Gettin Busy With The Roos!

By the way, is Roo #7 possibly Die #III on the 6 Pence?

thinking aloud

Die 111
there is no such thing.

There can only be die 1,2,2a 2b.

There are only 4 6d browns
third wmk
small multiple wmk
cofa wmk
and the OS printed

hence our advice to secure a wmk

I welcome correction.

Hi Rodney - Sorry, my mistake. I thought I typed III rather than 111. But my reference was too my original post on this thread where I had copied the section from Scott 2009 and it mentions Scott # 8b Die III. I realize now the Dies have nothing to do with the colors of the stamp. Since I only saw a blue (Ultra) colored 6 Pence (Die II) and no other color variety listed for 6 Pence, I was thinking maybe the brown colored 6 Pence one I have was Die III. I guess the brown colored 6 Pence is not listed at all in Scott and I did not see it listed in SG either. I am good at missing stuff, so that does not mean it is not there, but I did not see it.

I have looked through them all now for watermarks and I was only able to see the full watermark on 2 of them (Roo #3 and Roo #12) and am not even 100% certain which watermark they are since they are so subtle and the watermark variations are rather slight in my opinion. I have noted though the 2 suspected watermarks in my original posts of the stamp scans.

As for the others, there are 3-4 where I can see the letter A, but the hinging covers over the crown part of the watermark and it is not visible enough to distinguish anything. I guess now I am wondering if there is much of a value differential between the watermarks or if the value in knowing the watermarks is mainly for identification purposes for collectors who want to collect certain watermarks of the Roos?

We are working from two differing catalogues ! confusion

Your image from Scott is 1913
there were no 6d browns then.

Standard philatelic practice when working
with Kangaroos or King George sideface.......

1. Measure perfs
2. establish watermark (including orientation)
3. do not deviate from 1 or 2

anything else is a guess, and you could be mucking around
with a stamp worth $20,000
Your call

I still confirm I am not an expert on Roos
I like to answer to assist my overall knowledge.

If you are looking in Stanley Gibbons Marc

try
SG73
SG107
SG132

It will be one of those

Wow, I see now in SG that the Roos go on for pages. As you said, that brown colored 6 Pence could be SG73, SG107, or SG132.

As for Roos that sell for $20,000, are you just being figurative or have there literally been sales at that price level?

I do see some high values in SG for Roos in those price ranges and above, but they are normally for imperfect pairs, inverted watermarks, etc.

I guess one needs to check to be sure as you said, but since I can't seem to work then out for myself, I guess I will wait until when I have a chance to have an expert look at them for me.

No, just illustrating the risk.
Some inverted wmks fetch upwards to $650
You can get a basic set of lower kangas for around $2000
If you have SG catalogue there should be the
varieties that attract a premium.

Thanks Rodney. I guess it will take some more time and effort to figure out what these are worth.

As for the KGVs, am I right in assuming on average they fetch about 50% less than the Roos?

Rather the reverse, I'd say. There's much more variation among the Geo Vs, so more room for valuable items: have a look under SG 20 and SG 21 for starters!

Time to pass you over to KG5 man! :)

Would one of these devices be safe to use to try and figure out the Watermarks on the Roos?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Morley-Bright-R...aultDomain_0

http://cgi.ebay.com/Morley-Bright-I...aultDomain_0

Marc, you are probably going to get mixed reaction from
members here.
I have one, used it thrice, and it sits sadly in the drawer.

It may work OK on the Roos, I bought it for Travancore
and for that, completely useless.
The Roos have quite a strong watermark.

With Roos and KG5 sideface, I drop the stamp face down and dry
on a jet black mouse pad, 80% of the time you can
get the wmk, if it is a toughie, (and it has a hinge)
I drop it backside down on a light dish of water,
as soon as I can spot the wmk, it's outa there.

The real ornery I soak (not mint stamps) and if
you cannot read the watermark then, you're done for.

I was about to spent $200 on a Stanley Gibbons
wmk detector, but was advised by a dealer, they are not much chop.

The real difficulty with the roos lies in the broad and narrow
crown, once you have that sussed, it's a march.

That's just one fellows opinion
No doubt there will be other advice forthcoming.

Many thanks for your opinion Rodney. I think for some reason my Roos will be harder to identify and I haven't even begun to look at the KGVs yet. Most of the Roos are hinged as you saw in the scans and I did lay them down on black paper and turned them upside down, but couldn't see much of anything as I noted. If that device wont work well then maybe I just have to hold off until I come across someone locally or in my travels that can help identify them for me. They have been sitting in my father's closet for 30+ years unidentified, so a bit more time to identify will be OK. There are plenty of local stamp collectors here in Thailand I am told, but they are pretty much only interested in Thai stamps so I think difficult to find someone locally who knows anything about Roos and KGVs I am afraid. Cheers. Marc

Marc, try gently dousing them with Ronsonol lighter fluid, onto a colour-fast black background for added contrast. That will usually show up the more recalcitrant watermarks, and it's safe on mint stamps. Of course, don't allow naked flames anywhere nearby while you're doing it.