#23 Earlier Than The Erd Suggested In The Unitrade

Here are some pictures showing the stamp with a cancelled date DEC 23,1868.
The 2012 Unitrade catalogue gives an E.R.D Jan 28,1869

I used ACDSee Pro 4 software (pictures organiser...) and played with the tools by feelings not by experience
On the first pic, you can guess for the entire date. I think it is : Dec 23, 1868

For sure, the month is December, the "12" between the 2 slashes
the first digit seems to look like a "2" and the second one a "3" for "23" for the date and finally
the year : for sure we have a "6" as the first digit and a close up let believe the last digit to be an "8" for "68"

Playing with the tools of the sotware, here is a much better picture of the date confirmed to be Dec 23,1868

Nice job Koala!

Hello Koala:
How close is the colour of your scan to the original? You are assuming that your stamp is the yellow orange, but it may, in fact, be an Orange Brown or a light variant of the brown red. I checked the catalogue for the Menich sale of Large Queens and find that the Orange Brown is pretty scarce and has an ERD of August 10, 1868. Check your paper type and the perforation. In the Menich sale, the orange brown (lot 877) sold for $288 - and that was 15 years ago. This may be worth a submission to the Greene Foundation for expertization.
GJP

Good job Koala !
It would be logical that your stamp is a 22 and not a 23. Never heard about the orange brown and it is not listed in Unitrade. Would you have more info regarding this gportch ?

It reminds me the shades of the Unitrade A465A, the brown orange and the more orange one which are easier to differenciate under a UV lamp!

First picture : 4 different shades that I have classified as follow
1) #22, red brown on thin paper
2) #22i, red brown on thick soft white blotting paper
3) #23a, yellow deep orange (first printing)... it is a deep orange
4) #23, yellow orange



gportch :
The scan revealed a more brownish than a more yellowish as the original in hand
perf : 12 1/4 x 12
paper type : see back of stamps scan - I took #22, right hand side, (thinner of the group) compared to the supposed #23 - images close to reality except for the colors... close but not 100%



According to here
http://www.die-briefmarke.com/empir...-stamps.html

"The postage rates for the periods of Large Queens
½c - periodicals of less than 1 ounce in weight, replaced in July 1882 by the small ½c.

1c - circulars, books, etc. per ounce, replaced in January, 1869 by the 1c yellow"


... and the Unitrade catalogue goes along with the story...

Dam Queens

Beautiful stamps Koala. Your analysis seems logical.But these are so confusing.

It's a hand cancel, Dec 23, 1868... only 4 weeks from Jan 28, 1869

I showed it yesterday at the local club, about the color. One person out of 9 did not agree saying il was a brownish yellow instead of yellow orange, a pale brownish yellow he said
All the others voted that it was more orange yellow than brownish...

The scan here doesn't show the real color which seems to be brownish and that I would agree.
I don't know if there is somebody out there who could tell how to come up with a through color after scanning and playing with a software.

The big move, I'll bring it to an expert...

Let us know the result ! Very curious about this one.

If you have a Bothwell paper example, I would love to see a scan

If I can play devils advoctae for a second and maybe save the fees-- Regardless wether it turns out to be a 22-23 you have to consider it is a script handwritten cancel and thus subject to human error. Usually with a script cancel like this the stamp may have been used for a revenue type purpose rather than postal . The person writting the date may have been for a totally different purpose than postally cancelling so it is highly doubtful they would certify it as an actual early release date. However I would label it ERD in my collection since it does clearly state that date. Great stamp .

Coriandre, the scans you see are very close to reality : white, smooth to the touch...

Nitrolures you have a good point and I take it in account.
I will bring this observation to an expert, my next move.

It might take few days but I will let you know for sure

Coriandre, I am not sure if I have any Bothwell paper example
I am not sure of anything because it is so confusing.

From your previous topic on this subject and BeeSee's comment, can we say the Bothwell paper is a very thin paper (from your 3 examples)?

BeeSee's comment :
"Apparently the stamps without the watermark (Unitrade 2012 p51)are distinguished by a distinct vertical weave giving a laid appearance, but I have never seen an example".

What I presume to be #23, it is closer to be a wove paper than a Bothwell.

I know somebody (Claude Bélanger, well known in the philatelic field)that may help on this.
I'll check and return

If anything the lines on that paper are running more horizontal than vertical but thats not to say they didn't put the paper in sideways . It does look wove opposed to strong lines either vertical or horizontal but I'm as confused as the next.

Koala: I've waited long enough. Did you pursue this?

A manuscript cancel proves nothing, unfortunately. Anyone can take a [mint no-gum OR a washed] copy and write whatever date they please on the stamp. Any expertizer will tell you the same.