Is it my eyes or are there subtle differences in these 2 stamps, especially The Madonna's face and head? To me, one appears much slimmer then the other and the eyes are different. Even the ears look like they're shaped different. I didn't find a cataloged variant for this issue, so maybe it's just me. Overall, they just don't look the same. What do you guys think?
Robert:
I see what you mean, but I think there are two things to consider. First, comparison is complicated by the presence of the cancel on the stamp to the left. Second, a piece of a CDS seems to graze the left cheek on the stamp on the right, making the face look thinner.
The eyes look a little darker (more "open") to me on the left, but I suspect this is normal variation in printing combined with the effect of the cancels on perception.
Cheers,
BigP
I see your points, and I'll add a couple. The Christ child's eyes appear to differ, and the filigree in the upper right corner (the dark area that somewhat resembles an airplane shape) is different.
Good observations all,
This is exactly what 'flyspeckers' like us do-and on more than one occasion find notable and true varieties. Keep on searching guys- excellent stuff.
Best,
Dan C.
I fully agree that the cancels and color shift/overlap contribute to what I'm seeing.(this issue seems to be one of the worst for color overlapping into places it shouldn't be) I'm not sure those account for all of it, but also don't believe what I'm seeing is any ground shaking discovery. There were right around 1 1/4 million of these printed and I thought maybe at some point a plate may have been "touched up", giving some stamps a slightly different appearance. One place that caught my eye in particular was where the Madonna's hair terminates down the right hand inside of her robe. The stamp on the left ends in a somewhat dreadlock style, while the stamp on the right looks (to me) like it ends in curls or waves. That along with the aforementioned differences made me wonder if there was something a bit more going on then the basic things common with many stamps.
Lars, I've never sold a stamp, so I don't see any of them as being terribly profitable.
I will chalk this one up as nothing more then a normal printing anomaly and again thanks for the input.
WB
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