Question: Penrhyn Island 1927 2½d Chocolate & Steel Blue - Proof, Colour Trial, Or Something Else?

Seeking advice/assistance from our resident Oceania/Pacific Island/New Zealand experts...



Pictured on the left is Penrhyn Island 1927 2½d red-brown & dull blue, listed in Stanley Gibbons as SG40, and in Scott as Sc31.

On the right is a similar stamp, but in colours that are best described as chocolate & steel blue. The watermark is identical to the regularly issued stamp. As are the perforations.

Robson Lowe in his Encyclopedia of British Empire Postage Stamps - Vol IV - The Empire in Australasia , on p.505 lists two Plate Proofs of this design. One was in different colours again, and one described as "chocolate and steel blue on paper as 1d. (paper watermarked "WYNYARD BOND"). This stamp matches the latter description, except for the the watermark.

I welcome advice as to the status of this stamp.

Ah! Penrhyn, home of the famous "Walter Lily" error.

No expert.
Not suggesting, but green can be affected by light damage to Blue

Oops, I see Blue to greenish, apologies. No idea.
I would consider the left, to be steel blue

Lowe also says the plate proofs are imperf.

I'd say it's a colour changeling.

Thank you gentlemen.

Interesting.......which is the right colour
The left stamp appears more to differ.

It is a dashed hard stamp to find an image of on the internet.

The darker blue colour appears here..
http://bigblue1840-1940.blogspot.co...nIsland.html

The three stamps to the left are the "normal" colour (red-brown and dull blue).

The two stamps on the right are the similar issue from Rarotonga, described as red-brown and steel-blue.

The mystery stamp is third from the left right. When next to the Rarotonga issue, it is nothing like the steel-blue. More black than blue.

As always, it is difficult to state anything definite about the exact colour in a picture posted. I am seeing very much a slate-blue colour.

It raises the question whether this design used for two territories was printed in multiple batches and that in one printing there was a contamination of the ink or mix-up of colours. Otherwise, I would support Bobby De La Rue's conclusion of a colour changeling.

Need to find how many printings were done ,paper on the dark stamp looks different .Color change could be because of the enviroment or storage ?

It might be the case that the ink has oxidised and turned into a darker shade. Perhaps it is something similar to the examples mentioned in the following threads:

http://goscf.com/t/60814

http://goscf.com/t/63355

Ok.

To vainly attempt to clear this up I purchased "The Postage Stamps of New Zealand Volume V The Stamps and Postal History of the Pacific Islands under New Zealand administration" etc...

To quote:

"It was the practice of the Government Printer when printing these island stamps, to print the centres first and add the frames at a second operation."

"The same red-brown ink was used for the centre of the Rarotonga and Penrhyn Island stamps; dull blue ink for the frames of Penrhyn Island and Aitutaki stamps; and steel-blue ink for the frames of the Niue and Rarotonga stamps. There was some variation in the colour of some stamps of the Niue stamp which tended towards the dull blue used for Aitutaki and Penrhyn Island; and it is possible that the change in the inks occurred at the beginning of this printing."

Where this leaves me, $1000 for eleven volumes and $250 postage later, I am unsure.

Some things in Philately, remain in grey areas,
Inks would be one.
However, you have a marvellous Literature holding,
That should be a great resource for the years ahead.
A good library is wonderful thing.

Ink colors begin to change over time as soon as a stamp is printed. This is also true for paints. Both ink and paints are comprised of pigments and even pure pigment (very costly) will change color over time. Pigments are typically inorganic compounds and have been used by humans for a very long time. The early pigments came from nature and were found in minerals like lapis lazuli, ochre, and iron oxide (note there are now also synthetic pigments). But consider a pigment made from a mineral like iron oxide. We have all seen this in nature in the form of rust on a piece of iron; even iron rust changes color over time.

When we are looking at old stamps, we rarely have an understanding of its environmental or storage provenance. In my opinion, the only color varieties that should considered by hobbyists and publishers are those which can be documented by the printer's original documentation. This thread does a good job illustrating how to quickly evolve to digging out the printing information; kudos to the participants.

Our first and instinctive opinions of older stamp color varieties should always be 'color changeling'. This is especially true if the stamp is used or is from topical locations.
Don