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Collecting 1d red KGV shades can be a bit daunting for the novice. This thread will hopefully give some useful tips for getting started and progressing in this field. A lot of this has been said before and written about in various places, this is just a distillation of what is out there. These are also some of my own experiences and observations progressing from a novice to enthusiastic amateur

The printing of the KGV 1d reds coincided with World War I, so access to reliable sources of pigments from the usual European sources was very difficult. This became extreme during 1917 & 1918 when a lot of different shades occurred over a short period of time. For instance, these two shades were printed only months apart.


On the left shade G66 and on the right shade G77

Probably the first thing to do is to make sure you aren’t colour-blind. Most people should know by the time they reach adulthood whether they are colour blind or not.

If you’ve tried to start collecting 1d reds and given up because they ‘all look the same’ you may have convinced yourself that you have some colour vision deficiency. The reality is that it does take a bit of practice and perseverance to tell some of the shades apart, but after a while they will stop all looking the same.

To get started there are some books and equipment that are needed.

Shade determinations need to be done using natural light (sunlight); normal indoor lighting is not full spectrum, being too yellow, and gives a false impression of the true colour. The best thing is to buy a daylight lamp, such as an Ott light (there are several brands). These provide full spectrum illumination that mimics daylight, but means that shade determinations can be done day or night and with a constant level of light.

A good long-wavelength UV lamp (365nm) is vital, there is already an extensive thread discussing these:

http://www.stampboards.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=11084

Plus some way to observe the UV reaction in total black-out conditions. This can be achieved simply by using it in a darkened room, all the way to buying or constructing a special viewing cabinet.

This is my set-up:



There are two indispensable books:

An up-to-date edition of the Brusden White Australasian Commonwealth Specialists’ Catalogue KGV volume and The Redhead by Colin Beech.

Being able to sort out the various sub-types of the 1d red is the first skill that has to be mastered. Sorting the line perforated stamps (gauge 14.2:14.2) from the more regular comb perforated (gauge 14¼:14). There is a detailed tutorial here:

http://www.stampboards.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=12505


On the left a line perf. example on the right a comb perf. example

Sorting the Die I, die II & die III


On the left a die I, middle die II, right die III

Sorting the smooth papers and rough papers


On the left smooth paper on the right rough paper

Sorting the single watermark and large multiple watermark

The next step is to get hold of at least a few hundred used examples with legible dates (month and year) and sort them chronologically by year and month, though any with 1914 dates or 1920 and later dates can go in one pile each.

Set aside any with unclear dates, save those for when you’re more adept at sorting shades. Also eliminate any stained examples, these will give a false perception of the shade and confuse things.

Now that you have neat piles, hopefully with at least one example per month & year sorting by shade can begin, of course it is important to take frequent breaks during shading.

First of all familiarise yourself with the catalogue values of the various shades. The ‘common’ shades - those with catalogue values for used examples of $10 or less in the 2007 edition of ACSC - will represent about 99% of all the 1d reds. Shades that are priced at $100 or more are rare and are uncommon enough that they are unlikely to turn up in most random lots.

Also understand what the various colour names mean: carmine, scarlet, salmon, pink, rose and also the term aniline. Wikipedia is useful in giving a rough idea of what the various colours look like.

Follow the information in the book The Redhead which has an excellent step-by-step guide for sorting the stamps into their G-shades.

However, there are several shades or groups of shades that can be easily assigned virtually unambiguously and will give you useful reference examples.

WARNING: the colour that your computer monitor will show the various shades will not be an accurate reproduction. The scans are provided for illustration only and not for direct comparison.

Most comb perforated stamps from 1914 and early 1915 will be either the shade G10 (carmine-red) or G13 (deep red). The G10 shade has the same UV reaction as the two line perforated shades (G1 & G2), the reaction of the G13 examples is a lot more purple.



From left to right G1, G10 & G13 plus the corresponding UV reactions

The two other shades that occur at the end of 1914 and the beginning of 1915 - G11 (bright red) and G12 (salmon-red) - have very distinctive UV reactions. These are the only shades until the end of 1916 that have an orange glow at long wavelength UV illumination.



