How Would You Classified This #29...

...with all the following criterias :

Dark Brownish Purple, perf 11 1/2 x 12, Bothwell paper

Your identification looks good. Have you checked for a watermark with fluid? The scan doesn't always reveal watermarks.

yes I did it twice and paid a close attention for a script writing... and nothing came out

If that is the case I think your correct with the identification you have made.

I know the identification is OK but I cannot put a catalogue number on it at least, getting to know the value of this item.

There are a couple of interesting features that push me to know more espacially because it is in the large queens world

My last resort would be VGG... unless there is something I am missing

Pressed for an exact catalogue number it is a variety of 29a on vertically wove paper. An exact number does not exist for every variety because there are so many combinations of color, papers, and perforations. The fact it appears to be on Bothwell paper and not the more common horizontal wove paper may make it a little less common. The paper identification is based on your image. The VG Greene Foundation would verify your identification if you wish to submit it.

My only problem with bothwell paper stamps is they COULD be bothwell, but as you can see from a picture courtesy of Unitrade, the "X's" show where it would be hard time to identify it as such..




And almost a #29d, as shown by what looks to have brown tinge, but monitors are deceiving at best.

Whoooo Wert! Very nice pick and now, I think I have seen what it looks to be the letter "G" right in the middle of the stamp as shown on your picture. I turned the stamp upside down, I played with the Exposure/lightening button and here what I got :



watermark : after doing this operation, I gave another watermark fluid bath and again, paid a close attention... it did not come out

can I conclude it's a #29c on a Bothwell paper?

koala...I ran it through some software and maybe...maybe I see a "G"..wait to see what others think...see picks below.

Good job wert, I see the same "curls"
How come I can't see the watermark in the "fluid"?
I just did it for the fourth time with a negative result, amazing!

Hey guys, software manipulation of a low-resolution scan is NOT the way to find a watermark. Fluid is. If you are not seeing anything in fluid then there is no watermark.

Note also that wert's image form Unitrade seems to suggest that only 5 out of 18 stamps do not exhibit a watermark on these sheets. This is not how this works. The watermarks are not spaced close together and there would be many stamps from these sheets that would not exhibit a watermark even if they were from watermarked papers. Watermarked stamps are very much the exception and not the rule even when examining samples from paper that exists with watermarks.

Wert,
I think the colour sample that would be taken from above and behind the Queen's head would be more accurate and telling. I think that any colour 'out in the outfield' in front of the Queen is more subject to fading and rubbing.

Puzzler : the watermark here is located at the bottom of the stamp, not behind or close to the queen's head.

The stamp was rotated 180 degrees and "the watermark" appears to be at the bottom of the stamp right side up

Soory, I meant only the colour of the stamp as determined by Wert's colour checking program.

Watermarks are a bit beyond me but so fascinating.

you guys are making this too hard.
- Bothwell Mills made a kind of paper that had a distinctive texture to it.
- 13 or so of the positions on the sheet, if printed on this paper, would have part of the watermark.
- 87 positions on the sheet would have been printed on the Bothwell paper, but would not have the watermark
- the only way to tell for sure if it has the watermark is to dip it in watermark fluid.
- If it has the watermark, it is Scott/Unitrade catalog number 29c. If it is on Bothwell paper, but from a non-watermark position, it is Unitrade catalog number 29v (not listed in Scott).

A watermark would show a backward letter (a Mirror image) of the letter with clear straight lines. The picture from Unitrade shows part of a sheet of 100 stamps. All the others on the sheet are unwatermaked. The perf you mention is quite uncommon for this stamp and especially for this color. Note that this perf on Bothwell paper is VERY scarce (is actually 11.8X12) and worth a certificate in my opinion. I usually combined letters to identify such stamps. For this example I would call it 29bv