German Reichpost 20-PF Blue Or Prussian Blue?

I would like opinions on these two stamps. They are the same stamps, but one is a little larger and the condition varies. Trying to determine if they are the same color but it's hard because of the heavy cancellation on both. Thought?

Neither is blue. Both are shades of ultramarine; standard terminology in common usage. I suggest you go to an art supply store to look at paints and see what Prussian Blue looks like. These are nowhere close.

Going through a catalog and picking out expensive stamps you think you might have is not the way to go. It is in fact extremely unrealistic and you haven't even got to the point of dealing with forgeries and stamps altered to look like expensive ones. If you want to be a treasure hunter, stamps are not what you want to collect.

Based on the cancel dates, these are both likely Michel 48d, which is the cheapest variety.

I did not mean to offend anyone. I am not a treasure hunter by any stretch of the imagination. I searched this forum re: Prussia blue prior to posting. I checked out all of the Scotts catalogues today.. It lists two colors. Aquamarine is not one. I did not choose the stamps that are in my collection. There are nine books in total. Three of the books have over 2,000 pages, .Being rude is not a way to encourage people in this forum. I am new to this field, and your response is unwarranted. It's comments like these that drive people away. Perhaps, that's your aim .

It does not help your case that you continue to be rather hasty or sloppy in your research and generally. My 2016 Scott and 2 earlier editions state "ultra" (defined by them as an abbreviation for ultramarine) as the major color, not as you say above, aquamarine. Your post is also titled "blue" which is a listed color shade in other catalogs, but is not used or listed by Scott.

Sorry to offend you, but just because you have a lot of stamps in different shades doesn't necessarily mean you have any valuable stamps. There are often a range of shades within the major color listed in Scott, especially if the stamp had multiple printings over a period of years. Overall, there must be at least half a million different postage stamps issued at this point, with billions of individual stamps still existing. Something like 90% or even more are minimum value. I have seen quite a few collections with more volumes than yours of very little value other than the albums. Let's hope there are some better items within your collection. But if the original collector did not spend a lot of money collecting, it is doubtful there are any major items to be found.

Thank you for your input. I will keep all in mind and not post so hastily and without more research,

Bailey -- Welcome to this website ,please continue your search and continue your interest . I have a extensive German collection and also collect the various shades based on Michel catalog and find the area has a lot to offer beyond what the Scott catalog says .

Cat page with Mi.Nr.48:


Examples of the shades:
https://forum.bdph.de/showthread.ph...p-Adler-quot

Wow! Thank you for the website link and support. Those colors are very distinct. I know that my stamps are in poor condition and not worth much if anything. I'm just trying to learn while making an inventory. Thank you again.

Did not finish….Check expo
Silvio Grugel
Reichspostausgabe 1889 "Krone & Adler"
https://www.exponate-online.de/e_verteiler.asp?k=1

https://www.stampboards.com/viewtop...10&start=100

The higher-priced color varieties listed by the Michel catalog require examination by an expert. If verified, the expert will either mark the stamp, or issue a photographic certificate. This is not an inexpensive process for the collector.

With these "Crown and Eagle" stamps, candidates can be culled through examination with a long-wave UV lamp. The 20pf stamps are particularly difficult/tricky to judge.

Unfortunately, some collectors believe they can "self expertise" these colors. I don't believe a knowledgeable Germany specialist would purchase an expensive color variety without expertization.

As time goes by, catalogues list more and more varieties of color (hues, shades) for older stamps. The differences are increasingly fine and subtle, and different countries use different color nomenclature. Also, of course, the stamps are old and have experienced a wide variety of conditions. None of this would matter much if the market didn't set different sale prices for each variety, which the catalogues then reflect. I find color differentiation the most frustrating aspect of collecting, because I don't have good color vision to start with. So now I follow the advice of some other members and simply keep all copies of any stamp for which there are color variants, without worrying about which color name belongs to which individual.

Here is a website that may or may not be helpful. I say may not be helpful because determining color from a monitor doesn't work for me, even though I have a color calibrated monitor. But it is one more bit of information that may be useful.

http://www.philhaha.de/k-a-48.html

This site also has all the other issues of the the same set, and also for the "Pfennige" and "Pfennig" sets.

I collect different color shades and tints as I come across them in collections but I won't buy them. For many of the shades I cannot tell the difference. Occasionally I will have multiple expertized copies and they all appear to have different shades. Have fun!

Exactly. Yet that's still a great website, Germania. I'll save it for certain.

I cannot thank you all enough for sharing these resources. I am in the beginning stages of the German section of the book. France was rough. Belgium is another matter all together. I have book marked all of these resources and will consult before posting.