461?

Single line WM and the color is pale looking.

A 461?

According to post office records all experimental perf 11 (461) were issued to the main post office in Washington, D.C. and therefore could not have a New York precancel.

The PF has certified many 461's outside of Washington DC. There is one with your exact NY precancel on this page:
http://pfsearch.org/pfsearch/pf_grd...mitNext=Next
If this watermark is clear, I would say you have a good candidate for getting a certificate.

Fascinating ... we have a paradox!

Either PF made a mistake in issuing Cert number 376277 (described as: PRE-CANCELLED NEW YORK/N.Y. TYPE 204.) or the post office records are wrong. I wonder if this will lead to the universal destruction of all 461s?!?

I'd say it just means you can't rely on "Postal Records" --- the universal oxymoron. Or, just because it's in print some where, it doesn't mean it's correct! Get the certificate...it's worth the investment~!

Edit: Added

And it doesn't mean the PF did make a mistake! Do you you really think 100% of all the certificates (by ANY organization) are correct?!? If so, I have a bridge in Brooklyn for sale!

Thus, the paradox. I think this is where smoke rising from under my collar and my head spins out of control!

I know the picture is small but there appears to be an S next to the pre cancel line (right Side)

Sorry, Rileysan... didn't mean to make your head spin ... I think you (and everyone) should understand the paradox of human error; or "... that's why the eraser was invented -- everyone is prone to making an errors occasionally.


Joe Stamps; The spacing looks correct for a New York L-16 HS precancel, if that is why you are showing the back. (I don't see the "s" you mention)

Hal

It's there