Quote:
they are publicity photos. The people that like to call them photo essays
Well first the items are not correct color reproductions of the issued stamp AND for a few, the illustrated stamp did not match the released end-product stamp issued [early photo, late small design change].
They were in fact issued by the USPS. In US philately, there are "photo-essays" going back more than a century. So the term fits. What ever the name, a buyer needs to know what they are buying. Original die proofs sell at one price and the same die proof used on a BEP card years or decades later for a stamp exhibition are both pulled from a die but price accordingly.
Michael Lawrence, former editor and publisher if Linn's Stamp News showed the US 10 cent 1869 issue competitively. His very last page always included the modern BEP card with the imprint for the original die.
@rod222
Quote:
the colour green threw me
Sorry for the confusion. The coloration came from the source from which I ripped the image which was done in poor, non-white balance lighting. If I had a white(r) version with the text reproduction use, I would have used that.

<< green or not, I am still smiling.