Expert Opinion On Fancy Cancels Needed!

This is either a great treasure or a great fraud. The stamp is genuine, but I don't know about the cancel. I found this one in Skinner-Eno. It is LC-NP 15 (or LC-NP 15a - worn state or somewhere in between, if genuine).

One of the members of our club claimed it was fake, but he tends to see fakes in everything and every stamp has been reperfed... He could be right on this, but I wanted some other opinions before I spend the money to get this certified.

So, folks, please feel free to weight in on this one. As always, your opinions are solicited and any information - either for or against - is greatly appreciated.

The first scan is the color stamp, with no modifications other than having cropped the black background. The second image has the color removed and light/clarity adjusted to bring out the cancel as much as possible.

I have my concerns about the cancel and wonder what it would look like under long-wave UV light. That should be your first step if you aren't willing to just send it in for a cert.

What I see is:

1. The killer portion doesn't seem to be a perfect match for examples sold by Siegel.

2. The CDS portion is a dark black and I see parts of dark black in (under?) the killer. Most of the killer is much lighter. I think there is a good chance a fake LINCOLN cancel has been added to a different, incomplete cancel. There seems to be two different colors or intensities of black.

3. Not completely impossible for various reasons but the LINCOLN does not point to dead center of the CDS like it should.

I appreciate the comments. Unfortunately, I don't have a long wave UV light, only short wave. I reckon the only way to be sure is a cert. Is there any group better at these than the others? I would consider APEX, PSE or PF only to my way of thinking. Having never submitted a cancel, any recommendations and reasoning would be appreciated.

The negative Lincoln cancel duplexed with Albany pmk is almost certainly genuine. This device deteriorated and strikes are often quite different in appearance as a result. The fact that it is a partial strike affects the value enought that it may not be worth sending for a cert.