#238 15c Columbian On Cover Or Not?

Saw this cover recently and had some questions about its value. First here's the cover:



Questions:
Does using an old stamp on a modern cover (postmark 1993) make it value as 'ON COVER'?
- As a single used stamp this 15c Columbian has a cv of 82.50. The on cover cv is $230. A substantial increase in value.

IF creating the 'on cover' is legitimate then how do you value such a cover?
- By the 15c only or does the 6c ($25 single/$50 cover) or 4c increase the total cover value?

IF creating the 'on cover' is legitimate why would stamps on covers have much value if I can make my own any time I want?

Lastly (for now ), IF the 'on cover' value is null (aka bogus, illegitimate or illegal) would you be best off separating the stamps from the cover gaining individual stamp value?

All thoughts appreciated.

Most stamp collectors will agree that stamp values for "on cover" examples will have to meet the standard of "contemporaneous use", that is that they were legitimately used for postage within the general time period when the stamp was on sale at the post office. Therefore, there is no extra value to any of the stamps on a 1993 cover.

I can't tell from your scan, but there is a very high probability that the stamps affixed to your cover are not the 1892 Columbians but are taken from the Centennial Souvenir Sheet reprints issued in 1992. Still perfectly valid for postage, but only worth a catalog minimum value of $0.20, even on cover.

Furthermore, consider that the postmark used in that 1993 cover seems to be a postal clerk's handstamp. In all probability, the piece of mail never even made it into the mailstream but was merely postmarked by the clerk and handed back to the collector.

To answer your question, the stamps shown, even if they were to be soaked off of that cover, would be considered by most collectors to have diminished value as compared to ones that show legitimate postal use.

Didn't think of that. Would make this cover even more devious than I first suspected.

I totally agree with wt1. The "on cover" catalogue value is for stamps used in the correct time period paying a correct postal rate.

Columbians were used by stamp dealers well into the 1920s to reduce their excess stock.
However most collectors look for usages in the 1893-4 time period.

"I can't tell from your scan, but there is a very high probability that the stamps affixed to your cover are not the 1892 Columbians but are taken from the Centennial Souvenir Sheet reprints issued in 1992."

Maybe I have better eye sight, but as soon as I saw the picture I was 1000% sure that these are the Centennial Souvenir Sheet reprints issued in 1992

Yes, the paper on the reprints is a much brighter white color than on the originals. Another dead giveaway is that the centering is nearly perfect with "boardwalk" margins.

As an aside, I remember an old dealer in Brooklyn NY named Hans who would constantly be doing similar things to manufacture covers. Such as taking a Prexi stamp with a president and a newly issued stamp with the same president or a bunch of flag stamps and tie them together on a cover. I don't know if he used Columbians, but he did use some pretty old stamps in his bizarre cover manufacturing. I always wondered if he ever sold any, but he claimed that he did, and he WAS a member of ASDA, so I guess he must have sold some. Any one here knows who I am talking about.

The question there is Commercial versus Philatelic. Commercial Covers are what the catalogs refer to for the "On cover " value. Philatelic creations reduce the value if you ask any purist.