Identification of the 1908-1911 10¢

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For a guide on how to identify the watermark and paper, please see below.

Perf 12

Identifying the Watermark

The DOUBLE lined USPS watermark

The SINGLE lined USPS watermark

Between 1895 and 1916 the U.S. government used two different watermarks, double line and single line with the letters "USPS".

By placing the watermark face down on a dark surface or holding it up to bright light you might be able to see the watermark. If you cannot see the watermark it might be a good idea to invest in watermark fluid and a watermark tray. Ronsons lighter fluid works just as well as watermark fluid. Both fluids evaporate quickly.

Pour a little fluid in the tray, lay the stamp face down. In a few seconds the stamp will absorb the fluid and reveal the watermark to you.

As you will see from the illustrations the letters can span several stamps, so on the watermark, for instance, you can see only part of the letter S in one corner and only part the letter P in the other corner.

How to ID Bluish Paper

The stamps being described as having bluish paper is unfortunate. It has led to generations of stamp collectors looking for stamps with blue paper. The color is, in fact, more of a dull slate grey. That is not quite gray, there is just a tiny hint of blue in there.These are difficult to identify as many Washington-Franklin stamps when turned over look grey, as can be seen in the stamp shown above on the right. In my opinion once you have seen a true (that is certificated) bluish stamp you will always recognise the bluish shade. I have illustrated above left the bluish shade, however different monitors will show different shades, on my wife's iPhone the stamp on the left is a kind of yellowish grey. Really the only accurate method is to purchase a certificated #358 and use it as a reference. It will cost you about $80.