An Aussie In Need Of Some Assistance Identifying

Hello,
I was gifted a large garbage bag full of US stamps, however there were a few I singled out, I was looking for some help to identify them.
There are two I believe to be most fascinating, Then Benjamin Franklin with the slight markings of " Bank note Engravers" on the side, research into the transition of that company has been fun. The other is The 8c Benjamin franklin Olive, which has had a mix up with the ink, it looks like it was inked with remnants of Orange ink from its 10c counterpart. Giving the 8c stamp a beautiful arrangment of colour, thoughts??

The first stamp shows part of the selvedge
, showing the printer of the stamps.
The second stamp is a changeling; the color has been changed because of something environmental.
The third stamp is a used revenue stamp


Peter

First stamp is Scott #24. The second stamp is a perf 10 Franklin; which stamp it is depends on whether it is watermarked or not. As staqted above, it is a color changeling, it was originally green. The revenue stamp is Scott R15c.

Are changling and oxidated the same thing? I would have guessed the second one was oxidated (parts of it exposed to the sun, which turned it orange). Probably more for my education than to help the OP.

Yes,oxidated and being a changeling is the same


Peter

I have never heard of oxidated. I have heard of oxidized, which is sometimes called sulphurized. That is a specific chemical change which can be reversed by careful use of hydrogen peroxide. However changeling is usually used to describe an irreversible chemically induced color change.

Revcollector, You are correct, I should have said oxidized. Thanks for the correction. and thanks Peter for confirming that oxidized and changeling are the same.

I think revcollector is more on the mark as to usage. A color changeling has had its original color permanently changed as a result of exposure to outside elements (sunlight, chemicals, bleach etc). Perhaps one could say that an oxidized stamp is a type of changeling (a "temporary" changeling?) but it is more accurately, I think, to be thought of as a stamp that has "gotten dirty" in a way but that can be cleaned/restored.

My understanding is that sulphurization best describes the chemical process which occurs with orange stamps (ink is reacting to sulfur and not to oxygen).

I agree that using hydrogen peroxide "can be thought of as of as a stamp that has 'gotten dirty' in a way but that can be cleaned/restored." So following the same direction, it is acceptable to use chlorine bleach to 'clean' a stamp that has gotten 'dirty'. After all a bleached stamp, done correctly (meaning used to brighten a stamp without taking away the inking colors), will eventually become dingy/aged again over time.

In my opinion this is the trouble with crossing the line from conservation to restoration; we are making an exception for hydrogen peroxide. Should we not be drawing the line with the restoration process instead of the chemical?
Don

It also happens to carmine and other shades of red stamps. There is nothing wrong with restoring a stamp's original shade when nature has made it "dirty". There is nothing fraudulent about doing so. Changing it to a different, more valuable shade would be fraudulent.

Is changing the paper color back to its original bright color using bleach ok?
Don

No. Incorrect.

I would define a "Changeling" as a broad term to refer to any change brought about typically by light or chemicals.

In the chemical realm, there are acids and bases, organic and inorganic compounds, etc. Some contain oxygen, some don't, etc. "Oxidation" reactions are only a subset of the reactions which could produce a changeling. Equating oxidation and changeling as the same is not scientifically valid.

I would never use bleach on a stamp. Bleached stamps are obvious anyway, they never look natural, at least in my experience.

The location of the inscription of the 1st stamp would place it in position 41 on one of that issue's plates. The alignment of the inscription vertically would make it either plate 9 or 10. My guess is 10L41 (plate 10, 1st stamp in the 5th row of the left half of the plate).

Hello everyone, thank you for all the detailed responses. In regards to the "changeling" as it has been called, I have provided a better resolution picture, I font believe it is actually faded, as there was a Orange 10c stamp of the same design, while this yes is an 8c olive, I believe that the ink used for the orange stamp was not cleaned off properly before the run of olive stamps began. as the orange in this stamp is the same orange of the 10c stamp. Yopu can clearly see blotches along the top.

Alas, that is not what happened here. Blue + Yellow = Green. Something has affected the blue pigment in the stamp, and left they yellow.