Rare Franco Spanish Stamp 1949

I would like to show you what I found among some Spanish stamps from 1949 that I had with me since the early days, some from family mail. At the time when I started collecting I received numerous Franco stamps and although I tried to save them all by placing them in an album, it was an impossible mission and they ended up saturating me, they are stamps that I have never liked (not for political reasons, I simply don't like them. .they seem ugly to me...) and I ended up getting bored with them, saving them en masse inside envelopes. I don't have a specialized catalog from Spain, so I don't know anything about variants, but looking through some auction catalogs I noticed that they named EdIfil#1048a as "one of the rarest stamps from Spain", when I went to check what stamp it was. I saw that it was one of the common Franco models from 1949. I took out my stamps and could see by the color (which seems to be the difference between the normal Ed#1048 model and the "rare" Ed#1048a) that at least three of my stamps have the color required for Ed#1048a. I have been very happy, but...although the three stamps are great (excellent condition and more than acceptable centering in two of them, without heavy cancellations, really very beautiful).. they have their small defects...2 of them have a line of a pen that runs along the teeth (in one up and down, in another just a slight stroke down)..the third that is a very impressive color because the ink is very loaded (to the point of deforming minor details and increasing the shadows), It has a tiny moisture stain in the upper right corner... I am very angry about these defects but as I always say, I prefer to have them like this than not have them... Although I have seen the ed#1048a for sale at medium-high prices, I think that the " "one of the rarest stamps from Spain" is exaggerated... Let's see if I can get a specialized catalog at some point, since for details like this I think it will be worth it, I have many forgotten stamps from Spain that I don't care about I don't pay attention, because at the time when I saw them in the normal catalogue, like these, they passed as the most common models. I hope that in the photo you can see the color difference between the yellow brown and the violet brown(three stamps in center)

Three of the rarest of the rare.

Murasama, your stamps would look a whole lot better if you get rid of that piece of red paper and start using black as a common background


Peter

They look pretty normal to me. Can you at least tell us the catalog description of this rare stamp? A scan on black background between just one of your rare stamps and one of what you consider normal would be great. If this is just a very light color difference, then you have to watch out for normal variations due to age and storage conditions.

The stamp is not one of the rarest Spanish stamps, but is rare. Edif. 1048a is a dark lilac edition of the chestnut lilac original (Edif. 1048). It was printed to be issued with the 1950 stamp centenary issue (Edif. 1075-1082) that had a face value of 74,75 ptas. Together with the reprinted 25 cts permanent stamp (1048a), the set was sold at 75 ptas.

The colours of permanent stamps of the Franco era vary as you can see from the stamps you post.
I hope you are right, but I doubt (very very very much) any of your stamps is the dark lilac one. It has a very distinct colour:

(from below link)

With the usual caveat that you cannot tell 'shades' online, here is a certified example offered.
https://filateliahobby.es/es/estado...-1048a-.html

Hope now you can see better the efect...The two last pictures are a comparative of over-ink efect









The effect is very visible in points such as the color of the word CORREOS, in the background of the word ESPAÑA or in the tail of the eagle...with a magnifying glass you can see the blonde eyebrow hairs in ed#1048 but in 1048a they are lilac. ..

A common mistake is to think that if two distinct shades are listed and you have two distinct shades, the conclusion must be yours are the two listed shades. This is a big error made by many here.

Seeing your new scans, I am even more convinced you do not have a 1048a. It is not near to the reddish brown shades your stamps have. It should be a very dull deep lilac shade.

To my untrained eye, and realizing that not all monitors are the same, the color is nowhere close to the example that NSK posted.

This shows the two together and, also, shows, how much the shade of 1048 varies. 1048 was a printing for the stamp centenary issue and shows less variation.

https://www.catawiki.com/nl/l/86475...044-61-1048a


Unless I am mistaken, the righthand of the two 25cts stamps is the Edif. 1048a.

This has nothing to do with a completely different colour of ink being used for a specific printing. 1048a has a very distinct colour, not an overinking in details. Not a single one of your stamps is a 1048a.

The best you can do is look for a reputable dealer near where you live - which, I seem to remember, is Spain - with experience in this stamp and ask his opinion.

In internet searches I have seen many 1048a with different shades, but with a common factor between them, a jump in color, not a shade but rather the stamp changes from yellowish to lilac...I think that is the question of the question. ..

It was a distinct printing in a different ink. It has nothing to do with a variety. Those posts on the internet are utter nonsense. The difference is the colour. Your reddish-brown colours have nothing to do with the dark lilac.

As I said, seek a reputable dealer (not a rippoff that sells every 1048 for a 1048a). Alternatively, send one you are convinced of in for expertising.

This community for me is the best and closest expert I have found... I trust their criteria a lot, and it is obvious that I will have to classify them, for the moment with a question. My usual store is numismatic and the owner has the stamps mixed in boxes Since he barely understands and because only 2 or 3 of us stop to search and buy, if I ask him he won't have a clue…. Hopefully I'll soon find the specialized edifil catalog says about it, I have to get one to clear up doubts, even so it seems like a complex issue that will border on the subjective and the expert finish judgment.

You do not need a specialised Edifil catalogue. The standard 'Unificado' lists it and has a note that explains how it came into being. It also lists the colour as dark lilac, contrary to the brownish lilac of the normal stamp that comes in shades.

The specialised will set you back € 80 plus postage. I have yet to see it offered for (significantly) less. That will list the plate varieties of 1048, but do not expect to much extra information on shades.

Permanent stamps get printed over several days and at several times. The variation in the colours can be minute. Most catalogues will only list distinct shade groups.

As I posted before, it is not correct to conclude that X listed shades and X different shades imply you have the X listed shades. A very deep printing of a green stamp makes an unlisted green 'shade' not a listed blue-green shade.

Really crazy... I got this photo from a Madrid philately, you can see that the color is really different from the catawiki photos...
https://www.circulomadrid.com/cirma...A-4&option=1

Actually, it is quite close. But there is no hint of the reddish brown.