On the left G11 and on the right G12 and their corresponding UV reactions

Shade G15 (reddish pink) is the only shade with a 1915 or early 1916 date that is printed on rougher paper. There is a less common sub-shade, usually referred to G15½, which is also on rougher paper but is scarlet-red and easily distinguished from the quite pale G15.


On the left G15 and on the right G15½

The shade G19 (scarlet aniline) is the only shade that was printed on consistently thinner paper. They are easily spotted with a bit of practice.



On the left G18 and on the right G19, front and back views

The very rare G32 (brown-red) is the only smooth paper shade that has a strong fluorescent red UV reaction. The equally rare G24 shade (bright brown-red) has a similar but less intense glow.



On the left G24 and on the right G32 and their corresponding UV reactions

The two rough paper shades G60 (deep scarlet aniline) and G61 (deep red aniline) are the only rough paper shades that occur in the first half of 1917 and if you’re lucky enough to find a rough paper example with a November 1916 date, then that is a G60


On the left G60 and on the right G61

The shade family G66, G67, G68 & G70 all have distinctive fluorescent yellow to red-orange UV reactions, and these can also be frequently found perf. OS. Of these four shades the G66 shade (pink) has the strongest reaction and rivals the reaction of the eosin shade (G27 & G27A) on smooth paper. Most G66 examples are perf. OS and have 1920’s postmark.



Top left G66, top right G67, bottom left G68 & bottom right G70 plus the UV reactions

Another shade family G75 (brownish-red) and G76 (red-brown) also have distinctive UV reactions, both giving a fluorescent red glow. The G76 shade is significantly rarer.



On the left G75 and on the right G76 and their corresponding UV reactions

There are also two distinctive UV reactions in the large multiple watermark stamps and die III. Shade G101 (carmine-pink) is the only shade on large multiple watermark paper that has a bright UV reaction. Conversely, shade G112 (brownish red) in the die IIIs is the only die III shade that doesn’t have a bright UV reaction.



On the left G101 and on the right G112 and their corresponding UV reactions

Assigning examples with various plate errors can also narrow down the range of possibilities. Most plate errors only occur on a limited range of shades by virtue of the fact that the left plates and right plates were usually used for alternate periods. This also applies to the die II stamps.

Rare errors like the rusted clichés and NY joined only occur on a couple of shades.


Left & right rusted clichés and NY joined

Consult the tables in the latest ACSC to see what shades a particular error occurs on.

Unfortunately, with some shades it is necessary to buy an example from a reliable (knowledgeable) source or with a certificate. The difficult rough paper shades damson, lilac-rose & plum (G70½ & G71) have always been a headache for shade collectors, not least because of their esoteric names. Word pictures of what these shades look like have never really been adequate in conveying just how distinctive these rare shades look in the flesh.

I hope this thread has given a few useful tips in de-mystifying this fascinating area of collecting.

Please contribute your own tips and tell us about hurdles you have faced in this fascinating area.


Scott

starling,
that is a wonderful entry level synopsis for anyone thinking about entering the 1d red shades arena,
thankyou

Thanks Fleurieu55, I was worried that I went on a bit and it got rather long

Over the next few days I might add some more stuff that I left out, but I also hope others have some handy tips.


Scott

Sometimes when you examine a 1d red under the UV lamp it will have an all over blue glow.




Unfortunately this isn't a new 'Moonlight Blue' shade to go along with the 'Moonlight Green' shade.

http://stampboards.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=26628

These are just stamps that have been soaked in the presence of paper that contained optical brighteners. The optical brightening agent has leached into the water and then impregnated itself in the 1d red.

No amount of washing seems to remove this blue glow, so they should be put aside as they aren't useful for shade determinations.


Scott

One of the rarest of all 1d red shades is the elusive orange-brown on rough paper, given the G-number G78. All known examples are perforated OS.


On the left a scan of a G78 and on the right a photo under long wavelength UV

The half dozen or more examples that I have seen over the past several years (offered by auction houses or dealers) seem to only have Melbourne cancels. More precisely, most seem to have Melbourne machine cancels with the slogan Invest in the 7th War Loan, and those that have visible dates seem to have been cancelled around the middle to the end of October 1918. Though a couple have had date-stamps like the one pictured above.

