Continued From Previous Post About SC 634B

So the stamp on the left I am sending in for certification. Stamp on the right I just picked up from a large ebay lot. Risky I know. Have a look. Opinions welcome

Before submitting stamps for expertizing, checking ebay listings could be helpful. Doing a minimum of homework could save money and avoid anguish.

While ebay listings for 634A are hit or miss, some low-cost listings are available. Buying an inexpensive reference copy could be more effective than sending a misidentified cheap stamp in for a certificate. Search in Stamps > United States > 1900-Now Used sorted by price + shipping from lowest to highest. A couple high-priced listings are misidentified or fraudulent, so don't start there. Among the low-priced listings is one from georgetownlaw featuring a 599A and a 634A, both used. While the images are not professional quality and the seller has been the subject of chat board complaints over the years, this listing shows what it needs to show for identification. Condition is unspecified, but the price is right.

Uh, I believe the OP was referring to 634b as in Type I Carmine Lake.

So hard to tell colors on these posts Ckirby1. From my experience tho the Carmine Lake is significantly darker than the Carmine. If buying online seek out a certified copy ($$$) or a very trusted seller. As cfrphoto mentioned above check out certified listings on ebay or Siegel listings for 634b and compare those to yours in-hand.

Ckirby - Just curious as to what research and comparisons you used to conclude that you had a 634b?

The color was so far removed from 634b carmine lake that it didn't occur to me that the color was the defining feature of the stamp. I was under the impression that the OP was considering submitting the stamp as a type II 634A.

In the image below, the top row stamp with selvage at the top is a certified 634b. The stamp below it is also, but could be a lake 634f. The colors on the image are relative, not absolute. The booklet pane single to the right of the certified example is possibly the 634e carmine lake booklet pane color. The single below it is on the cusp between carmine lake and perhaps a dark carmine. The bottom stamps stamps to the right are post-1930. The group of four to the left are various 583 or 634 carmine shades.





The 634f lake cover, the basis of the Scott listing is shown below:

Very interesting cover indeed!

Beautiful cover. I live near paso robles and know that area well.
I have been going through many of these 2 cent stamps.
@rodgcam I received a tip from someone in the stamp community that I may have a 634b. Here are some pictures of what I went through and I also read the online library at stampsmarter.com

Ckirby1,
Your photos are TOO small, and TOO chaotic to tell anything from them.
Need to post much larger images, and if you want us to look at your groups, don't overlap them... it's just lazy if your asking for our help.

Is it because I am on the mobile version of this site that I can't upload larger images? My screen on this reply says 'images must be under 200kb'

I am trying to crop the pictures and keep them under a certain kb. I dont know the best way to accomplish this task on this site. Advice?

Those last images I posted were just for reference. Those stamps are what I have been looking at and going through for reference.

I will try posting better pictures in the future.

-Caleb

https://www.stampcommunity.org/image-optimizer/

Don

first stamp I think is possible 634b , second stamp I think is a heavy impression 634 and the last is a regular 634.

Caleb, try scanning all 3 together at the same time and re-posting the scan. Like Clark's picture above it will be much easier to provide help.

If you do get one or more certed post the results one way or the other on the forum. Thanks.
Paul

Here's another line-up for reference. The block to the left is a certed 634b. The stamps on the bottom row all have possibilities of being 634b or 634e (IMO). The top row are just shades of 634's.

It helps me to have the certed block for comparison so the decision is made by eye and not scans.

OK, I've gotta ask since I am not up on my US stamps. Is the color the ONLY distinguishing characteristic to differentiate a 634 and 634b, or 634e?

If I have a pile of 11 x 10 1/2 2c stamps (and I do), that number in the thousands (inexpensive flea market find), what would the best approach be to sort them out, with the hopes of finding a 634b or e?

I previously went through all of them, pulling out all the type II's, but never looked for carmine lake.

Is it just a process of elimination, like pulling out all the obvious 634's first? Are there any other characteristics to look for, dates maybe?

634e is a carmine lake booklet pane. Interesting, CV used is 2.5 x mint

thank you very much, Caper, for showing your examples. Great to have a certified one, I guess.

what I wonder still about after seeing your example, the one of cfrphoto and also one of srailstamps:
https://srailstamps.com/media/catal...5/959672.jpg

as scans never will tell the whole truth, a description of your example would perhaps help.
Is the carmine lake more a bluish red which is not necessarily dark, or is it a dark color? (the Srail example is very dark and not really bluish.)

in the PF database there are two examples where the PF declines an opinion, so it's not carmine lake. In my opinion those two could be near the "lake" color?

http://pfsearch.org/pfsearch/images/487/487167.jpg
http://pfsearch.org/pfsearch/images/465/465513.jpg