Possible Error

[JanetC]

Sept 7, 2013 16:38:50 GMT -5 JanetC said:

I was going through the stamps that I got from Admin Bear mailing and came across this one. This mount is sealed up tighter than a drum so thought that maybe the stamp was something special. Well come to find out it is, in my heart. When I was growing up I always thought that Clara Barton- founder of the Red Cross should be a saint. I wanted to be just like her. So I went to nursing school, joined the Red Cross as a volunteer,,etc etc.
This stamp was issued by the Dominican Republic on Aug. 1, 1944 to celebrate the 80th Anniversary of the Red Cross. Scott #410 3 cent Bright blue/buff/carmine. The scene is "Battlefield and Nurse and Child"

I posted this one a while back.  Someone else noticed that the color "buff" is missing from this stamp.   Where or how do I go about getting this certified as an "error" and maybe get a Scott listing for it?

[kacyds]

Janet, remember I had a error on a Canada stamp....

stampbears.net/thread/721/canada-scott-unitrade-996-error

I knew that Unitrade was the catalog of Canada stamps, so I started with them with an email. They sent me to a couple of different people/companies until I decided which one to send my stamp for expertise, which was a Canadian company. They told me for them to put it in the catalog as an error, that they would have to have 4-5 examples of the error. As for now, mine is the only error known.

I would start with Scott Catalog with an email and get the ball rolling.

[JanetC]

I think I might email them and see what happens. It might be just as good as yours.
On Page 9A of  the Scott Catalog is a listing of Expertising Services.  I may send the scans to a few of them and see what transpires.

[kacyds]

Sounds like a plan. Remember this could take months from start to getting it expertised.

Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.

[Deleted]

Congrats on the find! Too bad we can't name the varieties like biologists do when they find a new species. It would be the JanetMc error or whatever you named it. It would be really cool to see the two varieties side by side.

[JanetC]

So far I haven't heard anything back.

[khj]

Depends on who you sent it to for expertization. Taking 1-3 months is not unusual. Some expertizers (e.g., Bill Weiss) can be very fast if the item is their area of expertise -- as quick as 1 to 2 weeks.

[JanetC]

I sent an email to Scott to see what their opinion of it was first. Didn't send it out for expertising yet.

[Philatarium]

Among expertisers based here in the US, I think only the APS and maybe the Philatelic Foundation would expertise a non-US stamp (and I'm not sure about the PF). Since this is not an early classic, I think if it were me, I would go with the APS.

Another option might be, and this might save you some money, too, is to see if there is a specialist society for the Dominican Republic, and then send a scan of it to someone there to first just get a casual opinion about it, and then, possibly, send it to them subsequently for expertising, if they offer that service.

-- Dave

[khj]

Buff color EFOs are one of the hardest to expertise.

On your stamp, the normal position of the buff color is in the arc and also in the bottom elongated capsule-shaped panel at bottom (see area marked in green below).



I can't tell for sure from your picture (need higher resolution), but there appears to be a hint of very very light buff in the lower panel. Maybe my computer screen. It really has to be examined physically with a magnifier. But if working with pics, you can scan your stamp again at high resolution, then copy a "white area" from the lower panel and compare it by pasting over white area at another place on the stamp (e.g., margin). For example, you can choose the spots marked in black squares in the pic above. If the buff color is truly missing, the copied "white area" from the capsule-shaped panel will "disappear" when pasted into the white margin area.

When I tested it with the picture you currently have posted, the white area from the arc does seem to disappear, but the white area from the capsule-shaped panel seems to be a more yellowish white. But it is better for you to try it yourself after scanning at higher resolution.

Hoping for the best!

[khj]

I should clarify, that the buff appears in more than those 2 areas. Below is a picture of a normal stamp. The buff appears in the lower part of the white arc (so the arc test will not be as accurate as the capsule-shaped panel test), the flesh areas of the nurse/child, the outline of the cross, the 2 explosion areas.

[JanetC]

I see what you mean. I have noticed a very very light buff in the bottom portion but even under a magnifying glass I do not see any at all in the arc.

[khj]

The buff can underinked or faded to the extent that it appears to be missing (this is why magnifier or high-resolution scan is necessary). Below is an example, but where you can still see a little bit of the buff.

[khj]

Thanks for re-examining the stamp, Janet!