Recent British-India Acquisitions

...and for my collection...

1855, East India, 8a in rose, blued paper, glazed, and franked on March 8th(?), 1869...

Alas, no place-name that I might ascertain.


1865, East India, 2a in yellow, very lightly cancelled...


1865-67, East India, 8p in violet...

...and that's after I gave it a bath. The portrait of Victoria is especially realistic, not stylised as that of most others.

1866, East India, 4a in green, die I...

That being a most unflattering depiction of Victoria, which is probably why die II was issued later in the same year...

1866, East India, 4a in green, die II, and far more flattering...

Yes, it is cancelled rather heavily, but you can still see her, peering through the mists, the smoke, of time. Neither one of those are of a very good design.

1866, East India, 6a8p in slate...

I regard that one as the most beautiful design and portraiture in all of Indian philately. Despite its relatively low value, mint or used, it's nigh impossible to source a good example. That is the fourth one I've purchased; but it, too, is blemished, and by a light scratch.

1876, East India, 12a in Venetian-red...

That is an uncommon instance where a used example is valued more than that mint. Despite how hard that "2" tried to obscure Victoria's face, it failed.

1876, East India, 1r in slate, and the very first of the 1r values...

Note the colon after "POST". It is cancelled a bit too heavily, but it, too, is a very difficult issue to source.

All of the stamps within this first post, save the first, were watermarked with an elephant's head...

You can almost hear it trumpeting.

These are wonderful StampGuy - thank you for sharing La Reina Victoria.

Glad you like them Mrita75. I do strive to get the best examples that I can find, at the time of hunting.

Paper is akin to fabric. When either gets soiled, you wash them...

1936, Argentina, 20P in blue-green & brown...


..."ALGODON", or cotton. Indeed, although I don't know the numbers, stamps have contained elements of fabric, silk threads in particular.

I do not seriously collect beyond the Crash of 1929, worldwide, but that's not to say that I do not collect after 1929. When I look upon my stamps of yore, those prior to 1930, I travel back in time. I am an amateur astronomer. I have well over ten telescopes. Astronomy is my primary hobby; philately, my second, a very close second. Both are akin to one another, in regards to space and time.

But when I travel back in time with my stamps, I want them to travel back in time with me, in so far as I might accomplish...

1871, Jamaica, 6p in lilac, before and after...


Some, if not many folks, like that yellowish, old-timey appearance of their stamps, but all it is is gum having migrated to the surface over the decades. Gum is only to affix a stamp to a letter or package. Once it serves that purpose, the remaining gum should removed, and as quickly as possibly. Gum, dirt, spittlings, hinge-remnants, are all foreign to a stamp, used or mint. Then, with old mint stamps, I've seen quite a few that have been ruined by their gums. Why, some gums contain acid, and sulphuric-acid at that. These two mint specimens were once coated on their backsides with gum bearing sulphuric-acid...

1936, Germany, 50pf in dark-blue & 75pf in dull-green...


Those are mint, yet pristine. They were lucky. I just looked at some for sale, and many if not all of the mint copies are toned to varying degrees. But many years ago I saw a pair on eBay quite eaten up by said acid. Tattered they were, seemingly beyond belief.

East India, 1868, 8a in rose, before and after...


Get a few old, right-derelict, not-worth-a-tiddly-boo stamps, like that one, to practice turning back the hands of time, and before you take a hand to a stamp like this...

1869, United States, 24¢ in green & violet...

I still have examples of those zeppelins with the gum intact.

Thanks for sharing those lovely stamps StampGuy64.

Nick, Casey, thanks!

Amazing difference between before and after washing.

Chesham

You sound like my mother sixty years ago.

There are others I have gotten, in the past. This is one other...

East India, 1874, 9p in lilac...


It's difficult finding a really nice copy of this one. It arrived recently...

East India 1876, 6a in bistre...


...and another that I got along with it, although I don't care for fountain-pens taken to a stamp...

Without the pen, it would've been ever so much nicer.

As I had said before, I have three other East India, 1866, 6a8p in slate specimens. This is the best one, before and after, and worth a showing...


I had a lot of "fun" tidying up the perfs, but it's still derelict.

There has been much confusion among both sellers and buyers, and all over the differences between the three issues of the East India half-anna in blue. The low market-values of the three perhaps play a part. The very first was issued in 1855, on white paper, and was un-watermarked. The second, exact same portrait of Victoria, yet was watermarked with an elephant's head. The third, issued in 1873, the portrait of Victoria differs from the first two, the shading over the eyes, and the lips, the overall character. Neither is a realistic depiction of Victoria...

