2 Cents Perf 12 Coils

Hello,

sorry that I'm so active here in the forum these days :), but I am overwhelmed by the big album I am looking at each day. But at the moment I only have very few stamps left I have questions about. So here I go.

What do you think about these two perf vertically? I read that they are often faked. What I checked is that the height is about 25mm in the highest part, but the cut is not made so good, so there's variation in height. The perforation seems ok to me, but I am no expert.

Could they be genuine, or which of the two?
I didn't find a clear watermark, at least of the second. The first one has something you could call a single line watermark. Perhaps I will show a picture later. But first is the question if they are fake.

stamperix

Looking at the top margin of both stamps and the way that the bottom margins are cut at an angle, I would say that there is a strong possibility that both stamps are examples of Scott 332 or 375 (depending one the watermark) with horizontal perforations trimmed away so that the stamps you illustrate resemble coil stamps.

Stamperix, I am afraid I agree wth the previous poster. The way the bottoms are cut is typical of a homemade job.

Peter

Neither of these would certify as genuine perf. 12 issues. The straight edges would have to be parallel and measure a minimum of 24.5mm to 25.0mm consistently across the stamp, and the edges be consistent with cuts made by the process used to make the coils; not sharply cut edges consistent with scissors or razor blades/knives. Measurements of 24.5mm are suspect, but if other factors are consistent with how the coils are made being correct, the coil can be genuine. If I remember what cfrphoto (Clark F.) has previously stated, the five-cent perf. 12s sometimes do have shorter measurements. Also, many fakes are make from unperforated issues, so the perforations are also a factor to be considered. Your examples look OK in that respect, which does indicate they were made from trimmed #332 or #375. Unfortunately, there are more faked perf. 12s than legitimate ones out there.

Thank you both. I also thought that the top margin looks a bit strange, but actually I thought: I would have made all this much better. Why should someone create a fake with such a bad cut at the bottom margin? But anyway if you both see it that way, it seems to be obvious. Well I still have two other miracle stamps I will show soon.

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Thank you also Gator. As said the height is 25mm at the highest point, but of course not all the way.

Stamperix, your question is a valid one and I can not think of any reason why someone would falsify a coil this obvious.


Peter

You'll see W/F coils with miss-cut, miss-aligned straight edges on eBay a lot, but these two are much more obvious. I can't imagine them being mistaken for good coils. Who knows what was on someone mind if this was purposely done; or what may have caused them to be cut so if not purposely done? I've not seen, read about or heard about any genuine coils being cut like this as a mishap during the production process, so I'm assuming that they are not genuine. Others who may be more knowledgeable may have another opinion.

Bad looking fake perfs to me as well