Color Shades Of The 1851-57 3c Washington And H2o2

A similar paper, in English, is available here:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...OAzhJRq0VW0a

The issue appears to be mostly with stamps printed with lead as part of the ink formulation.

The Collector's Club of Chicago published studies of plastics and papers. I have not read them (yet), so I don't know how extensive the studies were or how scientific they were.

The CCC formed a funded study group called the Salm Foundation, named for Arthur Salm who proposed the scientific study of the products philatelists use for the study, storage, and display of their philatelic material. They produced 6 booklets, all of which are accessible at the CCC website. https://www.collectorsclubchicago.o...-foundation/ Use the dropdown for "reports" in the menu bar at the bottom of the page header. All were prepared by technical authorities, but were written for general consumption. Unfortunately, due to the great variability of products then and now, these studies are of mixed value as you will see when you get into them. They will, however, alert you to the complexitiy of the subject you are trying to fathom and give you some important caveats.

I would like to point out that the way Caroll Chase and Don are using the word "restore" are not following the same thoughts. When Chase was writing, restoration meant returning an object to the condition it was in at the time of manufacture, and doing so as accurately and authentically as possible; i.e. unaltered original state. That is a far cry from the demands of automobile restoration if the vehicle is expected to maintain original appearance and still be expected to function. Automobile restoration implies reconstruction, but restoration for postage stamps does not allow for altering the original materials. Removing accretions or naturally occurring changes in appearance in order to get back to original state might be tolerated if they can reasonably be done. But chemically altering the color of a stamp when you don't already know what it looked like in the first place is just pretending to be an effort at conservation. More often is actually cosmetic alteration.

The complexities of real conservation are such that I don't recommend it for most of us. Preservation is much more to the point, and for that the Salm booklets will give you some guidance, which you will need to adjust to your own needs as a collector.

As for collecting the early stamps made with metallic based inks by color? Who are you trying to kid? If you think you can reliably restore a stamp's color to its original state, try this: Sacrifice a block and "restore" the color of each of the stamps separately by whatever combination of methods you like. Then match them up. Color restoration of old stamps is done for an approximation of original appearance, but once you do it, you should forget about collecting by "original" color.

For what its worth -

Color collecting and study of the 3c stamp actually has more value above and beyond just the satisfaction and enjoyment that a given collector gets by collecting different color varieties.

There is a well-defined progression of colors and appearances of the 3c stamp over time. Once you know it well, it allows one to effectively state that a certain stamp could not have been used prior to a certain timeframe.

It also allows one to determine that the stamp was likely used within the window of when that color variety was mostly used. Of course, there will always be a few used much later.

All of this is very helpful in dating and/or authenticating covers franked with 3c stamps, but having no other features that allow dating of the cover.

Over and under-inking on different areas of a sheet causes color variances in freshly printed stamps. Also, if the ink isn't well mixed you will get variances.

Over time, different parts of the block may have had slightly different environmental issues.

Environmental issues aside (spilling lasagna on one position of the block), the different color varieties that one sees on a printed sheet will all be valid colors printed for the time frame, even if they are different on the same sheet, or block.




Noone is claiming that this is 100% accurate/perfect, but it appears to be pretty close. Close enough.

This is crux of many of the debates that surround color ID in our community. No matter how you slice and dice the color issue at the end of the day it is still a subjective topic.

If we polled all the community members for the 'prettiest women currently in Hollywood' a list could easily be developed. But the problem of subjectivity enters if we tried to narrow it down to the 'top three prettiest women currently in Hollywood'.

Same for color, I think we could get a majority consensus on the significant hues of the 3 cent stamps. But when it comes down to a very subtle delta between 'orange' and 'reddish orange' subjectivity rears its ugly head.

Add in the additional technology variables (scan accuracy, saved file compression, optimized file uploads, monitor variances, video CPU driver deltas, etc.) and the issue of 'close enough' starts looking more and more significant.

If an expert told me that the $10 stamp I was thinking about purchasing was 'close enough' I would pull out my wallet. But if the expert told me that the $1000 stamp I was considering buying was 'close enough' I am taking a pass.
Don

This illustrates the value of being an educated, informed collector in this area, versus simply handing out money for stamps.

I will also say that, particularly for the rare colors, a spot-on, perfect example of a rare color is a highly desirable item. Much more so, than one that qualifies, but is at the end of the spectrum.

edit: Of course many specialized color collectors will want examples of the whole spectrum of colors. Pale to Deep, Dull to Bright and so on, per the Chase/Amonette terminology.

It may be that the majority of stamps out there with certificates or expert opinions fall in the category of "close enough". Everybody that has an interest in collecting shades should understand that. Perfect examples of rare shades are almost impossible to find.

Just some info for what it's worth.

..Showed our still working 80 y.o. Pharmacist this thread about H2O2. Whether he is losing his marbles, I don't know, BUT he stated ALL H2O2 solutions(weak or strong) contain degrees of BLEACH. INK & Bleach are not good friends so to speak without deliberately offending any collector.

Bleach is NaClO. Hydrogen Peroxide is H2O2. . .totally different chemicals.

I agree with Philazilla.
The pharmacist is confusing the "big B" Bleach, a specific chemical compound, with the "little b" bleach being a verb that many chemicals will bleach the color away - most familiar in the "bleached blonde".

Philazilla...Do you mean NaOCI for bleach...??

Robert

Yes. :)

I don't know who in our community is looking; but, tomorrow's Schuyler Rumsey auction Lot 1011, which is listed as an Amonette Color Study is going for $6,750 hammer right now. Crazy, if one looks at all those highly sulferated stamps in that lot! So, the bottom line is that at least two people MUST be very interested in 1851 3c imperforate color today to pay that much money for the study. I have no idea how anyone could figure out what the underlying colors are with all that sulfer.

Re an earlier post that mentioned electronic evaluation of color and digitization of scanned color into a value.....if this is possible and real, I would love some hints of where to go figure this out. I have the scanner most of us use and I works great. But, I have not seen where/how to get this to translate to some iron-clad digital value set that others could rely on. Any hints from the community?

As an aside, I have found this online pdf of an old publication extremely informative re what to do, how to do, and, what not do to our stamps....

The Dealers; Guide to Chemical Restoration of Postage Stamps

http://www.philaworld.ch/buecher/De...20stamps.pdf