Riverside Stamps
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Suspect Scott #441, Unused HH Pair (5/17/14).
This stamp was part of a larger collection of larger collection of Washington/Franklins I bought at auction in January of 2014. This is a rarely faked coil because it is not expensive with ordinary unused hinged pairs coming in at $2.50. The guideline pairs are sometimes faked because they carry a slightly higher catalogue value of $17.50. This coil can be faked by adding perforations to the top and bottom edges of a trimmed #408, adding perforations at the top and bottom of a #408E, trimming the perforations from the left and/or right edges of a #424 and trimming the perforations from the left or right of a #424d. Can be confused for a rotary press #448
The watermark of the suspect is an normal single line “S” that reads horizontally (see Fig 1) which eliminate the possibility that the suspect is a booklet pair #424d.
The suspect measures 21.25+ mm at the top and 21.5- mm at the bottom. The height of the stamp design is 22mm which is short of the 22.5mm height of the rotary press #448 therefore the suspect is a flat plat printing. Below is an image of the suspect overlaid on a Flat Plate/Rotary press gauge.
The perforations show all the signs of being genuine – slightly oval in shape, pulled fibers on the left and smooth on the right. One funny thing though, I see pressure ridges on the left side were the pulled fibers are. My perf 10 reference block shows very weak pressure ridges on the correct side on a few of the perforations but also shows what look like pressure ridges on the pulled fiber side but not as strong as the suspect. The top and bottom perforations of the suspect do show weak signs of pressure ridges on the correct side of the perf hole.
The suspects perforations match up perfectly with known genuine gauge 10 perforations.
The edges were checked against known genuine edges of a Scott #425e booklet pane - first the left edge.
Now the right edge.
As can be seen the left and right edges compare well with the genuine edges of the booklet pane.
Conclusion: In my opinion: The suspect is a genuine #441 unused pair, previously hinged, middle perforations are creased.
Reference material used:
- The Expert's Book. A practical guide to the authentication of United States stamps. By Paul W. Schmid.
As always comments and suggestions are always welcome.
To Contact Riverside Stamps:
Email:
Mike Girard - Owner / Operator / Web Master:
g1rardmn1099@comcast.net
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I am a member of the American Philatelic Society
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I am a member of the United States Stamp Society  USSS #: 16733 Visit the United States Stamp Society Website at www.usstamps.org |
I am a member of the Perfins Club
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