Is This Real ? Scotts U.s 317 Used

Any chance this is real .?.
Scotts U.S 317 Coil Used .?.

I suspect that it is not. The larger size of the image makes the margins look bigger than they actually are.

The right margin shows evidence of trimmed perfs.

Not that I think the #317 is legit.....
I would like to see the "evidence" of trimmed perfs??

The uneven cuts on both sides is part of it, but the right side is particularly "bumpy".

Hold a straight edge to the right side and you can see it has a valley in centre from not being cut straight. Pretty well a sign of trimming.

Not trying to validate this - I have no skin in the game -
but if the stamp is not FLAT when photo'd it will make
the sided look uneven....just things to consider....

Sheetguy said:


Are you suggesting that the irregular saw-toothed indents on the right are the result of this stamp standing up (curling) off the page? You may not have "skin in the game" but you're arguing for the sake of being contrarian as apposed to taking an objective look at this stamp.

Brian

If the stamp was not scanned absolutely flat, the uneven curved (not completely straight) margins could be an optical illusion.

Neither margin is exactly straight, nor are they parallel to each other in this photo.

The sawtooth indents on the right are allegedly residue of perforation holes, although I've seen worse. The right margin could be a genuine straight edge with the rough cutting being from a dull blade cutting through the soft paper on that stamp. The sharp cut on the left could be the one that was cut with scissors. Being that both sides have a different appearance is a likely indication that one side or the other is not original.

IMO it would be a waste of $30 to submit this for a certificate, but if you believe it is real and want to gamble, I can't stop you.

As ZebraMan observes, I think the key features that call in question the authenticity is the difference in left and right sides, where the left side appears to be scizzor cut sharper edges, and the right side *may* be an authentic straight edge cut. They should both be the same type of separation.

Thanks orstampman.

I saw this stamp sell today on ebay (item 318665748208), a "coil" of the $1 from the same series. The stamp is obviously not trying to deceive anybody, it was probably just carelessly trimmed off the envelope or package. The point being, the left side is a natural straight edge, showing the guideline at the edge of the pane. Notice how jagged that cut is, compared to the scissors cut on the right. The little dimples are not a sign of perfs being cut off, that's just how the paper was cut back in 1903.