Help With Belgium Stamp, Please

I'm just sorting my Belgium stamps and came across SG71 which has blue paper and SG71a which has yellowish paper. The value for the SG71 I can get from the SG website, but I need a current value for the SG71a. Can anyone help, please. Are there any other options in the later catalogue? I am assuming this is a SG71a as it is definitely not blue paper.

Thank you

Steve

If you could show a scan of the stamp I would be more than happy to look up values in my Scott catalog.

Lucky

There are 3 paper varieties to this stamp. I only have the same online catalog for the SG, so the most I can help you is using the Scott catalog values.

Scott (SG), mint/used 2009 Scott catalog values
52 (71) on bluish paper, $10/40c
52a (???) on grayish paper, $11/50c
52c (71a) on yellowish paper, $200/$35

k

Here is a photo of the stamp. I know it is damaged so the CV is not too relevent. I am more interested to know which SG number it is.
The paper does not look blue or grey.



Steve

Yet another example of a stamp design of which I have many examples, and yet have never looked at closely. Thanks for the great scan. (I'm not saying I have dozens of the yellowish-paper variety...without looking I can't say that I have any...but that design is plentiful.)

It makes me want to enlarge virtually every classic-era engraved stamp I own to see what secrets are hiding in plain sight.

Steve, I wonder if yours is the yellowish-paper variety? I haven't cracked any catalogues...if no one has yet looked at Michel, I can later...

Collin

I agree that it is not on bluish paper.

Your stamp is toned, especially on the perimeter/margins, so that has to be taken into consideration. Looking at the areas on the stamp that are not toned (such as the forehead area), it looks more like grayish paper to me. However, it's really hard to distinguish between yellowish paper and grayish paper from a pic, especially since it was surface tinted on the front side only.

If you have the 50c stamp in this set, you can use that as a comparison, because that stamp was printed on yellowish paper.

I don't have the 50c, the only other one I have in that series is the 10c on blue paper.

In hand this one just looks like white paper. I wouldn't say it is yellowish or grey.

Here is a pic under natural daylight instead of halogen lamp.




Thanks you all, for your comments and info.

Steve

Based on my 50c stamp, the yellowish paper should be very evenly tinted and clearly noticeable. The grayish paper is also very very light. I cannot confirm without physically examining the stamp, but I would say you have the grayish paper (which actually sort of off-white tint).

This is set is unlike many other European issues (e.g., Austria), in which the gray in the paper is throughout the paper (seen from both front and back) and the gray is a very dark gray.

I run into the same IDing problems with the early French stamps. The tinting shade is not always obvious until you have all the shades and can compare directly.

Not sure if that helps...

Thanks for the info, I am happy to go with grey.
Now that poses another question. What is the SG number for the grey one?

Steve

I don't have the SG catalog that covers Belgium, and the gray paper variety is not listed on their online catalog.

Somebody else will need to chime in on that one. Sorry, Steve.

Steve-

I was hoping to get a Michel number for you that you might find a conversion for, but Michel v.3, North Europe, only lists the bluish and yellow...no gray.

I don't have anything from SG that covers Belgium, either...