Page 84 - Standing Display

CONTINUATION OF DIGITAL MICROSCOPY STUDY

It is clear from all of these micrographs that this 1899 1A deep blue generates a much crisper printing

than the unused green postage stamp. Although the printed words can just be read the impressions are
much more blurry. The central shield can just be discerned in the green but the horse is almost
impossible to distinguish. Although the blue is an 1899 usage and we have no idea of the printing date

of the green, it is clear that the green ink bleeds, just as in the Downey Heads, the red being the worst
there.

I can only resolve this issue completely by studying an 1899 usage of the green, something that is not in

my collection.

DIGITAL MICROSCOPY OF THE TWO SHADES OF THE 1A BLUE FROM THE 1896 STRIP OF FIVE

These results are somewhat surprising, since the
lighter blues are cleaner printings, even though
there are occasional breaks due to a light inking.
The deep blues show considerable levels of
overinking and bleeding. The deep blue is generally

taken as the standard because of its intensity.
Koeppel & Manners list a deep blue and a slate blue.
What the exhibitor calls light blue is likely to be the

slate blue of K&M. However it is clear from the
placement of both in the same strip that they are
simply different levels of inking.
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