Show Your Bluish Paper In Various Qualities

I see so many variations of " bluish paper"
Talk to me in pictures please! Thank you friends

You can see all of the bluish paper stamps you want at this link:

https://siegelauctions.com/lot_lkp.php

An auction house website ?

Yes, they have more high quality images of bluish paper's than you will get here. Or is there something different you are looking for and what is it?

Yes, use the power search feature on the website and you can search by Blue Paper Scott Number.

My link brings you directly to the search page.

Thank you .the problem that I'm having is the Stamps in question are hinged so it is almost impossible for me to know . The red lincoln memorial for example looks brownish but has a cloth texture to it .
I'm afraid to pop it up

FYI - there are a ton of fakes out there! People try to turn a regular into the bluish paper, thinking they will make 10,000% profit. Mint stamps are harder to fake, since most of the dying happens in colored water. And there ARE differences in various printings of the issues. A real bluish is fairly distinct, but may vary. The fakes are made to fool someone who hasn't seen one before - they tend to be pretty bad fakes.

FWIW, the bluish papers are more gray than they are blue. I don't know how they got called bluish, unless the emphasis was more on the 'ish' part of it.

What do you mean by "pop it up"?

The DL watermark on genuine bluish papers is VERY strong.

web James Dire

The best way to determine if you have a bluish paper stamp is to have a bluish paper stamp and a non-bluish stamp to see the difference. Then compare the third stamp to them. Kind of counterproductive for most collectors, though, as they'd like to put them in their album.

And, as noted, they aren't "blue" at all, but just kind of a darker gray shade. Maybe there's just a hint of blue in them, but it's certainly not what you'd call "blue". I mostly hate Scott for making these silly distinctions and doing them so badly. It's in the same category as their endless differentiating among "carmine" red and 17 other shades of red, some of which aren't even red but orange. It's a bit much, but I suppose way back then, with so few stamps, collectors had nothing better to do. Perforation differences I understand since they are measurable, but color shades get kind of weird especially when you swear the two stamps are the same color.

As others have said, 'blueish' is a complete misnomer, the paper actually appears gray to your eye. I have several suggestions based on your first few posts.

First, always start with the assumption that you have the most common variety because this is what you will have 99.9% of the time. If you start with the assumption that you have a rarity, your identification process will be incorrectly influenced, you will end up wasting time and effort, and ultimately you will be disappointed.

Second, if your stamp has hinge remnants and/or paper stuck on the back; soak the stamp in cool, clean water and dry flat.

Third, to check for 'blue' paper scan the stamp on an orange piece of paper and post the image here. Here is a good scan and note how the gray paper (left stamp) jumps out at you.


Don