Perf 12 Vert W/F That I Can't Find A Listing For

I don't see this listed. It is a vertical coils perf. 12 two cent Washington on an APS cover from 1912. It is illustration type A140. I do see a vertical perf 12 of the A139, but not this one. What am I missing.





I know my scanner is not very good. I have triple checked the perfs. This does not appear to be messed with and the sender (APS) wopuld have been unlikely to use forgeries. Anybody have any ideas?

looks like top perfs were scissor'd off, perhaps while the stamp was still on the envelope

My scanner did make that top line look bad. I will spin it around and rescan it. The only perf 12 was the booklet pane and that would have had a straight edge on one of the vertical sides and those perfs look good to me.

My scanner messes with horizontal lines. Here is the stamps turned on it's side. That blip that looks like a bad trim is gone.

Measure the stamp, straight-edge to straight-edge on both the right and left edges as well as in the center. Are they the same in each case? Anything less than 25.0mm would be suspect regarding a genuine coil. 24.5mm can be a genuine coil and even sometimes in rare cases less than that, since many of the early W/F coils were done by hand; there can be some variation in the measurement, but a measurement of 25.0mm is desirable. Also check the top straight edge closely and under magnification to see if it looks cleanly cut as if by a very sharp edged instrument. Genuine edges don't generally look really sharp. International Vending machine Co. did make some private perf'ed. coils for use in their machines and #344 is know as such, but they were perf'ed. at Approximately 12.5 to 13. NOT 12. Its remotely possible that someone else may have made some private perf. 12s from imperf. sheets/coils, but it is doubtful that they haven't been discovered before now. There is known 11.75mm verticle perf'ed. W/Fs that were done for Alvin Filstrup by the Roseback Company for his use on business mail to and from the Covel Manufacturing Co. at Benton Harbor, Mich., where he worked, and on his private correspondence. I have a certified copy of a #409 Filstrup/Covel Private Perf. stamp.

All that being said, I'd suspect that the top perfs. have been trimmed off the stamp sometime in its life. If you feel it may be genuine, you may want to send it to Bill Weiss for an opinion. By the way, proper discription is that you are looking a at Horizontal coil stamp not a Verticle coil stamp. The verticle coil stamps are perf'ed. horizontally, yours is perf'ed. vertically. No big deal, its gets confusing just how to call the coils

Al E.,
Great Info. I do not expect this to be an undiscovered variety after 100 years, however your information was exactly what I was looking for. I was aware that there were private perfs, (like Shermack's) and I had a longshot hope that it may be something like that instead of an altered stamp. The stamp is perf 12,not 12.5,13 0r 11.75. When I read your note about those varieties I was hoping that it may be one of those. It also is a hair short of 24.5mm. No matter how many times I measure it I can't get it to 24.5. So that's more bad news. It is looking more and more like a trimmed top. If that is the case they did a really nice job. It does not have that super sharp edge that you get with an exacto knife. My last question is the perf 12 on both verticle sides of the stamp. I am not aware of anything other than a booklet with perf 12's for this issue and I thought all of the booklet stamps for this issue had one straight verticle edge. That would mean one at least one of these edges would have to have been reperf'ed. I am beginning to suspect the left side has been reperfed. The lines in the circles seem a little too clean and the perfs don't line up perfectly with the right side.
So my new question is...... Did someone at the APS fake this stamp 100 years ago? I get that the top of the stamp could have been trimmed at a later time, but to reperf it would have altererd the cancellation which lines up perfectly even when I view it at 20x magnification. To me that means the stamp would have had to have been reperfed prior to cancellation.

Could be a #406 trimmed....
perf 12....yes??

what 2c Washington type is it??
actually looks rotary from the photo...which would eliminate 406....

I can't really tell from the scan if there is re-perfing on either side. You're in a better position to tell that. If the perf holes are very clean circles, without any indication that the sheet of stamps was moving when the perfs were punched, which should a more oblong rather than round circle, with some paper fibers extending into the holes somewhat--then its probably re-perfed. I can't tell for sure, but it looks like maybe the left side perfs might not be parallel to the design--running a bit to the west as they go from bottom to top?? If it is a booklet pane stamp re-perfed, it could have been done either before or after it was put onto the envelop. If after, it wouldn't be too difficult to "ink in" extention of the wavy cancelling lines. Again, I can't really tell. Look at it well under magnification, as you have done,--if it was done after and the lines were extended, you may be able to tell.

If it really seems it was done before it was put onto the envelope, who really knows what happened; whether it was intentional or what. Its really a mystery isn't it? I've two #499s that are measuring 22.5mm tall (design). I can't figure out how that could be. Two experts have commented about it on another site and I'm still not clear how that could be. Another mystery.

kevin504, there are no perf. 12 rotary stamps to make a coil from and the only imperforated rotary is #459. #459 is a valuable stamp-it wouldn't make since to fake a coil out of a #459. It doesn't appear to be an off-set either. I think its a flat plate.

It is flat plate

pjsstamps, I think I remember reading in other posts here and on other sites that sheet stamps are watermarked horizontally and booklet pane stamps are watermarked vertically. If you decide to lift the stamp, when you watermark it, you'd know if it came from a booklet. Also, I've been told booklet pane stamps are a bit wider than sheet stamps. So...if it's a booklet stamp, it may measure more than 19.0mm wide in the design. I've some booklet pane singles that measure 19.5mm wide. Also, even though its and APS corner carded envelop, may not necessarily mean it was used by the APS?

Al E Gator...
I know there are no perf 12 rotary....
Thats why I suggested #406....flat plate, in a previous post.
As stated...looking at the scan....looks to be rotary based on color.
Flat plates are usually more reddish than carmine.
Based on the info provided....without physically viewing.....trimmed #406.

Kevin504, you are probably correct--trimmed #406

I think it is type one. The lines in the ribbon indicate that. Of course the cancel covers the toga and rope.

You did notice that the letter was from the American Philatelic Society, didn't you? Just messing with our heads, even 101 years ago ...