Is This 64 Or 64A? Need Some Experts To Tell Me.

A faded 65.

This is faded rose too?

Looks like a common 65 to me.

How can you guys tell the difference between pink and rose???

Does it look pink?

Once you've seen a certified pink you'll know right away when one isn't pink. And that's without the scanner / online images caveats.

Certified 64a

The problem with determining the color of scanned stamps is that there is no reference color for comparison. Scanned images can have colors all over the place, depending upon calibration of scanner, lighting, representation on the computer screen. It is best to have a reference stamp with the color of interest to show side-by-side.

It is possible the third image is a rose pink or pink, but there is no way for us to tell with just the single scanned image and no reference data attached to the scan.

This was my certified 64 before I sold it:

Pink?

In a word, no. Stallzer's shows the right range of color from what I can see on my monitor. #64 pink is a garish brilliant color which can be often mistaken for the rare pigeon blood pink (#64a) by people who have seen neither.

I don't know what chemical differences there are between those two and the rose pink (#64b). There are those who suspect that 64b is a degraded 64, etc.

Andrew - These colors/shades fare poorly when exposed to light over the years and are best examined in hand and by experts with appropriate reference materials. Your initial post photos were no-doubters IMO as to not being 64's. Your last photo is difficult to comment upon given that it is a photo, and we are all viewing it differently on our monitors. These color differences are too subtle to render any meaningful opinions in this format.

andrewlsf28, unfortunately the only way to really tell is by comparing it side by side with a certified example. Members looking at this thread are probably seeing 9 different shades alone based on the different brands of monitors. Then toss in scanners, photos with and without flash and different graphics processors.

I, and only I, have the necessary rods and cones in my eyes to determine "pink" from "rose" and "rose pink" from "faded pinkish rose". I can also hear a pin drop at a mile distance. And smell a wild animal over a hundred yards away with the breeze blowing away from me.

The actual truth is some people are pretty good at identifying colors, most likely due to experience, but I'm probably not one of them. But you can see Stallzer's pink stamp above is very definitely as "pink" as you'd ever want a stamp. I'd call it "Girlie Pink" if it wasn't sexist. It's certainly true that our computer monitors are not very reliable with color shades, but many colors do come through fairly clearly and this seems to be one of them. "Rose" seems to have a little more red in it. I used to think "lake" must be a shade of blue -- it stands to reason since it's named after a body of water -- but apparently it's another shade of red. I think all colors have many different shades, blue, green, yellow, and so on all included. Some yellows look orange to me while some oranges just seem really more yellow, and a lot of time color identifications just seem wrong but we're stuck with them, I guess. I even owned a Volvo that I swear to God was green but which my wife insisted was blue. We see colors differently was what I learned from that debate. Hence "teal" was invented, I guess.

But, if you give me an excellent color chart -- and they're all fairly good, I can fairly quickly see color differences. I've been told the Stanley Gibbons color chart one is the best. It's also wildly expensive since apparently making all those color chips perfectly in the correct shades is not easy. Comparing your mystery stamp to a color chart is one way to identify its color.

The best way, though, is to compare it directly to a known color. "Pink" is very distinctive compared to other shades of this stamp. You'll know it when you see it and you'll certainly know it when you put your stamp next to a known pink stamp, and again you can see that with Stallzer's very pink stamp. How you acquire all these stamps in different shades is another issue best solved I suppose by inheriting a lot of money or going to med school.

Lordy, the amount of mis-information on 'colors' is a bit overwhelming.

I recommend that anyone who is interested in color varieties to
- avoid these kinds of threads
- find some basic color theory resources and learn how human see color
- learn the basics of digital imaging and why posted images cannot be used to properly ID colors
- avoid spending money on color charts every two years (ANY color charts including those from companies in the color business like Pantone).
- standardize your ambient light source and monitor it over time
- develop your own 'color eye' by building a reference collection of like stamps
Don

I guess that's rose too..