Is This A Scott 63 Dark Blue???

I have copied a cover with the stamp in question and placed a 'normal' blue 63 next to it in the same scan. The stamp on the cover is a real intense blue but am uncertain what the 'ultramarine' is supposed to look like.

Caper, we had a topic on the 63a and 63b a few months ago....Essay was posting the information and it was and is an excellent resource.

I think if you look for it, you'll see that you don't have 63a or b.

I'd love to know the year on your cover and I'm guessing it's a '61. looks like on my mobile, one of the confusing '61 3c shades from '61....salmons, salmon roses, salmon rose pinks... very difficult to ID, even in hand, let alone from a mobile phone. Nice cover!

Thanks, Ray

Interesting thread, and love the photo comparisons and discussion. As best as I can figure the stamp on the envelope is closest to what Essay refers to as 'indigo'. The scan made both 63's appear a bit lighter than they appear to the naked eye. I was tempted to adjust the hue of the scan to more closely resemble what I see but felt it best to leave well enough alone for viewers.

As far as the 3c, I don't know the color. Can't now but will provide a side-to-side comparison with some other 3c'ers if that will help.

There are no other indications of what year it might be than the cancellation you see.

Ray.mac - I scanned the cover with two other #65's. One is sort of a faded variety ? and the other I'm guessing is a dull red. I hope this will make it easier to determine shade.

For a second I thought this cover was paying the carrier fees on both ends, which would make it a rare cover according to Ashbrook.

Nonexistent according to Elliot Perry.

I would not be very quick to dismiss the 1c stamp as a 63b.

Ashbrook found postal information that made it possible. I recently read a 1941 Stamps Magazine article.

Every 63b on ebay with a cert looks an awful lot like this as does the dark blue shown on Essay's post on 63 colors. I am not sure it is worth a cert tho as there 'appears' to be a tear on the top. The 3c color is also in question, the one with the 150 year old fingerprint.

Elliott Perry published a rebuttal to that article. If you have access to the BIA 1981 reprint of the Pat Paragraphs you should read pages 233-242.

I would just hang on to the cover if it was me. Both of the 3c stamps are 65's.

I'm with sinclair2010 on this one for both the 1c and 3c stamps. The 1c is darker than we usually see them, but whether it is dark ENOUGH and the right shade of blue to be a 63b we cannot tell from a scan online. And that problem will not go away even if you could surround it with shades of the 1c. Now if you were to have a scan of it side by side with a certified 63b in the same scan, that would be a big help, but in the end you need to have an expert looking at the stamp itself. Whether that is worth it or not depends upon how badly you want to know.

Thanks for all the great input.

Essayk - I probably wouldn't be a stamp collector today without 'wanting to know'. Otherwise it's like running a marathon and quitting 10 feet from the finish line.

There's one thing to say about crossing the finish line on this one cent. If they cert it as a 63b then you have a nice reference example to use as a touchstone against future "candidates." Alternatively you might be able to pick up a certified reference example of 63b on ebay for cheap and use it to help you with this one. That would probably be the better money - IFF you can get it.

Update: I finally sent this in along with another item for a cert as essayk's comment prompted me to action, though belated. I now have my 63b reference copy!

Wow - nicely done!! That's the kind of update we like to see - congrats!!