Do any Stampboard members have examples that confirm or challenge this? And do I have the slogan text Invest in the 7th War Loan correct? It is usually only partially visible.


Scott

Hi Scott
Here's my copy of the G78 with the "Invest in the 7th war loan" cancel - which I do have Drury cert for this. The date of the cancel seems to be 12 OC (??) which I assume must be 1918.

Cheers
Alex

Alex,

Thanks for posting your example. It certainly does appear to have the same Melbourne slogan cancel that I have seen on others. The 12th October date is also the earliest I have seen.

It seems likely that a government office somewhere in the Melbourne CBD had a couple sheets of this shade and used them on their mail over a couple of weeks in October 1918.

Does anyone know how many of this shade exist? I have seen a figure of 50-100.


Scott

Starling. Great thread.

I don't know you do the uv scans, but they're very good.

Salmon eosin is dealt with elsewhere, but why not do G25, 26, 28 & 29 which cause a lot of difficulties?

_________________
mobbor

Thanks mobbor, I was planning to do G28 & G29 next and in the long term all of the shades from G1 to G112.

So I should be able to cover G25 and G26 soon.

Scott

just plain stunning - many thanks

_________________
Philatelists are not boring old F A R T S that smell of mothballs

Great work Scott.

Please continue.

Thank you.

There was a request to discuss the G28 & G29 smooth paper shades, however, it is probably best to discuss them along with the more common shades: G21, G22, G30 & G31 which form a neat group.

The very common shades G21 (rose-red) and the slightly darker G22 (rose-carmine) occur from the beginning of 1917.

Pigment reserves must have been low at the printers because these shades and the others in the family are significantly paler than most of the preceding shades.

The shades G21 & G22 are best separated by their UV reactions. All of the G21 reactions are very dull, by comparison those of G22 are brighter.




On the left shade G21, on the right G22 and their corresponding UV reactions


Tens of millions of stamps in these shades were produced over a period of many months, so the UV reactions do vary somewhat, but the generalisation G21 dull - G22 bright is a useful rule-of-thumb.

During this time a couple of rarer shades: G23½ (brownish rose) and G23 (crimson) were produced and will be discussed separately at a later date.

At the beginning of 1918 the visually similar shades G28 (pink) and the slightly darker G29 (carmine-pink) were released. These both appear to have had varying amounts of the colourant eosin added to the printing formulations and both give fluorescent UV reactions.

These rarer shades are again best separated by their appearance under long wavelength UV illumination. The G28 shade is fluorescent yellow to orange, and is a paler version of the legendary G27 (eosin) shades. The reaction of the G29 shade is significantly redder.



On the left shade G28, on the right G29 and their corresponding UV reactions

An extra level of help in differentiating the two shades is that the G27 & G28 shades were only printed using the right plates, and G29 was printed with both left and right plates. Though apparently the printing with the left plate for the carmine-pinks was rather small.

This means that no left plate varieties can occur in the pink shade, which includes the die II variety, the most common left plate variety. So all the pinkish die II stamps on smooth paper with a fluorescent reaction must be G29's.

Also at the beginning of 1918 the very common shades G30 (carmine-rose) and G31 (carmine-red) start to be found.

Again the UV reactions are very useful in their separation. The G30 shade tends to be dull or pale whereas the G31 shade is brighter.



On the left shade G30, on the right G31 and their corresponding UV reactions

As with the G21 & G22 shades these are very plentiful stamps and the UV reactions are varied.

So in conclusion, the rare shades G28 & G29 can easily be separated from the very plentiful G21, G22, G30 & G31 shades by their distinctive UV reactions.

Sorting G21, G22, G30 & G31 takes a bit more practice, but using UV reactions coupled with daylight appearance and they can be put in their correct classification.


From top-left to bottom-right G21, G22, G28, G29, G30 & G31 their corresponding UV reactions

Bravo starling. An excellent tutorial. The images' colours are amongst the most accurate I have ever seen. Keep it up !!

Thanks Evan!

It is always good to welcome another 1d red fancier to the Boards


Scott

First of all, I think this thread is much needed for the beginners.

I think it would be great if can be put together here a short overview of known combination - die - perf. - color shade - type of watermark.

