ggreve... thanks for the article excerpt... the one thing it pointed out which coincides with a conversation I had with a very experienced collector of 70/78 was the possibility of being a changeling... this is the one element that makes the most sense to me.
Possibly chemical/environmental exposure. As we see on the purple/violet/gray 1st issue revenues, the pigments were notoriously unstable and exist in a wide range of colors.
It is a color changeling and it is in no way a Steel Blue whatsoever. The easiest way is to look at the perfs on the left, see how they are ragged looking? OK, those were seen, if memory serves, pretty frequently in 1866 or so. You also see these very commonly on F grills but on those they're frequently ALL rough.
That's caused by worn perforator pins.
Another clue is the lack of sharpness in the impression; Plate 8 was used for around 50,000 impressions over its' lifespan and by 1866-7 it was nearing the end of its' life, when the Steel Blues were printed the plate was very young and a true steel blue has a nice sharp impression to it.
Disclaimer: While a tremendous amount of effort goes into ensuring the accuracy of the information contained in this site, Stamp Community assumes no liability for errors. Copyright 2005 - 2026 Stamp Community Family - All rights reserved worldwide. Use of any images or content on this website without prior written permission of Stamp Community or the original lender is strictly prohibited. Privacy Policy / Terms of UseAdvertise Here
Posted 08/29/2017 11:41 am
