |
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Aniline purple degrades to dull gray under UV.  This is a dress dyed with Perkin's mauve (aniline purple) in the 1860s (source Science Museum, London) which has faded to grey. That's assuming the ink's mauve. It appears that other purple and violet dyes also degrade, in bleach or in alkaline solutions, so maybe the stamp was washed in something. |
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Valued Member
United Kingdom
224 Posts |
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It could be prolonged exposure to sunlight or brief exposure to detergent.
It's hard to tell on a screen, but I think the centre is affected too. The "grey" stamp has less orange in it. |
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Valued Member
United States
128 Posts |
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I don't think the orange color has been affected at all. In the image, the orange color from two stamps is shown side by side (the normal stamp is on the left).  |
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Bedrock Of The Community
12700 Posts |
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Quote:
On the other hand, how would it be possible to discolor only a specific area of the stamp's surface without affecting the surrounding areas? Because, as I already said, the inks are composed of different materials. Violet is different than green is different from red is different from orange..... You seem determined to have someone else validate what you want to hear rather than an actual real answer. Do you think it is an error? Is this where you are going? It's not an error with an associated premium price. It's a damaged stamp. |
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Bedrock Of The Community
United States
10824 Posts |
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The orange has been affected somewhat; I suspect that someone deliberately played with the color in order to create an "error". So the orange wasn't played with, and only changed a small amount. |
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Valued Member
United States
128 Posts |
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rogdcam - This stamp cannot possibly be an error; otherwise, this variety would be widely known and described in the catalogs. But I don't understand the mechanism by which only one specific color could have been affected in such uniform way. |
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Pillar Of The Community
United States
1026 Posts |
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Simple really, they just chose the right chemical to affect only the one ink type. |
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Bedrock Of The Community
United States
10824 Posts |
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This idea is a very old one. It was used back around 1890 to bleach out the vignettes of second, third, and the first proprietary revenue issues of the US. This was done to create counterfeit inverted centers using essay vignettes sold when ABNCO bought up Joseph Carpenter among other bank note companies. |
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Replies: 15 / Views: 307 |
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Posted Yesterday 3:40 pm