Personally, I don´t intend to collect this seriously (just only as a curio due to large number of color shades and their quite interesting UV reactions) and therefore I would like to not spend extra money on appropriate catalog.

I looked at the Glebe´s list which is really a very good, but further reference for the dies, watermarks is for beginners really much appreciated.

Hi. Did you realise your G30 is a Die II, sub-cliche ......

Evan,

Well spotted You'll find at least one other of the stamps in this thread is also a die II substituted cliché.

No point showing an ordinary version of a stamp if you've got a nicer one to show off

For those who may be confused about what we're talking about. These are the rusted clichés (the left and middle stamps in the following picture, and constituted two stamps next to each other in the sheet. The plate was 'damaged by rats' when in storage (I've never seen it explicitly written, but I expect that means that the plate was pooped on in that spot and that caused the rusting and pitting).



These were quickly cut out of the printing plate and replaced with two other clichés, but the dies (or is it dice?) were made of copper instead of the more sturdy steel and showed many small flaws which got worse over time. The left rusted cliché was replaced with a die that also happened to be a die II.

So the left stamp in this picture is a die II substituted cliché (shade G30).



The main characteristics are: die II spur in the left value tablet, break in the top frame at the right, the Emu is laying an egg, the top of the crown is worn away and the corners are quite rounded. There are other general irregularities as well. Overall possibly worse than the original And these substituted clichés were then finally replaced with better steel dies.


Scott

Looking forward to further shades, Scott ...

Sorry no new tips, but a congrats and big thankyou .
Great post, its bookmarked now, i have pages of OS 1d reds to look through for that elusive postmark .

_________________
Why Facebook when you can Stampboard?

Thanks for the reminder & encouragement to put more up evkat, I should have a few more things to add in a few days.

And it will be good to see any of your finds matman72.


Scott

I found several cancels referring to the war, then i struck lucky, I found one , then another, all up I found around seven with the INVEST cancel, but the only one i can read the date is from 29 oct.
He must have them stocked chronologically.
Ive seen such a variety of these cancels now, Its perked my curiosity, what do they mean, etc. I have many questions in my head, would there be a book about this, ill search for a thread for now.

_________________
Why Facebook when you can Stampboard?

Hi!

Is this that kind of cancel? I think they are both rough papers. I don`t have them in hand right now, but as soon as I get them back I`ll check the fluorescence and daylight shade. I think there is no chance on the monitor alone.



Greetings

Josto,

The cancels look like the right ones. This slogan cancel was used extensively through 1918. Even from the scan I would say that these are not the rare shade.

Remember that the G78 orange-brown shade is exceedingly rare, a good copy will usually sell for up to $5000. The bottom stamp in your scan is a die II (spur in the left value tablet), about 6 of these have been recorded in the orange-brown shade. Richard Juzwin currently has one in stock at $12,500.


Scott

Hi Scott,

thanks very much for your answer! Of course I didn`t expect one of these to be the rare G78, but it`s just the cancel that I wanted to get cleared up. I don`t have my rough paper stamps here at the moment, but as soon as I`ll get them I`ll try to check them. I just got the spectroline ENF-260C/FE, would this lamp be good for shade detection?

Best wishes

josto

I managed some half decent pix, please excuse the lack of scans, my effing printer wont scan because there is no ink
first of all i have around 8 pages like this to sort through yet:

So far Ive found these but most seem to be the carmine reds.
Another problem is the quality of the stamps, either stained, not centered, I have a book of perfins in better nick. Anyway. .. .. .

_________________
Why Facebook when you can Stampboard?

Ive just realised after reading the thread that these were from
Melbourne. Unless it says something else, two of mine above are in a larger or thicker font, and one is postmarked Perth(?)-29 oct.
Hmmmm

_________________
Why Facebook when you can Stampboard?

Josto,

The Spectroline unit you bought is correct for checking the UV reactions of the 1d red KGV. You bought the fancy model with both long wavelength (365nm) and short wavelength (254nm) tubes. The long wavelength light source is the one you need. Happy hunting!

Matman72,

Remember, if you're hunting for the elusive G78 orange-brown, it only occurs on stamps with OS perforations. It is also a shade that occurs on rough paper, the ones you showed a close-up of are all smooth/normal paper examples.


