Scott # R154A With Yellow Overprint - Chemical/Environmental Changeling?

It will be interesting to see how high this ends up going with 5 days left. The font looks correct to me, so I posit that it is a genuine overprint that has been chemically or environmentally altered. The image from the back shows the overprint in the correct red ink (although that might be offset from the stamp below).

What would alter the red without impacting the green?

Interesting, but IMO bogus.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/316012316253

Yes, it's some kind of chemical change.

It probably has affected the green somewhat, it appears a bit paler than usual. Of course chemistry can be funny too, and what affects one color a lot might not affect another at all, or hardly at all.

As long as the price is reasonable (per you wallet) I would buy it for a reference.

Now if you search the certificate data bases, you may find a certificate issued already for this color.

Edited to add a missing a.

None are done by the PF.

I can see the red color on the front in some places: Franklyn's nose, lips and chest.

I'd say it's red to light orange, not yellow.

I am certainly not a scientist, but my quick research indicates that red will not turn to yellow by chemical exposure. This seems to be backed up anecdotally by having never seen to my recollection a "changeling" from red to yellow. So, what does that leave for an answer?

Could the overprint have been done by someone other than the BE&P?

I will take a small snippet to expand upon...



Of course color is a much larger topic than this. Simply, it depends largely on the chemical composition of the pigment or combination of pigments used to make the "color" which we see apparent in the end product. In general, pigments from ground up minerals are going to be more resistant to environmental change than those derived synthetically from coal tar, etc. In other words, not all reds are created equal, nor blues, nor greens, etc. And lastly, I have no idea what the ink recipe was for the overprinting ink to build any insight on whether we are more likely seeing an original overprint color variant or the result of some later action, however the green of the stamp appears quite normal, which to me suggests this is more likely a production variant.

Looking at the reverse, the overprint was clearly red. Even if this was some offset, that would indicate that the sheet below was normal, so there is no reason to think that this sheet was printed abnormally. And if it had been, than at least one or two would have shown up by now, 127 years later. This is a changeling, either intentional or otherwise.

Perhaps someone at the BEP was eating lunch and dripped yellow mustard into the red ink well.

Being more serious, it does seem odd that not only has a yellow IR overprint never been reported before, I've never heard of a color changeling that becomes yellow.

Fake?

If you look at the R on Franklin's chest, you can see a red circular spot near the top of the R. This spot is visibly red on the back in the same spot on the back. This implies, to me, that the red on the back is a bleed through, not an offset.

Further, looking at the overprint, the thick areas of ink are on the edges of the letters, not the center. So this would be the most likely spots for offsets. Yet, you see the opposite on the back, where the center of the letters are where the most color shows. This would make sense if the pressure from the overprint pushed ink through the stamp, rather than an offset from the back.

The only question I have is: what caused it change color?

Sold for $74. Two really wanted it at the end.

Worth perhaps 1/1000th of that.

I have more if anyone is interested.