Need help on identification
OK, I know I am a novice on Foreign stamps but I really need some help with this one. I believe this is France 15 or 16. As you can see from the image of the back a previous owner had it identified as 15. My old (2010) Scott catalog says type I (15) has no neck shading and type II (16) does have it. All the example on HipStamp of France 15 show neck shading to one degree or another. Scott also describes the hair under the R in Empire on 15 as two very close lines which may look as one thick line. wider lines on 16, So the hair looks like 15 and the neck looks like 16. Anyway here are the images. Any thoughts as to which one it is and why?
Comments
However, there is another difference not noted in Scott, but which I found on this page: http://worldstampsproject.org/france-pre-1900/
See that hair line ending at the point of the yellow arrow? On number 15, it ends just at the forward edge of the ear helix (the yellow line on the right). On #16, it extends farther forward, ending just in front of the tragus, the small triangular ear flap.
Search for ID 17140575 on this site. The shading is on the upper neck directly below the ear. Note the difference between the shading directly below the ear on the left stamp (#15) and the right stamp (#16). Note also the referenced hair below the "R" is notably different.