Plating An 11A With A Poor Impression - Pinkish? 1R3?

This stamp in interesting because of the color. I'm aware of the rarity of the pinkish shade, but this one is lighter and pinker than any of my light claret or other pink-like color references, so I'd like to see if I can learn more about it.

It is a Type II 11A.

I'm about 75% sure is is a B-relief, but the oval is broken up because of the poor impression, so it is really hard to tell.

I can't see any guide dots, but maybe there is a faint one right at the upper right.

I don't see any recuts other than the inner frame lines.

I think it is a top left position 1 stamp based on the wide margins on top and left which narrows down the choices considerably.

Of the position 1, Type II stamps, it looks most like 1R3. Everything looks like it is in the right place, but some of the line thicknesses are a little different - maybe just because it is a bad impression?

Anyone else think this is a 1R3? Ot not?

And does anyone know why this is such a bad impression - it looks like something different than just a work out plate. . .the ink impression is "pitted."

And finally, does anyone know what plates the pinkish shade comes from or any other way to tell if I might have a pinkish?

I also included an image with the cancel enhanced in case that helps. . .I can't tell where it was cancelled, but maybe someone else will be able to see it.

Looks lie Philadelphia to me.

Philadelphia, PA, I think.

Pinkish 3c stamps are rarer than 596's, I think. I was never able to find one in years of looking, and this certainly isn't one.

You have a worn impression.
Bill Amonette, the color expert, used to have a separate card for worn impressions, and he would call them just that, and not colorize them usually. I'm sure Winston can add something to this.

edit: I see you are asking why the impression looks like this - the plates wore over time. The 3c stamp was heavily used and the plates that got used the most wore quite a bit. Finely detailed lines in the plate get lost due to wear, and become white - i.e. don't hold ink anymore.

Thanks.

I don't think this is likely a Pinkish either, but I have no idea how to tell if I had one. I have a pretty good reference collection of colors (stamps with Bill Amonette notes) except Pinkish and Plum, so I can tell if something is not in the range of the commoner colors, apparently, at least if it isn't a worn plate example. This one is "pinker" than any others that I have. If I found one that had a non-worn impression that looked pinker than the pale clarets and pale rose, etc. shades, would that be a candidate?

Maybe I'll go post this in the "I think I found a valuable stamp" section along with my super rare purple Thomas Jefferson stamps from the 1940s. :)

I'm sure you've seen these, but I'll post them anyway, mostly to illustrate how I always saw worn plate varieties treated:

http://stampplating.com/pdfs/ChaseC...hart-013.jpg

And pinkish - an 1856 color:

http://stampplating.com/pdfs/ChaseC...hart-016.jpg

The top of the left frame line on your stamp is too close to the diamond block to be 1R3 and the right inner line doesn't go up as far as 1R3. There is another top row plate 3 stamp, not a corner stamp, that is a better match.

It looks to me like a dry paper impression.

You make a valid point, in that Plate 1L stamps showed the most wear overall, and this is clearly not a 1L stamp.

edit: I had the same thought, that this is deceptively not going to be a corner copy.

I think a dry print is a reasonable explanation for the worn-plate appearance of the impression. It appears to be an 1854 rose red printing to me. Since plates 2L and 3 produced much better impressions than this, even into 1857, a cause other than plate wear is indicated. Plate condition was only one of a multitude of constantly changing variables that contribute to print quality, or lack there of.

If you consider that the pinkish shade is a variation of yellowish rose red, you might not expect to find the pinkish shade printed from either Plate 2L or 3. It is believed that those two plates were possibly being cleaned during the period that stamps were being printed in the YRR shade. On the other hand, I have seen pinkish stamps identified by Amonette, that were a pale claret as far as I was concerned. The pale clarets are an early 1857 shade.

Is this a 4L3?

No other top row stamp from plate 1L, 2L or 3 matches, and it is definitely a top row stamp. I didn't check any of the other plates. If it were my stamp I'd take a quick look at 5L just to feel sure.

I realize it seems improbable but I still say Plate 2L or 3. I just spent a few minutes and 2R3 has a real chance 5R3 is also close. If I am correct about the 1854 shade, it can't be Plate 5L.

4L3 for sure. If guide dot evidence isn't enough, left inner line difference proves it.

Pretty sure it is an 1854 Rose. I'm calling it "Very Pale Rose Red (Dry Printing)"

2R3 has the right inside frame line going up too high.
5R3 left rosette is further left in relation to the inner left frame line.

I agree with 4L3.