Canada Small Queen #37 3c Montreal And Ottawa Printings I.d.

Bee also on your on cover copy the paper is nice clean white paper which was used in the begining . We almost need a plate specialist on here. Also what is with the N in Canada?????

One discussion about older stamps of yellow or red colour and the reaction with sulphur in the atmosphere.
https://goscf.com/t/15068

and
https://goscf.com/t/8536

Note: Do Not use hydrogen peroxide with stamps with gum as you will lose the gum.

From member khj in thread https://goscf.com/t/6803

Nitro, I get 11.9 x 12 on your third stamp.

I checked the N on my above stamp under a scope and it is a bit of the stamp ink - I first thought is was cancellation ink.

Peroxide bath before and after -I"M SHOCKED
These are 5 of the 6 previously pictured after a few minutes in peroxide (3% standard home use)- From this little experiment it is pretty safe to say that color charts are pretty useless.

Bee See - Your one on cover, I was refering to the N in Canada which looks to have an extra hump on the top in white. May just be an ink pull but strange just in that one spot.

Not so, you just should recognize when a stamp has been affected by chemical changes from it's environment.

The hydrogen peroxide removes the residue from the chemical changes that the ink went through from sulphur in the atmosphere so you see the original colour, or more of it than before the wash.

Any brownish or blackish tinge on a stamp should be suspect. For example all of your 6 stamps, in your first scan, I had thought were 'ozidized' (easier to say!) to some extent. None, because of this, could show their proper colours.

Presto, some nice #41's!

Nitro, I assume you mean this:



It is stamp ink. It looks darker in the scan.

Nitro: thanks for the great depictions. I have always put off doing the bath bit but given your results I just might make it a project one winter's night.

I was just reading again the small queens listing in the 2012 Unitrade, and I notice what may be two errors;

1) #37a Rose is listed as a Montreal printing, with an 1870 year date. However, the Montreal printings did not begin until March 1973. I assume 37a should say Ottawa, which is what I believe my stamp on cover above is.

2) In the table on page 55, under the heading "Montreal (1988)" the 3c is marked as #41a, but it is designated as an Ottawa printing in the catalogue listing.

Comments Studystamps? Is this an error or is there another explanation?

The ink dot on the N had me thinking it should have been a smaller white area .
So now I'm left with the perf 12.5 still oxidized and no guide dot or larger left margin to help indicate a 37. back to the question is there any known case of perf 12.5 on either side on a 41 and then if so any with 12.5 x 12.35 even if rounded down to 12.25 on the other side. This is so much better than just sending for certs- Great to get everyones opinions.

I am extremely sure that the EXACT measurement of your stamp is 12.35 x 12.5 Imprecision could bump the horizontal down to 12.3, but that is the lowest. I do not see anything else with a 12.5 vertical perforation in Unitrade 2012.

Maybe a new variety?

BeeSee:

I will contact the person who created the chart in the Unitrade and find out about the specific listing entry...

Didn't they start in Ottawa go to Montreal after the fire and then back to Ottawa later. That may explain the 41a (41's in general from Montreal but that shade towards the end of the run back in Ottawa) . At some point we'll need to do a summary of what has been learned vs what needs to be figured and ideally images of known colors . Wishful thinking or good explanation for the $150 price tag on the book.

Well a spade is a spade is a spade. A Montreal printing is a Montreal Printing and an Ottawa printing is an Ottawa printing. A rookie like me needs catalogue explanation.