The precancel is PSS-247, CV in the latest DLE precancel catalog 0.10 USD. The stamp was probably on a blue envelope for 50 years and the color bled into the stamp ie damaged.
Yes, without gum they are considered used. With gum, they were probably used also and most precancel collectors do not consider gum a good thing. Most, not all.
GeoffHa, I believe that is a problematic area. I collect Transportation Coils, a fairly large series of stamps of several denominations, some of which are precanceled. Quite a few of my precanceled stamps are post office fresh, and I call them mint. They are certainly unused!
Thanks for your input. I was excited to find a stamp on "blue" paper! Sad it didn't turn out to be a rare find... Still no definitive answer but I suppose the "bleed" through is a possibility.
Alas, bleed through is not simply a "possibility". It is the answer, there is no other way for this stamp to have a bluish tinge. It was issued many years after the bluish papers of the W/F series (which was a very short lived experiment), and blue envelopes were very common at the time.
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Posted 05/13/2016 3:29 pm