Scott

Hi there,

Have recently started collecting KGV heads as I find them interesting
with endless varieties and shades.

I need to ask a stupid question. What exactly is a substituted cliché?

Please pardon my ignorance, just a simple explanation will do.

Thank you.

Thanx spartacus, that makes two, Ive been trying to search for it to no avail, all because i didn't want to ask. So I'll stand beside you and proudly ask what may be a stupid question.

_________________
Why Facebook when you can Stampboard?

Spartacus & Matman72,

Certainly not a stupid question

If you go further back in this thread to the post at Wed May 09, 2012 3:46 pm you'll find a bit that I wrote about the substituted clichés.


Scott

Hey matman72,

Any luck? I will check it out and hopefully will understand.
If you don't come right, we can always ask the guys here.

Cheers

Thanx Starling, but we are meganewbies man. I had to look it up:
Cliché: end result of the process of applying a design into metal; individual identical units that are used to make up a printing plate, plate, image, block, photo, line cut, position.
So i presume here they these two below on the left are made from the exact same part of the die.
Scott[/quote][quote="starling"] . . .

Rare errors like the rusted clichés and NY joined only occur on a couple of shades.


Left & right rusted clichés and NY joined
[color=#000080]
And the following examples are what you would call substituted dies, where they had to replace/substitute them for too many flaws, or basically looking like crap when they roll off the machine. Is that about it?
[quote="starling"]
. . .For those who may be confused about what we're talking about. These are the rusted clichés (the left and middle stamps in the following picture, and constituted two stamps next to each other in the sheet. The plate was 'damaged by rats' when in storage. . . . These were quickly cut out of the printing plate and replaced with two other clichés, The left rusted cliché was replaced with a die that also happened to be a die II.

So the left stamp in this picture is a die II substituted cliché (shade G30).



And these substituted clichés were then finally replaced with better steel dies.

_________________
Why Facebook when you can Stampboard?

Hey matman,

Did you get to understand it?
I am still a bit puzzled...

What must I look out for on a stamp in order to say it was a "substituted cliche"?

Is it the hazey printing? The messy ink job"... etc..

Thanks buddy

By popular demand, here is an annotated picture of the die II substituted cliché with the features to look out for highlighted.





Scott

By equally popular demand, here is an annotated picture of the die I substituted cliché with the features to look out for highlighted.





Scott

The two substituted clichés came into use around early 1918. So the variety of shades that these can exist in is limited.

Here is a screen shot of part of a document I have put together for my own reference. It uses information from the Brusden White Australian Commonwealth Specialists' Catalogue and The Redhead by Colin Beech.



This page shows the possible shades and UV reactions to look out for when sorting out the substituted clichés. Though I probably should expand it at some point to show the ones that are quite rare and which ones are more common.


Scott

starling,

Wow... you couldn't have made it any more clearer.
Thank you so much for the detailed explanation/description.

Very helpful indeed.

Starling, a very nice reference table and great explanation.

I am having one more stupid question: Is it possible to use later 1 ½ d red or 2d as some sort of standard for some shades? In this period the shades should not vary too much. Were they also treated with UV light?

Ikanek,

It is a nice idea to try and use some other stamps as possible reference shades.

Unfortunately, even the 1½d & 2d 'red' KGV issues come in a variety of colours as well. Admittedly the spectrum of reds for these values isn't as dramatic as the 1d red, but there is variation and they don't all exist in one uniform shade.


Scott

Well, I mean that they may be good for some standard for daylight shade. It is better to compare with few possible shades than do this for more than a hundred. In Yvert catalogs, there was (and possibly still is) a list of stamps which can be used as a standard reference for about 50 basic shades. So, I hope that something like this may be suitable for the most basic shades to do. Maybe some engraved issues where no much variations in color exists would be the most reliable comparison items.

I mean more specifically, some standard for red, carmine, scarlet, rose, pink. SG color key I think it is not the best way to determine colors. Although I have Michel Farbenführer, its usage is not simple and not all colors are included.

The situation is more complicated that in my native language (Czech) we don´t distinguish much between red, scarlet, carmine or violet, purple, mauve, magenta.