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

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
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/81250
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) > Optical Spectroscopy (CAF) Interdisciplinary centres and themes > Chemical Analysis Facility (CAF) > Electron Microscopy Laboratory (CAF)
Publisher	The Great British Philatelic Society
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