Fake US #39?

The poor quality of the printing causes me to question whether or not this is a fake #39. The entire area around the "NINTY CENTS" at the bottom is most bothersome to me. Or is this genuine stamp printed by a badly worn plate?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...B:SS:US:1123

It appears that it has added margins/repairs. I would stay far far away from it. Just my novice opinion though.

looks like a rebacked proof.

ILS, that is what I am planning to. I am watching it though, to see what price it actually brings. It first caught my eye for the super centering but I also saw a very poor printing quality which raised my posted question.

I agree that it has been rebacked; it might be a proof or possibly a genuine badly damaged stamp.

Just curious; how does one identify a rebacked stamp? I suppose it reduces its value as well.

look at the change in color around the design. It appears that the center was cut down and then glued to another piece of paper. You can usually tell if you dip it into watermark fluid. It will absorb/dry funny, due to the differing thicknesses of the paper.

Thanks chipg, I just checked the site again and I now see the change in the paper color. Knowing what to look for makes it obvious and particularly so at the left and right sides above the top arch. This could explain the weird messed up "S" on "CENTS" at the bottom too.

It's amazing. He states he knows nothing about stamps yet he talks about perforations, Colors, Scott's and the values between Mint and used and even identifies the fault in the stamp. YET KNOWS NOTHING ABOUT STAMPS? HM....?
Like stated above "STAY AWAY"

I think it was a sloppy repair job. At first I thought the corner might have been folded over or it might be a forgery but IMO. I think it was a sloppy attempt to repair a tear. Considering it's age he would have been better off leaving it as is, damaged. That is if he was the one that attempted to repair it. Again Stay away!

Also notice the purple cancellation. Not many of these was actually used and even fewer are in collections, so that just screams bad news. Yeah I seen that "I know nothing.." but then goes into det5ail about everything but the obvious...lol I think I'm going to watch it also just to see what it fetches. - If it quacks like a duck...

I really do appreciate the opinions, information and warnings given. Good observation, TinMan and ILS, to see the self contradictory statements of the seller. I was so focussed on the stamp photo that I overlooked that. A special thanks to revcollector and chipg for your opinions and chipg's additional information in answering my question. With this post I have learned (basics at least) about rebacked stamps. I had little knowledge about them, so little in fact that I did not even consider rebacking to be one of the problems with this #39. Rather than staying away, I tend to get up close in an attempt to be more educated. My post generated exactly what I hoped it would do and that is to learn something new and in the process, that others might learn as well. There is much to learn about stamps from viewing and asking questions about doubtlessly genuine to questionable to doubtlessly faked stamps.

You should understand that this is really not a very good rebacking job; it's easily seen from the scan. Some are MUCH more well done, and really require hands on viewing to tell for sure.
As stated above, dipping will show it pretty much every time, because the different layers will wet and dry at different rates.

The seller has a long history on e-Bay with a high rating. It seems unlike he would be willing to risk it with this listing. But it is kinda weird - every other auction for SC 39 is at least a thousand dollars; this one is only $74 which is way too low. A stamp like this needs a cert.

It would appear that he sells coins and other collectibles, including some stamps from time to time. I think his statement means he is admitting that he does not have the expertise to judge the authenticity of this item. He's not selling it "as-is" so would have to accept a return if the buyer insisted. I think he's passing on something that came his way, but I doubt that he is up to anything shady. But that's easy for me to say, since I have no interest in the stamp. For those that do, send it back if you don't like it. ebay buyer protection has you covered.