This Appears To Be 26A On Cover

I believe this is a 26A because of the stamp above it showing. That eliminates the outer frame line stopping due to the stamp being top row.

stamp crow,

your stamp looks like a 26a to me. I'm baffled by the forensics required for this stamp. I have been debating the one below for 6 months-- can't stand not knowing -it is centered for this issue and appears sound. It sits on my desk waiting to go in album but can't make up my mind to get certificate for it. I worry it is bottom margin example… so difficult for the average collector! lines at sides appear to bow (wave) a little suggesting they are recut by hand as others have mentioned to hint at 26a vs 26. Who knows?

Stampcrow, your stamp is a 26A. Probably an 1858 usage. Stamp appears to be a '58 orange red.

rgstamp, your stamp is not a 26A. I think you are being fooled by a couple things. A surface thin that has removed a portion of the frameline at lower left. At lower right the continuous frameline appears to be hidden by a folded over perf tip or covered by a perf chad. I think the stamp is a D relief position so not a bottom row stamp. It would be a terrific waste of money to certify this stamp or any other possible 26A that requires an expert opinion to identify it. There are plenty of 26A's out there that are easily identifiable.

rgstamp, looks like the lower half of the right frame line is doubled. I'd bet, for someone with experience, this is an easy one to plate.
Nice stamp.

thanks for input guys (or girls) -- sinclair, I noticed the bottom left corner as well in the picture, and it has perplexed me for months.. the right hand corner, however seems legitimate. I'll take another look at it under mag, but don't remember any issue there with a
perf chad or folded perf-- I will update you. But these are reasons I don't waste money on certs for this stuff-- I'm wrong (or overly optimistic) more than 50% of the time!

rgstamp, calling me a girl is not going to get you very far but you are welcome for the help anyway :) You may call me Winston.

Winston, using a tip you gave us several months back, I captured rgstamp's image, and changed the vertical size to 10% of the original. The lines are both not straight, and curved from bottom to top.

Does that make any difference? Could that help to diagnose it as a 26A?
Thanks-- hope you're staying warm up there!
Ray

Winston (Mr.)

I don't see any issue at right bottom corner-- line just stops-- no thin, perf fold, chad, etc
left corner looks scuffy, perhaps thin, but still looks like line just stops---
if you don't think its bottom margin example as you posted before, would bottom right prove its 26a?

It amazes me that only 5 mint examples have ever been graded by PSE as of today. Only 44 used examples have been PSE graded, with only 33 of these grading 80 or better. Sound, very fine centering (or better) used examples 26a are quite rare given the pop report-- I think this is why there are so many posts on forum asking for help with this.

Ray.mac,

thanks for help-- I agree, the lines on sides definitely are not straight-- they bow inwards which I thought was another indication of 26a (per other posts)

stampcrow,

looking at your cover it seems the top perfs are very straight and not typical of perfs generally seen on the issue after separation-- was the stamp cut away from upper stamp with scissors or something? Or am I imagining this?

First let me just say,

rgstamp, it appears my stamp may have been scissor cut on three sides even.
I've never looked at cert. numbers. I'm surprised there are so few. It may be more a factor of hard to find well centered copies worth certifying, rather then copies in general.

The cover I posted was in an album of covers I picked up at auction today. I'm sure I could go on ebay and find plenty. It's just not as fun. And usually costs more.

Ray, I think I can remember the post to Bill Weiss. I believe that I said (roughly) that the straightness, or lack thereof, of the framelines should be observed as a check to help confirm or reject a Type IV identification and to prevent stamps such as rgstamps from being identified as a Type IV. I think most of the concave framelines can be blamed on the stamp not lying flat on the scanner bed. See how the design curves with the framelines? Line weight is another factor to consider.

Rgstamp, I am bad about this but I am usually pretty hard to budge from my position. The lower left is thinned or damaged creating the line terminus. The lower right corner is affected by a small piece of paper stuck to the stamp. Check it under high magnification if you have to.

Winston (mr.),

I respect your position-- that is exactly the reason I put the scan up there. I have been unsure about it for months!!! I never noticed an issue with bottom right corner, just the other 3 corners made me question 26a! I didn't submit for certification because I had my doubts initially.

You have confirmed my doubts for now. If someone could plate it and that would help with ID, perhaps my opinion would change.