East India, 1865 & 1873 half-anna values in blue...

Those two, and all of the others, may be enlarged by opening the image within a new browser-tab.

Thank you for sharing these.

It's my pleasure, but mostly for everyone else's, in the sharing, in the giving.

This one arrived yesterday...

1865-67, 8p in lilac...


That's the seller's image, an eBay UK listing; a bit like trying to peer into a crystal-ball.

Still, I knew it was going to be faulty, here, but hopefully not there, and before I clicked on the "Buy It Now" button.

I had to work on this one for several hours. It had to go through at least three "wash" cycles.

Before, and after...


Happily, what depth of the lilac inking I received did not diminish, not too terribly much. Alas, oft some is lost, in theory at least, but in the end it's worth it. Although, not always...

Great Britain, 1881, 1d in lilac, now palest-pink, die II...


I can't understand that occurrence, as I've used vinegar successfully with the majority of stamps I've restored. That is not a recommendation of vinegar however. Never throw caution to the wind.

In addition, the use of bleach is a definite no-no; been there, done that, or ammonia. Whilst bleach will obliterate, ammonia will partially erase, at least. Someone online suggested ammonia, and as a last resort, when other methods and substances failed, but don't use either, ever, never.

Now, let's look at the East India derelict a bit more closely...


I see a cart-load of crud all over that area, within the image on the left, but on the right, it's gone. However, on the right, what is that excessive yellowing remaining at the corner? Ah, the backside...


It's stamp-type paper, according to my Belomo 10x triplet, and looks to be where another stamp had perhaps gotten stuck; or, was it to repair a thinned area? In any event, it escaped detection at first, then back into the bowl it went. I tamped the area with the tip of my forefinger, then laid the wet stamp onto my left palm, the high portion just below where the fingers begin. I took my Showgard #902 tongs, and ever so gently pried up a few edges, then scraped it away. Happily, there was no thin. You either win, or lose, in situations like that; 50/50, or, worse, 60/40.

Lastly, at the lower-right corner of the stamp, I don't know if that is the original perf, or not. If foreign, then it was quite professional in its execution. In any event, it came partially undone after the multiple soakings...


...hanging by a thread.

I made a mistake within my very first post within this thread. That is not an 1865-67 8p in lilac(elephant's-head watermark), but an 1860-64, and un-watermarked. This is because I'm in the process of gaining experience with these two issues. As you can see, this latest one exhibits said watermark...


Note how the inks of both differ in saturation. Methinks this latest one may have faded over the decades, I do not know.

I like to get stamps like this, as a challenge. I call them "rescues". But perhaps the main reason I was drawn to it, was this...


I got three letters in the mail today, although I've yet to open a single one, and all three containing philatelic wonders of India.

Nice. One of my favorites:

Yes, very nice; I understand that they came in differing shades of bistre.

Out of the seven stamps I received yesterday, six are of British India, which will be shared in the near future, and one of what was once British Hong Kong. It was yet another rescue to my eyes, sold for much less than its usual asking-price, and in dire need of TLC. It came with three of the Indian stamps. Hong Kong is just a hop and a skip away from India, so why not have a look. The seller's image...

Hong Kong, 1871, 30c in violet...


At first, before purchasing, I thought it might be the 1863 30c in vermilion, but later, after purchasing, I simply realised that I was just seeing things. Hope will blind.

Pretty derelict, that one, no? All the poor thing needed was a bath, and a little extra. Before and after...


What I thought was a pulled perf on the lower-left side eventually made its re-appearance. The perf at the upper-right corner is hanging by a thread. It's amazing how deep that violet inking was, and still is for the most part. Here, the derelict compared to my other of the same issue...


The violet colour of the derelict does seem to be deeper, than that of the other, and one that I've had for several years. Pop the image open within a new tab and have a closer look. The derelict also seems deformed somewhat, not square and true.

Recently, I ordered a used copy of the 1982 Stanley Gibbons catalogue of the British Commonwealth, and to better identify these issues. I have to wonder if the derelict is a shade variation, and seemingly deep-violet rather, but I won't know until the book arrives.

Not bad for $1.50, and I do love a challenge. This was a rare instance of my having to resort to using a somewhat dull single-edge razor-blade, held at an angle of course, and to remove the bulk of the gum from the backside.

Ah, I neglected to make merry mention that when a stamp's gum migrates to the surface, coating the front, colours may seem deeper, more intense.