#121 Color Of Cancel?

Is it possible that this hand cancellation is green? Could be blue, but sure looks green against the ultramarine in the stamp!

Looks green to me too, but I am no expert. Hopefully one of the experts on this forum will let you know whether this stamp is worth sending in for certification.

Is it just pen strokes?

After filtering looks green too me.

Black pen cancel.

Does a green manuscript cancel qualify for the premium?

To establish green you would have to use a camera or scanner that is properly white calibrated. These images do not appear properly color calibrated. I am seeing black ink. It should be kept in mind that many black inks of this period contained chemicals that are subject to change in color over time based on exposure to air or light.

I understand about the image... I only have an iPhone for photos at this point, but In person the ink does appear green... I Will also point out that this stamp is often a bit faded ( certainly not as much is the 90 cent one), and this particular copy has minimal fade. Should I send it for expertizing? Will experts "weigh in" on color of cancellation?

It is black ink. Green cancels are distinctly green. I have never seen a green pen cancel of that vintage anyway. Perhaps someone else has. If you have to debate whether or not it is green it is not green.

It MIGHT be blue. But it doesn't look black at all to the naked eye, and I have hundreds of black pen cancels - nothing even close to,this.....

Does anyone have a green manuscript cancel to share?

The Scott catalog lists many different types/colors for cancellations. Often included in the list is "pen cancel", separate from the list of color cancels. While "pen cancel" is not listed for Scott 121, I still think that a pen cancel would not be considered a "green cancel" regardless of the ink color. In addition, rodgcam is correct in that black pen cancels (or blue for that matter) can appear green. One last point ... the color cancellation premium is for an almost full unfaded strike on a very fine stamp. A lesser quality stamp OR cancellation would reduce the premium. Probably not worth certifying ...
Added: A search of the PF cert database for Scott 121 turns up exactly one pen cancel (a violet one), 6 certs with the word manuscript in the description, and one cert with "green" in the description ... the last is a stamp with a black cancel along with a green "Bremen/Franco" transit cancel.

Thanks- very helpful and informative.

IF it were green (which I am not convinced it is) it woyld not carry and color premium as it is a pen cancel and in fact as a pen cancel it would lower the value.

Except that only one pen cancel exists in the PF database.

To the best of my knowledge, colored cancel premiums are for postmarks - or at least for struck markings.

Pen cancels are pen cancels.