Newfoundland Stamp - Where Is Tommy When You Need Him..?

Hi guys (tommy)...I was trying to identify if these Newfoundland dog stamps were a 56, 57, or a 58...?

As you can see Unitrade has colours associated with these stamps..But if you look at my stamps, they all look sort of BROWN or RED BROWN.

Can anyone help, or am I missing something simple here.

Hi Wert. Maybe you should get a Yorkie?
Just kidding of course, I can see your problem. `I do not see anything that even distantly resembles red! Could your stamps be changelings?

Peter

Your examples are probably oxidized copies of the orange color.

Glenn Estus

Maybe it's the 56a... Deep rose red.

I have one exact same color.

Wert, I looked on www.Stampworld.com and they show two colors. One of them ( the cheapest one I'm afraid ) looks like it could be your color, but much lighter.

Peter

Was looking on a colour chart I have and they seem to be close to"brown red" but really close to "copper red" on this chart...

Both the rose red and orange red colors of this stamp are subject to oxidation. I believe you have some outstanding examples of this chemical change. Jerry

Wert,

Sorry that I was not on standby mode to help you. Life and work keep interfering with stamp stuff.

Tonight or tomorrow, I will scan all my variants of this stamp. These are 56 and 56a and perhaps 57. 56a is a known variant and small side note is that Lighthouse pre-printed albums only have a little pocket for 56 and 57 but not 56a. so one has to add 56a, which is worthwhile.

I believe the one in the middle is the 56a (a darker shade of the Rose Red or Orange Red). The ones on the left or right, I believe are the 56. See how the face of the one in the middle is darker?

I agree with the comments of yours being oxidized or shall we saw "weathered" extremely. The stamps are over 127 years old. How will your skin look when you are that old?

Wert, On this forum I have read a lot about color changelings and also how to bring the original color back. I am trying to find the thread, and as soon as I find something I will let you know!

Peter

Tommy...yes...please scan those colour varients and post them for me and others...

Peter...there is a waay to bring them back to oringinal colour....?
Well...I got 4 of them, so if I screw one up...I still have 3.

Well, I think someone posted some pictures a while back of some heavily oxidized stamps and at least one that he had dipped in something. If I could just remember what that something was........ But I am looking for it! Stay tuned,

Peter

Thanks Peter...apprecite it.
Robert

peter....was this the link below..
https://goscf.com/t/29402&SearchTerms=dipping

Well guy...Here is what I did...10 min. bath in peroxide...10 min. bath in clear water..See the difference...???

My guess is that any Newfoundland dog prefers a water bath to a peroxide bath.....but, whatever works, eh.

Wert,

Sorry for the delay--I will get around to scan images of all my stamps of this issue. You've prompted me to look again at my reserves and re-organize and classify them around the 3 Unitrade variants. I've got about 21 stamps, so should be good little project and I will share under different thread (one without my name listed!)

Also--I think the many comments above and your treatment are fascinating. It really caused me to think about this area of collecting versus preserving versus restoring. Its a balance, and (unlike the practice of removing stamps from envelopes, which I find undesirable), this concept of using fluids to restore or not, I am agnostic about. IE, each to his own. I say this objectively.

Subjectively, and with great respect, I would not do this with my stamps. Hydrogen Peroxide as noted above is a bleach, and while it appears to remove artifacts, it does change the color. What about using bleach? How about a solvent and then a little red-brown dye? Again, I am not against it, I just would not do it. After all, I dated a girl in college who washed her hair with the stuff to be blonder--and I much prefer reality (the red pill, not the blue pill from the Matrix) for me.

One good example, is the classic Newfoundland issue #60, in which a small quantity was lost at sea in 1890, then recovered later and issued and today are red-tinged from the seawater. Imagine before it was known, that some early collector had washed these in Hydrogen Peroxide to clean them, and then later discovered that a variant had been eliminated forever. A cover with this red tinged variant, is priceless and beyond rare (though there are used and mint versions around. Think about it--in some earlier period of between 1900 and 1920, collectors were taking covers with this red tinged 3 cent stamp, floating it off, and bleaching it and slapping a hinge on the back? Common practice then, and 20-20 hindsight now to look back and shudder...but

So, i'd leave it to experts and do not harm.

Still--its a great discussion you have sparked and kudos to you...