Newfoundland SC 1 Or 15A, Or A Forgery?

Instead of completely hijacking tommy's great topic on his Newfoundland stamps, 1-15, I will create a new topic. I realize this makes me a "me too" kind of guy, but this stamp, like jkjblue's, is really making my head spin, even after reading tommy's great points on this stamp. When I hold it up to the light, looking from the back, it is semi-transparent. The paper is heavy though and when I shake it back and forth, does not bend. I am also wondering if it is a forgery, as the point of the arch on the left sides do not quite touch the box that contains the number. For a larger pic, click on the image below. Any and all opinions are very welcome. Thanks!

Dont know if it is a 1 or 15a but I doubt it is a forgery as it looks good to me. Dont worry about the "me too"......we are all here to share and learn....the more stamps we see, the better we learn and understand. Here is a copy I have and, like yourself, I am uncertain if it is a 1 or 15a

Thanks, Coriandre. Does anyone know if the Walsh Newfoundland Specialized catalogue gives more info on how to ID these stamps. I scanned the back @ 2400 and still cannot tell if it is mesh paper.

Yours looks a bit more violet than mine colorwise. Here are scans at 600 and 2400 dpi for your reference. Courious to hear opinions on this.

Coriandre, for what it is worth, your scan @ 2400 looks almost identical to mine. Curious minds want to know . . .

An excellent and practical idea to make a new post. That old one was too broad. By posting all my pages, I had secretly hoped for you all to dig out your Newfies and spark lots of singular tangents, stamp by stamp. so yeah! as with Prince Albert topic and topic by JKJ Blue on #94 oddity.

Here are my thoughts, caveat as usual as being one man's opinions and take with grain of salt. And respect intended.

Yakboomer--I see your concerns about it being a forgery, but I believe its legit.
The color feels right--not too good. The smudged cancel appears also normal, ie, not too contrived. I have a little concern about the perfect nature of the top and left side cuts, but I believe that the lower right cut into the number is naturally human--and see that tiny imperfection cut up the right side--i'd say a forgerer would not want this (but a postal clerk would!)

One would need an expert to be sure (which I am not) but you asked--and I would say so if I thought the contrary. Coriandre's is real too (IMHO).

As far as is it #1 or 15a? Who knows really, its a guess and head spinner. Who did you get it from and what did they think? Were they trustworthy? (Of course instead of trying to really ascertain it, you can also just buy a bunch and then every year change your mind back and forth, and you'll always have enough to feel like the base is covered--hah!)

Turning seriously though, based on my comparisons of colors, I would say yours is #1 (more Claret or Violet). Coriandre's feels strongly of Chocolate so i'd say its 15Ac. But the colors are old and so hard to use reliably. So this is just my guess of where I would place them.

You both appear to be better at the mesh side, and I just don't use it that much. To me, in my years of trying to find a compass out of the rabbit hole of we are in (is it or is it not?), I use the paper test. I find it more reliable. See my other post on this.

still, on the mesh, you asked about the NSSC (the Walsh/Butt) book and for me it is the Bible. They do have an image of the mesh and some wording. (Note the $ values are not like Unitrade--these are realized value of auctions at printing). I've attached the images of page 1 and 2 for you and the community (#1unitrade/scott is also #1 in NSSC, but #15 unitrade/scott is #16 in NSSC). But its REALLY hard to tell with the page, let alone the scan. Hope this helps but I would suggest you both by the book--its a treasure in so many ways. If you have any Newfies of any meaningful quantity you will not regret the expense.

Look forward to more...

tommy, I like your idea of buying a bunch, but my wife did not think much of it. Seriously, I do appreciate the knowledge you share with us, thanks very much!

yakboomer,

well there is your problem with the stamp--you asked your wife!

kidding of course but yeah, I had to get permission from my President just to buy a new tongs. she kept offering me tweezers

sigh

Thanks for all the great info Tommy. The stamp I have was sold to me as a 15a. I do notice a difference between the 2 stamps from the scan of the book you posted. The size of the design is not the same : 22 x 22.5 for #1 and 21.75 x 21.75 for 15a. I'll get my mm ruler out and let you know.

Well, surprise ! After measuring my stamp, it seems I have a number 1......exactly 22 x 22.5

This is outstanding information and another example of how a community is beneficial.

I've had that catalog for years and never caught the image size as a "tell"!

Kudos to you Coriandre!

Coriandre, thanks for that info on the size, mine also measures as a #1. tommy is correct in how beneficial this and other sites are. Before SCF I would have never figured it out.

I was curious about "The Newfoundland Specialized Stamp Catalogue" that you mentioned above by John Walsh and I found it on www.newfoundlandstamps.com which is a must for collectors of Newfoundland stamps. They also have a BNA stamp catalogue that covers the other Canadian Provinces and Canadian stamps from 1851 to 1951 (Victoria-George VI) which is something that I was looking for.

I am bumping this thread up. Based on the above, I am going to order one or two of these catalogues. My question is: do you need both the Newfoundland and the BNA books or does the BNA contain everything in the Newfoundland book?

The Newfoundland catalogue has all Newfoundland only. The BNA one has all BNA until the end of 1951 without Newfoundland.

As a Newfoundland only collector, I have the 7th edition of the NSSC, Walsh & Butt), Volume I.

It is dispensable for this area--but if you want the other provinces, you need the other one (Volume II).

Also, in my opinion, unlike the Unitrade editions which come out every year, it is vital to get the most recent edition. (IE, I buy the Unitrade every other year because I find (Again only for Newfies), that it just does not change that much).

However, for the NSSC--It does change because they appear to be constantly getting information from the collectors/experts and updating it. So, this is a long way of saying : Get the 7th edition and avoid earlier editions.

One particular example is that the Postage Paid Cancels has 9 different variants in the 7th edition--whereas the earlier edition had only 8 different variants. I think this is illustrative when you think that these paid cancels were only used from 1897 to 1947 and have long been dead; yet additional facts are still unfolding and being updated back to, well, all of us. (unless you have only Scott and the Unitrade, in which case you are in the complete dark on say Postage Paid Cancels).