1d Red KGV With Frame Break Variety

Does anyone have any thoughts on this variety?:




And while on the subject of 1d red KGVs, does anyone know if there's a recognised issue on gray paper? I have one that's one a distinctly gray or almost clay coloured paper.

It looks like a scuff/abrasion of the paper, especially with the cancellation missing at that spot and a slight lightness in colour.

Turn the stamp edge on to the light source and examine with a magnifier to see if the surface is slightly raised/damaged there.

I hurt my eyes trying to tell if there was a scuff or not!

I think it would take a microscope to get a good look at the affected area.

What makes me think it might be a genuine variety is that the frame above thins out quite significantly.

It looks very much like a scuff to me. Holding the stamp at an angle to the light should show it up nicely.

Yes, I agree now. It's the slightest scuff I've ever seen. Normally, when you hold a stamp up to the light you can see discernible thinning in the affected area, but this is not the case here. Any thoughts on my gray paper variety?

Can you post a high resolution scan of the 'grey paper' KGV (front and back)?

Will do!

Here it is (paper is actually even grayer in natural light than in the scan):



Here's the reverse (at right) with a normal KGV on the left:



I recall that some Austrian stamps issued during the war also appeared on dingy gray paper.

It looks like it could do with a short soak - plenty of evidence of dust on the back which may explain the overall 'grey' appearance.

If it's an aniline shade it may bleed a little, so of course it's up to you what result you want (and also considering whether there's original gum that some collectors like to retain regardless of the look of the back) but if it were mine I'd probably give it a short cleansing soak and see how it looks.

I see what you mean now about the value of short soaking in very hot water. It's definitely cleaner looking now, although still gray.

jimjamtwo, are you able to post scans front and back of the cleaned version next to another (non-aniline) penny red?