Thin, Hard Vs. Soft, Porous Paper.

Is there a reliable way to tell thin, hard paper from soft porous. This comes up fairly often with old stamps, but I am here directly concerned with where to put some Interior Dept. official stamps. The initial issue of 1879 was on thin, hard paper. Second edition, a different co. but apparently the same plates, on soft paper.

One of my stamps is mint. Oops, I forgot. That's a flavor. One of my stamps has the gum on it, which makes it even harder to get a sense of how hard the paper is.

Thanks for your help.

Don

Hold it up to the light. Thin hard paper will be bright and translucent. Soft paper will show a distinct mottled effect and the weave of the paper will be very apparent; it will also be much less bright. Gum or no gum should not matter at all.

If you are familiar with the difference between hard and soft paper of Bank Notes, it is essentially the same.

I can relate to what you are saying about the different Official papers. Initially just holding the stamp to the light and the thicker paper should be darker and you should see the weave except the 3Center. I had a 1/2 sheet on hard paper that showed the weave. The shades are different between the hard and soft papers-you will realize this with time. The 1Cent, soft paper used,(only had one) is probably the scarcest stamp of the set then the 24Cent-never had a used one but several original gummed ones.. Where you will have the biggest problem with paper types is the Treasury Department 3,10 and 90Centers and 3Cent Post Office. The reason for this is the Continental printed on a double paper, or they state so in Scott. Years ago it was normal to soak the thicker layer from the thinner front and fold the back back. Now the stamp wouldn't receive a grade higher than 50 if that was done. I don't have any faith in any expertizing agency to give you a honest opinion between soft paper and double paper. In fact I believe you can actually split a soft paper stamp in the same manner. You will notice the Continental 90Cent double paper has no value? Who would damage a soft paper 90Cent Treasure to see if its a double paper? I hope this was helpful.

This might help..
http://www.stampsmarter.com/1847usa...perTypes.htm
Don

Thanks, guys.

I'm pretty sure my stamps were soft paper.

Don