USA Virgin Island 3 Cents Efo?

Hello, I am sorting through some stuff and noticed this anomaly, the top stamp (Scott 802) on the bottom left corner instead of a 3 has a zero, the normal (bottom) stamp has a 3 in both bottom corners where as the oddity has just 1.

That's a 3, not a zero. It is an optical illusion caused by the cancellation.

Dang, I was just looking a little closer to confirm that. I guess that it's atleast a rare cancellation!

Nothing rare about the cancellation just opportune placement.

Let's call it "lucky" placement.

In general, the wavy line machine cancel is the most common cancel in this era. Absolutely dirt-common.

However in this case it does merit a quick second look, note the wavy lines at the left end and the straight lines at the right end. This combination is characteristic of an Ielfield Postal Supply Corporation Type 1 cancel die used in just over 200 small towns across the US in the late 1920s onward. Here are three examples on cover showing the same transition:


Still, no extra value here beyond a normal common used stamp, for what you have shown. On a full cover it might fetch $2-3 from the machine cancel specialists or state postal history collectors.

It isn't on a full cover is it? (Hint, show images which include the full stamp including the perforations and little beyond.)