Original, Faded, Or Lightened? (Specimen Overprint)

From Zebra: "I can't find a $1, but the entire series can have the overprint horizontal, vertical, or diagonal."

I searched the PF certificate database, and they only have one.


None on ebay. Seems pretty hard to come by.

EDIT: Found a lot of them sold at Kelleher: https://stampauctionnetwork.com/V/v779103.cfm

rod222: I updated the thread title to be a little more specific

Maybe Langs was hoarding them. Or quite possibly a lot of them are hiding in used and unused collections everywhere. Like that 290 posted earlier - if it didn't have the certificate, I would have a hard time believing it was a Specimen overprint. On an orange #287 the overprint is easy to find, but on a grey or black stamp, the overprint can be well hidden. On the later issues, like #300-313, I frequently see the specimen overprint vertically along the perfs between the stamps, perhaps the post office decided they needed to make it more visible.

I once spotted a #309 15 cent specimen from the middle of a set in a collection. I am positive that both the collector and the seller did not know it was a specimen example.

The type E overprint was handstamped in purple ink rather than printed, so there is quite a bit of variability in the strength and position of the strike. Not unlike hand cancels in that respect.