Scott # 512 12c Franklin Colors?

Hi Everyone,

My 2000 Scott US Specialized calls out #512 as Claret Brown and #512a as Brown Carmine. I do 6 of these with 4 being one color (lighter shade)and 2 the other color (a darker shade). My question is: which is which? I can take a picture if needed, but am hoping I won't have to go throu all that.

Thanks!

Dave N.
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Stamps are a visual thing so scans always help. Welcome to the world of colors on stamps :)

512


512a

Thanks Russ,

But say it isn't so....

I went to E-bay and searched for both the 512 and 512a. Came up with several auctions and looking at the pictures, most of them looked like they were identified reverse from what you are showing. Based on what I had seen on e-bay, I updated my duplicate list backwards. So now I'll have to go back in and swap the scott #s to match what you have shown.

Thanks for the ID help. The folks here are great indeed!

Dave N.
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Russ,

Nice stamps by the way! Very nice centering. Most of my Washington Franklins are not very well centered at all, so I think specimens as well centered as yours are not too common!

Dave N.
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Dave,
The colors are correct. The claret brown is just slightly reddish while the brown carmine is just slightly brownish. I have noticed that is is more difficult to inexpensively get well centered copies of the W-F flat plate perf 11. I got most of mine 30 years ago (before the grading craze) very cheaply.

Hi Russ/All,

Since we all like to see pics of stamps here, and since I got a few spare moments....

Here are my duplicate 512s.
Looks like the top 2 would be #512 and the bottom row the 512a ones.

You can see what the centering is like...


Dave N.
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Dave: I had a Pavlovian moment thinking I might have to reverse my numbers. I rushed off to pull out the albums only to find I had a gap. I'm sad about it after seeing those two fantastic images that Russ put on here.

Russ, that 512a is gorgeous. Having only been collecting US for 12 months, the grading craze is making finding well centered MNH stamps a real pain.

Balf

Used to be that you could get nicely centered for a small premium. Now anything over a 90 is outragous and over 95 is totally off the sceen. Most of my 1917 perf 11 are 90-98 I would think. I could never afford them today. But I thought I overpaid for them when I bought them in the 1970's and early 1980's.

Please kindly help to identify.
Perforation 11 x 11.
No Watermark.
Double checked with StampSmarter...
Looks like Scott 512, but it is too good to be true, isn't it? ))
So, what's the number?

Please help.
Thank you.

Aurora: Looks like 512 to me. Why do you think that being 512 would be too good to be true?

Yes, looks like a 512 to me. But why does this surprise you?


Peter

I would add that we should avoid scanning stamps singularly when asking about colors; single stamp images serve little useful purpose. (To form an opinion on a single image color the reader has to make too many assumptions.)

Images regarding colors should always have at least two stamps, side-by-side; this allows for a relative comparison. This was a good image

Don

.."too good to be true" because...I am "newbie" here... and often... I am too confident that I am right about Scott Number! ))
Sometimes I'm just afraid and avoid of asking questions here...

(deleted the question, I found it! Thank you for reading)

I've had a 512 for some time, and had looked off and on for a 512a to add. At one point I bought one which looked from the dealer's scan to be the brown carmine 512a, but when it arrived, it matched my 512. So I sent it back. The dealer protested that it was a 512a, but I think he had gotten himself twisted backwards.

Anyway, I just brought in the 512a on the right. Figured I might have to go through the return drill again, but indeed it is truly brown carmine. Shown next my 512 claret brown.

Another point of comparison for these two particular examples I believe: the 512a has a sharp impression of the left side of Franklin's face, for example about Franklin's nose and mouth. The 512 is not as crisp in that area.

My question then is why.
I've checked and it is not an artifact of my scanning.
Is this the result of wear and tear on the plate in that area? I know these plates went through a lot, the 12 cent was apparently an increasing workhouse for the Post Office; Johl records 383 million produced, roughly twice that of the 11 cent #511, and twelve times the 32 million for the 13 cent #513.