A "New" Typeset Official Seal Discovery

I recently bought the typeset official seal that is shown below.

This particular type has not previously been seen before, and it is currently "unlisted" in the Scott Specialized catalog.

As you can see, it is clearly used, with a number of pieces of stamp selvage on the back, which are holding the severe fold together.

The condition of the seal tends to prove that it is genuine, as most seals were actually used (but not necessarily saved).

It is imperforate on rose-tinted paper.

This just goes to show, that even with obscure, century+ old stamps and seals, that "new" discoveries can continue to be made.

It is difficult to place a catalog value on something that is, in all likelihood, unique. Like so many other typeset official seals, it will probably get a "dash" for a value, and stay that way until it is sold (probably in an auction by my heirs one day.)

Jim

Jim,

Congrats on yet another great discovery!

I am saving seals in a shoebox for the day I start to pay attention to them. No idea why they appeal to me

Keep up the searching!

Congratulations.

A few others of similar ilk, here...
http://wyzaerd-pf-prod.s3.amazonaws...-POSeals.pdf

Nice discovery Jim.

Very interesting! Imagine the shame of having to sign your name on this and affix it.

The following might be of interest regarding one source of these official seal labels. The following page crop is from the:

Catlogue and Price List / POST OFFICE PRINTED SUPPLIES / Morrill Brothers / Fulton, N. Y. / 1896 edition




The image looks very close to the one illustrated by Jim in the original post and Figure 8 in the later post. I assume there were several vendors who offered similar items.

Well, as long as there is apparently some interest in this area here, it should be stated that it is not all that difficult to produce authentic-appearing typeset official seals.

As Jim Kotanchik commented in his book, "As part of the research for this chapter, the author spent two days as an 'apprentice' in a print shop... This shop has over 600 different typefaces, including most of those used for the seals described in this chapter..."

Many years ago, so the story goes (according to my fading memory), an experiment was made to create a typeset official seal. I am not sure of the source of this experiment. The result of this experiment is shown below.

The city name was intentionally set to be a) a real city (Google it) and b) a somewhat silly-sounding place to have needed official seals.

Actual typeset (or letterpress) forms were used to hold movable type and rules (or lines). The four forms were set in the similar tete-beche format that other, similar seals were set in. The paper and ink came from 19th century sources. They were entirely designed to appear to be "real."

The light brown "tone spots" were applied (as I recall) by flicking diluted regular tea on them with a small paint brush.

The panes, on various colors of paper and in imperforate and roulette settings, were not mass produced or advertised anywhere, and they were only available for a very limited time. They were not that expensive, and it was "understood" that they were not real, though there is nothing on them to indicate as such. I personally have not seen them offered for sale on any venue for over a decade.

Just something to be aware of, should one encounter an "unlisted" typeset official seal in the future.

As I stated above, the fact that a seal is found in what appears to be a damaged, used condition, with a cancel (even partial), considerably helps to authenticate it as being genuine.

Plus, like with many other obscure areas of stamp collecting, one develops a "feel" for these things over time, and sometimes the fakes are more apparent than the genuine (and vice-versa). This is similar to the several revenue collectors here that can "sniff" out a fake imperf. revenue stamp from a genuine with just a glance.

Jim

The Gnaw Bone seals were made by the late Dave Churchman. While the village exists, it never had a post office, thus easily debunkable as fake. I received some directly from him.

This would be a good example where a note in the Scott catalog: "Seals from Gnaw Bone, Ind. are recent spoofs" or something to that effect would be useful info for collectors.

Dave Churchman also made this spoof, another village which never had a post office: