J44 Postage Due Block With Questionable Cancel

This is touted on ebay as being a "rare" item. Can anyone provide information about the cancel? While the stamp may be "scarce", I can't make out the cancel and it looks highly suspect to me.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/US-Stamps-J...t_1268wt_553

I suspect the cancel is fake.

Thanks. I was thinking the same thing, as it doesn't look like the size or type of any US cancel I can recall.

Well, if the cancel is a fake, then the forger must be an idiot because the mint block of 4 catalogs for $2000.

Here's an image of the stamp from the above ebay listing:



Let's assume for a minute that the cancel is real ... if it is, then what type of cancel is it? The diameter seems too small for any US cancel that I recall seeing.

Can anyone make out the smeared wording within the cancel?

Wouldn't there be a date included in any hand cancel such as this?

As khj suggested, someone would have to be "an idiot" to cancel a mint block of 4 of these stamps given that the price of a used block is only a fraction of one in mint condition.

Does anyone seem to think the perforations look a bit off, or was that normal for this early issue? (I am particularly noticing the center vertical perforation in the bottom two stamps.)

Not that I have any interest in purchasing this particular item, but it just looks so unusual, I'd be interested in any further comments about it.

Okay, I now believe the cancel is legit.
The stamps are okay too, I did some image manipulation and ALL the perf holes are there.
They just didn't punch all the way through. (Used some embossing to view them)
It is a nice block of four actually.
I think I picked out the word "omaha" on the right side of the cancel.

What you saw, SV was "OMAH" but the town name is TOMAH, as in Tomah, WI.

Be VERY wary of this seller. He's on par with, or perhaps even worse than Langs.

Lots of fake items and made up catalog values.

Caveat SERIOUSLY emptor.

Thanks for the cautionary advice. As I said earlier, I had no intention of purchasing the stamp, I just saw it on ebay and I was a bit taken back by the cancellation.

Even if it is Tomah, Wisconsin, I still can't read the entire cancellation and I don't recall seeing a postmark with such a small diameter circle and without a date. It still looks rather odd to me.

Although I mentioned this in an earlier post, I still think there is something weird going on with the perforations on this block as highlighted/noted below:



As I said at the outset, I'm not seriously interested in this particular block of stamps, however, it is quite the study to closely look at such a specimen and most interesting to read of comments from fellow collectors about it.

Thanks.

It would be interesting to learn why this item is considered rare.