6c Washington W/Grill

Well, while doing some sorting, ran across a couple of grills. I see from reading, that there are such things as fake grills. Since I seem to be developing the attitude of guilty until proven innocent, will somebody please tell me what is wrong with this stamp? It measures out to 12perf. I didn't see any indication in Scott's about a watermark. To me, the perfs look good, condition isn't bad, fairly clean, but ... ?

It has a small tear, a few perfs added, and might have a vertical crease, but the grill is genuine, this set was only issued with a grill.
It has lived a rather hard life, but it is somewhat on the scarce side and is certainly worth keeping until a better example presents itself.

revcollector - Thank you. Starting out with so many misses, it is nice to see something positive come out of what I've been working on. There is another like it only not used, however, it does has a corner torn off. Still and all, it's some good news I can pass along. Hope your weekend turns out to be as good as mine has become. Thank you, again.

revcollector, When you say 'a few perfs added', is that like in reperfed? Would you be speaking of the top and bottom? Is a grill more of an indication that a stamp is real or could it just be a backing?

No, reperfing is creating fake perfs for part or all of one or more sides of a stamp. I am talking about damaged areas at the margins that have been repaired. For example the third perf from the bottom (looking from the back)on the right. There was a small tear there and the perf was missing, so someone replaced it. Also the second, fifth, and ninth perfs from the top on the left, the same thing. Careful examination with a glass will show it clearly, as will dipping the stamp.
The stamp is certainly real, and the grill is embossed into the paper, so while it is possible to reback a stamp with a grill, it would really have to be the whole stamp, not just the grill area. That has not happened here.

This is Scott #115, issued with grill as revcollector says, as part of the 1869 issue. The set (including this design) was reissued in 1875 without grill on different paper (the 6-cent value as Scott #126), but used copies from this set are scarce to rare and no one in their right mind would fake a grill on one of these stamps.

Walkabout, for classic US stamps you don't have to worry about watermarks until you get to the Bureau issues of 1894 (Scott #246 and ff.).

revcollector - Thank you for the additional info. Is replacing the perfs like that a reasonable practise in the care of a stamp?

dudley - I had seen the prices for the set (there are 11 locomotive stamps all with grills - darn). When I was thinking about that question regarding the grills, I was thinking about 'in general' rather than this specific case. Although I must admit, over time, I have know a couple of people who would do something that insane. Thank you for the date for watermarked stamps.

Repairing a stamp is fine as long as it is bought and sold AS a repaired stamp, which seriously affects it's actual value in a negative way unless the stamp is super rare or always found that way (a tiny handful of stamps fit this category). All too often it is done with an eye towards deceiving a future buyer which is of course fraudulent.

revcollector - Thank you. Glad I don't have to worry about becoming proficient at repairs. :-) I've spent too much time dealing with antiques to want to try to pass something - anything - off as something it isn't.