Colour of Die 1 Penny Lilac from Ink 950

The output of De La Rue from 1853 to 1901.
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Mike Jackson
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Colour of Die 1 Penny Lilac from Ink 950

Post by Mike Jackson »

Malcolm Suttill has the following query:

I have a distinctly reddish lilac very fine mint copy of Die 1. Not a colour trial, as I understand there were no colour trials involving Die 1. The stamp colour equates to Methuen Plate 14 position C5 which is in the colour area called reddish lilac. The colour is distinctly different to any other Penny Lilac that I have ever seen. (I have a collection of Penny Lilacs). I checked against the Methuen plate colours before going to the colour names to avoid any personal bias! My Daughter, who is an artist and photographer, picked, unsolicited, exactly the same Methuen plate position.

Wiseman in his books, The De La Rue Years, talks of reddish lilac from ink 950. Peter Young in an article in Vol. 45 No. 4 of The GB Journal indicates, as I read him, that reddish lilac was probably only the result of subsequent chemical action after printing, Gibbons does not list a reddish lilac but does list bluish lilac which would come from ink 951. Wiseman’s estimates are that reddish lilac printings were considerably smaller than bluish lilac printings. Peter Young does say that cochineal, a natural red product from beetles, was used in ink 950 and this was notoriously difficult to control.

Could anyone tell me if they have a Die 1 mint copy (Mint to try and obviate chemical change which I think would be more likely on a used copy) in a distinctly reddish shade?

Also why is Wiseman so adamant about ink 950 colour and the numbers involved, and why do Gibbons not list it as a scarce colour for the stamp?

Malcolm Suttill
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