Any envelopes specialists out there?
I am not a specialist in this area but have sold hundreds of cut squares over the years. I have never encountered a revalued 3 cent Washington that was not purple. I do know that there is a 3 cent variety that was printed in error in black (SC#U437h) but I could not find any reference for a revalued envelope cut square like this one. The actual color almost appears as a green shade. I have three of these so I am unsure if this is an error or the color has been manipulated with chemicals. Any ideas?
Comments
It's a Type 3 surcharge on a 3 Cent Dark Violet on Amber. The image has been affected by being left in the sun. The violet pigment has washed out leaving a "blue-green" color changeling.
Not that the left of the image is fainter than the rest. This is an indication that it was more exposed than the rest of it. (Might have been in the shadow less during the day then the rest of the image). Sunlight exposure does lots of funky things to colors. And since purple is not a primary color, other pigments are mixed with it to achieve the shade. Some of these are more susceptible to alteration by sunlight than others. But that is the case here.
So looks to be a design type U93 Die 1, with surcharge Type 3 on amber. Looks like U459a.