Riverside Stamps

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Suspect Scott #387 Pair

I bought this stamp on EBay for $4.00 as a known fake with the goal of getting it off of the market and doing a proper analysis on it. If this was a genuine pair it would be a moderately expensive stamp - $450.00 catalog value and is often faked. This stamp can be made by adding perforations to a #383 or trimming perforations off of a #374. It comes down to two things when determining if this is a genuine stamp or not:

  1. Are the straight edges good?
  2. Are the perforations good?

The original owner's analysis was as follows - “Top edge not parallel w/ bottom, Perfs match 12-66 gauge, 24.25 measurement, SLWM, Opinion trimmed 374”

First I’ll start with the perforations, according to The Experts Book the proper gauge for this issue is 11.93 or 12-66 on the Specialist Gauge. I overlaid the suspect stamps center perforations on an Instanta Gauge and found that they do not line up with the 11.93 gauge. Below are images of the Instanta Gauge with the suspect perforations overlaid and slightly transparent.

As can be seen in the above image the suspects perforations nowhere near match the proper 11.93 gauge.

Where they actually line up is about 12.4. This tell me right there that the perforations are fake.

Conclusion: Because the perforations are not genuine the suspect can only be a pair of #383 with fake perforations added.

Reference material used:

  • The Expert's Book. A practical guide to the authentication of United States stamps. By Paul W. Schmid.
  • Instanta Perforation Gauge

As always comments and suggestions are always welcome.

To Contact Riverside

To Contact Riverside Stamps:
Email:
Mike Girard - Owner / Operator / Web Master: g1rardmn1099@comcast.net

I am a member of the American Philatelic Society

Member of APS
APS #: 205494
 Visit the American Philatelic Society
Website at www.stamps.org

I am a member of the United States Stamp Society

Member of the USSS
USSS #: 16733
Visit the United States Stamp Society
Website at www.usstamps.org

I am a member of the Perfins Club


Perfins Club #: 4266
Visit The Perfins Club
Website at https://www.perfins.org/