Greece Scott# 14A Question.

Hello. Is this a Greece Scott #14a? I notice it has the coarse printing, notice the Coarse printing (extra shading on neck).

What do you think?

I would put this in the 1862-67 Consecutive Athens printing. (Shades exist)
Scott: 21a,21b
Hellas: 20I-20II
Hermes : 34

Thank you.
Do you think it is Unused? It looks a little dirty, I am not sure if that is a faded cancellation or not.

Looks like evidence of a cancel at the right-hand side, do you think?

Could be unused but stains cover it…
Interesting stamp because it's on horiz. laid paper …

In regards to the "Consecutive Print", notice how near the back of the neck collar, it is not as heavily shaded?

I put together a couple comparisons between the 21/21a & the 14a




What do you think?

Does your stamp have any relief in the white parts? The cheeks, neck for example..

You can't use 1 cat illustration only.The stamps can be found with multiple varieties..
a Hellas 20Ib below:

Not as much relief in the neck as the 21/21a, which is the closest contender. I am confident that this is a 14a based on the picture you just posted. Th front hair curl is a big factor in telling the difference. The color is spot on as well.

perf12, it only looks like its on horizontal laid paper. The clear stamp mount I put it in makes it look like that, it makes everything look like that, it is annoying.

Nano, the Greek Hermès heads are some of the most confusing in all philately. There is a quite informative thread that might help you.

https://goscf.com/t/18134&SearchTerms=Herm%E8s

The pronounced relief is not always there even in the Consecutive printings.One of the
main problems between the 1st Athens pinting and the Consecutive Athens printing.

The best way is to confirm with an already identified type and find printing flaws in the stamp that re-occur between the 2 pprintings.It takes some work though.

Nice. Looks like I got my work cut out for me then. I am hoping that is not a cancellation in the bottom right, could be just a dirty fingerprint.

In regards to the, "white relief" on the cheeks, this stamp is visibly dirty, I guessing it was stained overtime by various elements. Notice the dirty water stain on the back. That being factored in, it looks like Hermes just got finished working in a coal mine. So it makes any "white relief" visibility next to nothing. I am hoping it is under all that dirt.

Having looked closer at your stamp we can say that it is No.14.Certain defects in the
printing like the red bleeding (dark ink residue) in the right frame and upper corners;and
under the "A" in PAMM..These darker ink defects are frequent in the 1st Athens printing.
(Chemical effect,the varnish yellows)
This might have contributed in the occurrence of the famous yellowish wash evident in some
of the 1st Athens prints of the 5,10,20,40 lepta

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My conclusion is based on the "yellowish wash " that covers most of the stamp.This is
in fact a varnish residue.Varnish as principally a mixture of solvent,binders and additives.There are 2 main types of varnishes:oleoresinous and nonoleoresinous
The former was used in our case and incorporated linseed oil as a drying oil,
manufactured at much higher temperatures and under vigorous conditions than the
latter. Solvent used (as petroleum distillate.
(extract from The Large Hermes Heads of Greece_Printing Observations
K. Papathanassiou)
*So this yellow residue is a remnant part of the printing process in this issue.(so it is normal)
Link too the extract:
https://www.academia.edu/4348347/Th...Observations

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A No.14Ib with strong yellowish wash.A stamp with imperfections that sold 300 euros(Karamitsos pic)

i doubt it.