Hawaii O2 - Do These Perfs Look Funny To You?

I acquired this 1896 Hawaiian Official a couple of months ago at an auction (the live kind) and just today got around to creating an album page for it. I noticed the dropped perforation on the bottom. On closer inspection I saw the bottom margin was crooked and it looks like the edge was cut (knife or scissors) rather than pulled apart.



This stamp catalogues at $19 in my 2012 Scott's Specialized, so while it's not a hugely valuable stamp, it's not filler either. Is the bottom reperfed? and if so, why miss the one hole.
Weird.

Someone put scissors to it and tried to remove the bottom selvage (gasp! as a selvage collector, this pains me to no end). The perforation appears genuine, and the missing 4th perf hole from the bottom left is a known EFO. But I do not know the pane position, other than it comes from the bottom row.

Scott notes that a used value is for a particular double-circle cancel without date. What effect that has on the value of your stamp, I cannot say. But the Scott-listed used value may not apply, strictly speaking...

Thoughts, anyone?

As for the perfs, it definitely looks as if someone took a scissors to them. There is also quite a bit a variability of spacing between the perfs along the bottom, that doesn't seem to exist across the top. Could be an optical illusion with the cut perfs, but check perfs 8, 9, 10 and 11 with a gauge and I bet they don't match up cleanly to a perf 12.

The top perfs look like they were also trimmed with scissors. You can also see significant variation in the widths at the top as well. Counting full perforation holes from the left, compare tooth between 5th/6th holes to tooth between 8th/9th holes. The horizontal perf spacing is clearly poor, but with both top and bottom perfs. If the bottom perfs are fake, then so are the top perfs. At this point, I still think both top and bottom are OK. My non-expert opinion, always subject to correction. The 4th missing perf is also consistent with a known EFO from the bottom row.

But I agree, it would good for James to confirm the perforation gauge.

I just did a quick rotate test on the top and bottom perfs, and they seem to match well. Which means they are either both genuine or both fakes made with the same perforator.

Cjd is correct in pointing out that the Scott catalog value is for CTO (Honolulu double-circle cancel with no date). Your stamp appears to have Honolulu squared circle postmark -- indicating genuine domestic postal use. That would put approximately 2x factor on the catalog value.

I don't really suspect the perfs...especially if that 4th perf is known. That is beyond the detail level of my resources.

I'd say it is a nice stamp to have, jamesw. The cancel lightens up in all the right places to not be too obtrusive.

I would agree that the top and bottom perfs look odd, including the spacing. But I've seen some pretty ugly perfs that were genuine.

Bottom line: as Cjd stated -- "nice stamp to have"!

Here's an example of the missing 4th perforation on Hawaii #O1 on cover (not mine, of course):



All the stamps in this set of officials were printed by ABN.

jamesw, what do you think of that cancel on k's piece? I'd say you're in the money.

Maybe not 'I'm quittin' my job' money, but 'yes, I believe I will have fries with that' money, at least.

Left and right vertical perforations are evenly spaced. Top and bottom perf spacing are irregular but have the same number of perfs, as long as one also counts the missing perf.

The top perf seems also misaligned vertically, some being a bit lower than others. The bottom ones appear to be made in group of 3 and they to are not horizontally aligned. (the 1st 3 at the bottom are lined up at a diff angle than the rest, suggesting a 3 hole perforator could have been used....to create the illusion of the missing perf.

The perfs all show stains from tropicalized gum, including the bottom perfs. The bottom perfs were cut with a scissors, the margins are far too wide to be any kind of reperf, even assuming anyone would bother with such an inexpensive stamp.

And as far as a collector trimming it to remove the selvedge, it could just as easily been trimmed out of a multiple by a secretary when it was originally used. Remember, no one was thinking about us at the time, it was just pre-payment for services rendered.

I concur with both of revcollector's posts.

It is very possible that there was no selvage at the bottom -- that it is merely the top part of the stamp below. As noted, both the top and bottom were cut with scissors/blade.

Wow! What an amazing response to this post. Didn't think this little guy would attract so much attention.
Revcollector, I've never heard the term 'tropicalized' before. Does that refer to the graying around the edge of the stamp. I assume caused by heat and humidity in the tropical climate.

As suggested, I've copied and dragged the bottom perfs up to meet the top. They match almost exactly.