Big Blue 1840-1940 Stamp blog

1864 SG 20 (Sc 14) 6p Bright Mauve (Purple)
DLR Printing

bigblue1840-1940.blogspot.com/2022/12/cogh-1855-64-triangular-six-pence.html

COGH 1858-64 Triangular Six Pence Varieties

The Six Pence, like its fellow COGH Triangular siblings, was printed by Perkins Bacon (1858-63), and, on PB plates, by De La Rue (1864).

The Perkins Bacon era can be further divided into the slate-lilac (1862) or slate-purple (1863) on blued paper issues; and the deep rose lilac (1858) or pale rose lilac on white paper issues.

The DLR 1864 Six Pence is bright mauve (Scott says "purple").

(Note: SG color descriptions will be used primarily, although I will include Scott's description also.)

I should mention at the outset that Chris Dorn (Beryllium Guy) of The Stamp Forum helped significantly to clarify my thinking on these Six Pence stamps. Thanks Chris!

The best way to learn is to look at examples in my collection, so let's begin....

Interested? Click on link.

Jim (jkjblue), I congratulate you on another fine blog post about the Cape Triangles.  Very well done to you!

I tried to post a comment for the first time on the site, but I am not sure if it should display immediately, or if it takes some time or needs to be accepted by you before it will appear.  Please let know.  If it has disappeared, I will try again to figure out how to make it work.

Anyway, great job and happy New Year!

1870 Scott 39 2c red brown/ yellowish
"Ceres", Lithographed, Imperforate
Bordeaux Issue

bigblue1840-1940.blogspot.com/2023/02/france-closer-look-at-1870-bordeaux.html

France: A closer look at the 1870 Bordeaux Issue - Intro & 1c, 2c

Well, let's look at the hastily prepared provisional 1870-71 eight denomination "Bordeaux" issue...

It has the same "Ceres" stamp design as the 1849 issue (Except the 1c, 2c & 4c have a changed frame), but to say it is beautiful?

I'm afraid not.

The appearance is "flat", because of its lithographic origins. And the detail is coarse compared to the 1849 original.

I recall when I was investigating the "Ceres" stamps some years ago, I came across one that was crude and "ugly". I thought it was a forgery, until it dawned on me that I had my first "Bordeaux" issue stamp.

A face close-up reveals rather thick and heavy colored lines and dashes for the detail.

But the stamps intrigued.

I made a note to myself, that someday I might want to investigate this fascinating "homely" issue in more depth.

As luck would have it, recently I acquired a cache of "Bordeaux" stamps from a local dealer.

Should we see what we can discover together?

1870 Scott 40 4c gray "Ceres"
Lithographed, Imperforate, Bordeaux Issue

bigblue1840-1940.blogspot.com/2023/02/france-closer-look-at-1870-bordeaux_01959829785.html

This post will be a continuation discussion about the French Bordeaux issue of 1870-71, and the sometimes confusing similar "Ceres" issues of 1849-50, 1870-73, and the French Colonies imperforates of 1871-77.

Interested? Click the link above.

France 1871 Scott 45 20c blue/ bluish "Ceres"
Bordeaux Issue, A11 (Type III), Report 2

bigblue1840-1940.blogspot.com/2023/03/france-closer-look-at-bordeaux-issue-20c.html

The Bordeaux issue 20c blue is probably the most fascinating for those of us that like to take a careful look at our stamps.

Why?

Because the stamp comes in three major image types (A9, A10, A11): catalogued as Scott 43,44, & 45. In Maury, the major types are referred to as T1, TII, & TIII.

And then the Maury France catalogue breaks the listing down further as sub-types (French "Report" (Litho Block Type)). There are two Reports for Scott 43, three Reports for Scott 44, and two Reports for Scott 45.

Finally each Report (which consists of a Litho block of fifteen cliches or individual stamp images) can itself be identified by individual cliche, as each one is slightly different. In other words, fifteen cliche identifications for each Report.

For this blog post, I will try to identify my group of Bordeaux 20c blue stamps by categorizing them as major type TI, TII, TIII (Scott 43, 44, 45), and then determining which Report they belong to for each major type.

Interested? Check out the link above.

jkjblue, thanks for the post.
I only have one stamp, but I think that with the explanations on your website I managed to identify it as type III report 2.
The color remains unknown to me.
I'm interested in where I can find the characteristics of the clichés in the sheet.
It can be seen that the base of the number 2 on the lower right has an upward slanting line.

Hi and thanks jkjblue
I have a specialized catalog only for German stamps.
I am happy when there are posts with explanations for types of drawing, printing, paper, perforations, etc. for stamps from other countries.
This way I have the opportunity to more precisely identify my stamps from other countries that I do not collect specifically and I do not have specialized catalogs.
The Ceres stamp is an example of a partial identification where I still have to clarify if 2 is a plateflaw or a particularity of the field in the sheet.
Maybe someone in the future will help me clarify this too.

British Honduras
1888 Scott 32 50c on 1sh gray "Victoria"
Surcharged in London

bigblue1840-1940.blogspot.com/2023/05/british-honduras-1866-1891.html

In 2018, I did a "closer look" post for British Honduras. But I have since acquired another British Honduras collection, and I can now do an even deeper dive.

This post will review the 1866-91 issues, while the next post will cover (in part) the rest of the classical era.

Interested? Click on the link above.