Techniques For Identifying Re-Perfing

During the short time I've been watching the Forum, I've noticed that some members are especially adept at determining if a stamp has been re-pref'd just by looking at a scan. I must admit that's pretty impressive. Is this an art or a science? The only technique that I've ever used is to simply judge the stamp based on a narrower length or width of its overall size, and if the perfs look just too "clean." Could you experts out there share some of your knowledge/secrets on dealing with potentially suspect stamps?

Larry

Larry, definitely a science. Here is a good place to start:
http://philatelicfoundation.org/res...d_stamps.htm

Wow! That article is a "keeper." Fortunately or unfortunately, I haven't acquired either a #519 or #245. Immediately ran in and took another look at what I hope is still a #461. Looks good - not particularly well centered, perfs parallel and similar in size and shape, overall stamp length and width consistent with the series - but, despite this, it'll still be taking a trip for authentication.
On a related subject, I've also been looking for a presentable #293 to complete my Trans-Mississippi series. Seems that either a substantial number of this issue were either horribly misaligned when perforated or they've been reperf'd to improve their appearance. The perforations far too often cut into the design on either the top or the bottom rather than the sides. Is this issue just problematic from poor printing or are the unscrupulous attempting to improve a stamp's appearance?
Thanks again, Russ, for steering me to that great article.

Not only a great article but a very informative web site. Thanks for the link!

thanks Russ it was good for me too!

Mee Three -- great link.

Thanks, Russ

Hello,

Thomas Kendall has a pdf file entitled "Detecting Reperforation jobs on scans" which might well be worth a look. The url is http://www.mostlyclassics.net/phila...perfJobs.pdf .

Best wishes,

Brian.