A very interesting and tricky topic, for sure. In my personal collection I run into a similar dilemma. One of my main areas of collecting is Japanese Occupation Stamps of Malaya. For the longest time it was impossible for me to discern whether the overprint was genuine or forged. But as you say with the colour varieties, over time I've gotten better to figure out what seems to feel authentic vs. fake, simply by looking at a lot of them. Unfortunately it's an expensive area so buying the same stamp in bulk would be impossible (and not available as such). I truly enjoy your postings, please keep them coming. :)
Thank you for your comments, I'm glad you enjoy the videos. Unfortunately forgeries on overprints are very common, I have a Straits Settlements KGV 1c with the occupation overprints! Yes KGV. Good luck with collection.
A very useful video which explains clearly the problems all collectors face when trying to accurately identify the shades on stamps from the Victorian, Edwardian & George v eras. It is unrealistic to believe that stamps of this age will not have changed colour slightly over the years, and the many minor differences identified as 'bright carmine", "carmine" , and "pale carmine" etc do not help. The whole situation for GB collectors was complicated even further some years ago when a certain dealer claimed to have 'discovered' lots of new shades on the Edward & Geroge V issues, not listed by Stanley Gibbons catalogues - how on earth could this be possible some 100 years after the stamps were issued, unless they were subtle colour changelings over time? Good advice is 'never pay fancy money for fancy shades' as some dealers always seem to offer only better/rarer shades, but if you must, make sure that the stamp has a certificate of authenticity from a reputable dealer such as Stanley Gibbons. Some shades such as the 'aniline rose' or 'aniline pink' issues on the Edward VII GB 1d stamp are justifiably rare, but are so very different to the normal range of shades that they are easily spotted and stand out by a mile if mixed in with a huge number of stamps with commoner shades. Finding rarer shades can be fun, but the whole area is very subjective and all collectors should proceed with caution.
Thanks for your comments. I agree that many supposed shades may not be as they were originally and the only ones you can be sure of are the ones that are accompanied by an experts certificate.
Good episode, thank you. I do collect GB shades, only those from the Concise SG, the Specialised is just too much. I completely agree that the best way is to build up a reliable set of reference stamps to compare against. It is possible. But I do also use photos from dealers on the Internet, if you snapshot enough it can give you a good reference point also. In time I do think there will be a technological solution but, as you say, not yet.
Hi, thanks for your comments. The imprimateur sheet will have the original shades on it, but I'm not sure anyone kept a sample of subsequent print runs.
Not the easiest solution for everyone but I was in the SG shop on The Strand today and they have original stamps stored behind the counter. I’m sure if asked they’d allow you to compare any suspect stamps against their stock…
Stanley Gibbons uses orange-red and red-orange as examples stating that orange-red is red tending towards orange. Red-orange is orange containing more red than usual. That makes it about as clear as mud I think (-: My understanding of that is that red-brown is more brown and brown red is more red.
Great info learnt a lot. Thanks
Thank you!
Great episode. Detecting colour shades is hard and I really like the advice you have given here
Many thanks for your comments
A very interesting and tricky topic, for sure. In my personal collection I run into a similar dilemma. One of my main areas of collecting is Japanese Occupation Stamps of Malaya. For the longest time it was impossible for me to discern whether the overprint was genuine or forged. But as you say with the colour varieties, over time I've gotten better to figure out what seems to feel authentic vs. fake, simply by looking at a lot of them. Unfortunately it's an expensive area so buying the same stamp in bulk would be impossible (and not available as such). I truly enjoy your postings, please keep them coming. :)
Thank you for your comments, I'm glad you enjoy the videos. Unfortunately forgeries on overprints are very common, I have a Straits Settlements KGV 1c with the occupation overprints! Yes KGV. Good luck with collection.
A very useful video which explains clearly the problems all collectors face when trying to accurately identify the shades on stamps from the Victorian, Edwardian & George v eras. It is unrealistic to believe that stamps of this age will not have changed colour slightly over the years, and the many minor differences identified as 'bright carmine", "carmine" , and "pale carmine" etc do not help. The whole situation for GB collectors was complicated even further some years ago when a certain dealer claimed to have 'discovered' lots of new shades on the Edward & Geroge V issues, not listed by Stanley Gibbons catalogues - how on earth could this be possible some 100 years after the stamps were issued, unless they were subtle colour changelings over time? Good advice is 'never pay fancy money for fancy shades' as some dealers always seem to offer only better/rarer shades, but if you must, make sure that the stamp has a certificate of authenticity from a reputable dealer such as Stanley Gibbons. Some shades such as the 'aniline rose' or 'aniline pink' issues on the Edward VII GB 1d stamp are justifiably rare, but are so very different to the normal range of shades that they are easily spotted and stand out by a mile if mixed in with a huge number of stamps with commoner shades. Finding rarer shades can be fun, but the whole area is very subjective and all collectors should proceed with caution.
Thanks for your comments. I agree that many supposed shades may not be as they were originally and the only ones you can be sure of are the ones that are accompanied by an experts certificate.
Good episode, thank you. I do collect GB shades, only those from the Concise SG, the Specialised is just too much. I completely agree that the best way is to build up a reliable set of reference stamps to compare against. It is possible. But I do also use photos from dealers on the Internet, if you snapshot enough it can give you a good reference point also. In time I do think there will be a technological solution but, as you say, not yet.
Thanks for your comments. We'll all be very relieved if technology does come up with a solution.
re the original printing colours on those QV etc i wonder if the original printing colours are archived somewhere.
Hi, thanks for your comments. The imprimateur sheet will have the original shades on it, but I'm not sure anyone kept a sample of subsequent print runs.
A good, useful video. Thank you.
Not the easiest solution for everyone but I was in the SG shop on The Strand today and they have original stamps stored behind the counter. I’m sure if asked they’d allow you to compare any suspect stamps against their stock…
Good idea, I'm not sure how they would feel if I took a whole batch in. Thanks for your comments.
I want to know what the difference between Red Brown and Brown Red is.
Stanley Gibbons uses orange-red and red-orange as examples stating that orange-red is red tending towards orange. Red-orange is orange containing more red than usual. That makes it about as clear as mud I think (-: My understanding of that is that red-brown is more brown and brown red is more red.