Mauveine and the mauve shade six pence stamp

Abstract

British Victorian six pence lilac stamps (plates 5, 6, 8, and 9) have been analysed for mauveine: six pence stamps (no hyphen and plates 8 or 9) were dyed with mauveine, six-pence stamps with the hyphen (plate 5) were not dyed with mauveine, about half of the six-pence stamps with the hyphen (plate 6) were dyed with mauveine and one six-pence stamp with the hyphen (plate 6) was analysed as being dyed with Caro's mauveine. Plate numbers are from Vol. 1 Queen Victoria, Stanley Gibbons Great Britain specialised stamp catalogue, 9th edn. Stanley Gibbons Publications, London, 1989.