R42-D 20cent Inland Exchange, No Price Listed

Just noticed that Scott Specialized 2015 does not list a price for this variety. There are a few other revenues that dont show a price for silk variety either. Can someone please enlighten me. Is it in the 2016 edition? There has to be some folks that have copies of the R42d???

It is not priced in the 2016 edition. I am not personally aware of any examples of R42d. It is on my wantlist but I have never seen one offered. There are two certs listed at the PF as attempts to certify, but both were negative opinions (i.e., just regular R42c).

You'll find more than one early revenue where it is debated whether the stamps actually exist. The Scott catalog should not be taken as gospel.

Pretty sure I have a dead ringer. I will upload a scan when I get home. It has 2 light blue silk fibers, one visible from the face, one from the back. If you would give it a look and opine, I would consider getting it certified. The second example I have is a dark blue silk thread. Looks legit, but not 100% certain. I thought it would be a fairly common stamp. The reason I even asked is because I did not see one on your web site.

Do they have dated cancels? They must be 1870 or later.

At least one of them is dated 1871 with HS canx. I think the ringer is manuscript and may not show the date. Is having a date mandatory for a cert?

the Boston book does not list an R42d. It also does not list an R42 on thick paper. I know there are a few known silks not listed by Toppan Deats & Holland, but I'm skeptical until I see one.

looking at it again, they do show a dull rose on medium paper. Bart, would that be the correct shade for a silk?

Can't say without seeing it. Stamps like this need to be seen and cannot be done any other way. Having a date is not mandatory but it helps to eliminate obviously impossible stamps. Having an 1871 date and some threads probably makes it worth spending the $27 for a PFC.

Can't wait to see the scans of the backs of the stamps.

Ill post them in a few hours.

Here are the pictures. Yes they stink, but should be able to form some opinion. I am not the image master and my usb microscope is not the best, scanner too.. First piece of silk located in top right corner just to right of "20" seen from front, second is in the bottom right 20 as seen from reverse side (left if viewed from front). They are diagonal from each other. When viewed into light source, they both are well defined. I will work on some better pics if needed.









As Stampcrow mentioned, these seem to be an a medium paper. The other new arrival is a Foreign exchange, not 2 Inland as I thought, and will post in a few. I have a 2nd R41d as well, R41 and R42 are same medium paper type. The most recent R41 is a darker shade of silk and Im a bit skeptical I found another.

It looks like a blue thread, but the paper type seems wrong for a 1st issue silk paper. There are times where you will find blue threads on a stamp but it is not a silk paper. Rather, the blue thread was part of the debris in the vat.

Wrong size, wrong shape, wrong paper. Not silk.

I will admit, the paper type had me worried. It differs from the other 1st issue silks. The paper type seems different(thicker) from earlier years of this stamp, so it was worth a post. I kept my day job, thank goodness. Thanks for the opinions, the R41 is same paper as well, so that answers both posts. Sure does take awhile to get paper variety's perfect.

The paper is tough because it is 1860's paper from 3 different companies over a 9 year span. Plus they went from rag pulp to wood pulp because the cloth scraps that were designated as rags were needed for bandages and other wartime needs. Rag paper is the thin hard paper; the wood pulp paper is the medium to thick softer varieties.

darn! RW I was root in for you just the same!