Accessibility navigation


Nineteenth century black free frank handstamps of London. Part 2 - the ink: a preliminary study

Balani, R., Davies, J., Morris, M. E., Nevin, S., Galland, R. B. and Almond, M. J. (2018) Nineteenth century black free frank handstamps of London. Part 2 - the ink: a preliminary study. The GB Journal, 56 (6). pp. 126-132. ISSN 2515-3269

[img] Text - Published Version
· Restricted to Repository staff only
· The Copyright of this document has not been checked yet. This may affect its availability.

5MB

It is advisable to refer to the publisher's version if you intend to cite from this work. See Guidance on citing.

Official URL: http://www.gbps.org.uk/

Abstract/Summary

A range of free inkstamps used to post letters from the date range 1776-1838 have been analysed using SEM-EDX. Most of these inks are red while a small number are black or show some degree of blackening. Elemental concentration show that the pre 1800 inks contain a variety of pigments with one showing mercury sulfide as the likely red pigment. Between 1800 and 1830 all inks show a significant concentration of lead and it is likely that the red pigment is Pb3O4. These inks show significant blackening possibly by conversion of Pb3O4 to lead sulfide, PbS. After 1830 lead-based pigments become rarer and the amount of blackening also diminishes.

Item Type:Article
Refereed:Yes
Divisions:Interdisciplinary centres and themes > Chemical Analysis Facility (CAF)
Life Sciences > School of Chemistry, Food and Pharmacy > Department of Chemistry
Interdisciplinary centres and themes > Chemical Analysis Facility (CAF) > Spectrometry (CAF)
Interdisciplinary centres and themes > Chemical Analysis Facility (CAF) > Electron Microscopy Laboratory (CAF)
ID Code:81250
Publisher:The Great British Philatelic Society

University Staff: Request a correction | Centaur Editors: Update this record

Page navigation