I'm A Little Hazy On These Two

I recently picked-up these two stamps listed separately and described as SC# 563(left) and 563b(right).



563s are listed in the catalogue as:

563 A166: 11¢ greenish blue
563a 11¢ light bluish green
563b 11¢ light bluish green, printed on "special" booklet paper.

The notes say that 563b is slightly wider than than the other two due to the paper grain running in the perpendicular direction.

Here is a split-screen of the top and bottom halves of each stamp:



The top half is slightly wider than the bottom, except the stamps were described backwards (narrow one was listed as the "b").

So, can I get some opinions on which 563s these are?

Thanks,

Al

The stamp on the right, reminds me of stamps I was given
collected and stored in plastic coin pockets.

The plastic caused the stamp ink to diffuse causing that
overall smudgy look and lack of clarity.

Yes, the clarity of the left stamp is much better than the right. I'm not sure if that might be a difference in the ink, paper absorption, non-archival storage, or what; but that's not my issue.

The left stamp is predominantly blue and the right stamp is more of a green. I would assume that "greenish blue" would look mostly blue with a green tinge, and "bluish green" would be the opposite. That would make the left stamp a 563 and the right stamp either a 563a or 563b, but judging by the widths in my split-screen image, the top (left) stamp is a bit wider which would make it the "b". Also, Scott throws another monkey wrench into the deal by saying that "many other intermediate shades exist for Nos. 563 and 563a, all falling within the blue or green color families.", with no similar note for 563b.

I guess, if nobody else wants to chime-in, I'm going with the left stamp being the 563b and calling the "hazy" one the 563.

Al

I remain unconvinced that one stamp is actually wider than the other. The bottom stamp is tilted a bit to the left, giving the appearance that the right edges do not align. To be convincing, you need a template that show the alignment at both top & bottom.
Incidentally, I do have both a 563 & a 563b ... the widths & heights are slightly different. Note that my images, like yours, are slightly askew. But hopefully the differences are a bit more obvious.
Added: In my experience, you can frequently detect the varieties on special booklet paper by carefully measuring a stamp's aspect ratio (defined here as long-side/short-side). The aspect ratio for 563 is usually 1.16, for 563b 1.12. These can vary by a hundredth or so in either direction. A stamp with AR of 1.14 would effectively not be identifiable via this method. Note that this method can be used to identify stamps without accurately knowing a stamp's dimensions. You can even use computer images to identify such stamps being sold on eBay or HipStamp.
Added: I measure an AR of about 1.17 for both of your stamps. So your 563b is probably a 563a.
Added: The AR of rogdcam's example from the PF databse is 1.12.

BreefmackUSA - Your 563b looks very similar to this example from the PF database:

http://pfsearch.org/pfsearch/pf_grd...lledfrom=lkp

JLLebbert - Thanks for the examples!

rogdcam - I can't seem to get that link to load (?)


I purchased both of the above stamps from the APS Stamp Store and it was the darker, clearer, stamp that was listed as the 563b - I had that wrong in the original post, but found the sales sheet scan I had made at the time.

Then I found another one in my Plate# Singles stockbook:



Also checked Stamp Smarter and see that the width can vary from zero to a half millimeter and the height by a half millimeter plus. Also, the Hayes' forehead was retouched (not sure how) for the 563b; so I'm thinking none of these are 563b's.

Anyhow, thanks again!

Al

I agree with you. The center one is likely 563, the outer ones likely 563a. Just saw a 563b (being offered as a 563) on eBay, but it has a tear in the selvage near the bottom right corner.

I was always of the belief that it is reversed with the 563a in the center and the others being 563.


563 left 563a right. Or have I had it backwards all this time?

stallzer, I do indeed think you have it backward. A check of the PF database shows a mix of the two colors for 563 ... but all 563a & 563b are of the greener shade (light bluish green). I'm guessing that some of the 563 certs are actually for 563a. I would judge your right stamp to definitely be 563. The left stamp may be 563a, but most of the 563a seem to have even more green and be of a lighter shade than yours. That said, I would still lean towards the 563a for the left one. Bluish green (563a & 563b) vs. greenish blue (563). By the way, I checked and neither of your stamps seems to be on special booklet paper.