Need Help With A 3 Cent Washington... #207

Hi all

The older US stamps seem to be highly technical to collect. I therefore have yet to get "into" them and their secrets.

But I noticed while scanning a cover to put on ebay that the stamp was only perforated on three sides. The stamp doesn't seem to have been cut out with scissors. I am not sure if I am seeing very faint evidence of perfs at the top right corner or not.

Can anyone ID the stamp, and why there is a non-perfed side? Or is there a simple explaination???

That is common with older stamps. It is the edge of the sheet. You find natural straight edges on any side.

Oh, OK! I thought of that, but I didn't realize stamps of this vintage came that way. When I think of straight edges, I think of later booklets. Dagnabbit... I knew it would turn out to be something simple!

Identifying this stamp depends what paper it was made of. White wove, and soft porous paper are the two choices. White wove paper is stiffer when you try to flick it with your finger. But alot of good this does you since it's stuck to an envelope. To really identify it, you'd have to remove it. I can tell you that it has a secret mark because the underside of the lower left ribbon is more heavily shaded than on the lower right ribbon. That means it is either Scott #158 or Scott #184. Hope this helps.


-IBFS

It's a #207.

Edit:
Looks like something kind of funky going on with that number 3. Like an ink smear. Also, I know it's a 207 because of the re-cut die. Looks at that line under the TS in CENTS on the bottom right. See that dash or line under it? Also the shading around the central oval is half what it's previous width was. It's a dead giveaway. Good luck friend.

I wanted to darken this up just a little and straighten it out to see whats going on with those ink anomalies on the front? The letters in the word CENTS look a bit off kilter too? Any comments on that? Possible over inking?

I think it is the re-engraved 207. The Stamp pictured above does not have the secret mark, too light. Here is what the secret mark looks like.

Scott 184

The stamp in my above post of the #207 IS Nells250's stamp. I just straightened it out and added a little shadowing is all. My intent was simply to sharpen the image to better see the possible over-inking anomalies across both the numeral and the marquis banner.

The key to identifying the 207 is the band of color under the lower portion of the portrait oval is thin. Definite 207.

I thought it was the line under TS of cents ?

WOW! If you guys need me to rescan a certain area, let me know! This is interesting!

The new re-engraved die was made using an existing transfer roll. There were many differences due to the recutting and strengthening the lines. The shaded area under the portrait oval did not have all the lines strengthened and shows the narrow band of deep coloring. This is the easiest way to ID the re-engraved 207.

It is re-engraved. My post was in error. Sorry. I was looking at design A47b by mistake. The symptoms of design A46b (re-engraved) are present on Nells250's stamp. The shading at the center sides of the oval is thin compared to the top and bottom sides. And there is the horizontal cut under the "TS" IN "CENTS". The horizontal line is not shown in Russ' left scan above, but you can just see it in the scan on the right.

I'm too experienced at this stuff to be making a mistake like this. It can really mislead someone. I do my best, and hope I do not...make this kind of error again.


Apologies
-IBFS

OK folks, according to all of you this is an edge copy of #207. I'd like to do this with ALL of my older US stamps!



Just in case, here is a scan of the lower section that seemed to be of interest.

With new scan, I can now see it doesn't have secret mark as previously thought. At the end of the ribbon on the left side, where it splits in two, the top ribbon piece would be shaded where that white spot is.

Just a comment on the natural straight edge...
There is a line of thought that stamps from the edge of the sheet, which are not perf'd on all 4 sides,
are less desireable to collectors, and this very well might be true. So often these straight edges are
given perforations by dealers/flippers to make them sell easier. If you hang around here very long,
you will see discussions about altered stamps, most often dealing with false perfs.

Those stamps you see discussed, usually started out like yours.

Well, when you think about it, how many stamps were in a sheet back then, and how many were not perfed on all sides? Wouldn't 3-sided stamps actually be RARER???

(yes, a fruitless attempt to make my stamp worth more)