6d grey-brown Vurtheim
I recently bought a ZAR telegram receipt with the usual blue squared circle date-stamp (Pretoria 28 OCT 1891) - scan attached. When it arrived, I was surprised to see that the 6d stamp (paying the charge for the receipt) was dark grey-brown instead of the usual fairly pale blue - scan attached of a typical example. I checked in SG and found no mention of a brown Vurtheim 6d; and haven't found any mention in Mathews' Transvaal Philately. I would be very grateful for any information - have I missed a catalogue listing, or some obvious explanation?
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What a lovely find. I have just had a quick skwizz in my SACC (SA Colour Catalogue) 2008/09 and there is no reference to a brown 6d Vurtheim. Of course, my copy is now seriously old, so I cannot account for recent updates. Can anyone help with a more recent copy? I guess Paul van Zeyl must be the go-to-guy for advice on this.
2018 SACC does not show the grey stamp only the typical blue.
Many thanks for your information and thoughts. Another fellow-collector has suggested oxidation or a change caused by contact with something, and I guess that's the most likely suggestion, though the paper of the receipt and the colour of the date-stamp look pretty normal. Does anyone have any further thoughts?
None really, other that that the stamp is a forgery. However, the date of 1891 makes this unlikely. (A bit too early?) A 'colour change' for whatever reason did cross my mind. It is the 'natural' explanation. However, changing from light blue to grey-brown seems an unlikely route for a colour change to take. Does anyone know about stamp colour changes and what direction they take away from the original? Is there a paper on this anywhere?