Usually, I hate to see a finger print on a stamp. But sometimes I'll make an exception. When I 1st saw this cover on ebay, I thought it may be a double transfer then I looked a little closer. Its a finger print, one that's more than 150 years old.
This is also one of those stamps that I would leave the selvage on, even if it was off cover, for a couple of reasons.
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. (The exact & entire wording of the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution)
I am assuming that it was. The ink on the finger would be from either the sheet or the supply. Not 100% sure but pretty close, but again it's an assumption.
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. (The exact & entire wording of the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution)
When inking the plate, the final step was to actually polish the plate with the bare hand before placing the blank sheet on the plate. Fingerprints in the selvage wasn't an uncommon occurrence.
As long as the fingerprint is not on the front of the stamp itself or on the gum on the back of the stamp itself but only on the stamp selvage then it's not something to worry about.
Cool cover Art. I have a 1951 Studebaker glass tail light with several fingerprints molded in to it; I can only imagine the searing pain when a worker grabbed the still hot soft glass without gloves! I often wonder about the story behind this lens and this fellow; I can reproduce exactly how he grabbed the lens based upon the fingerprints. Don
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Posted 03/10/2014 8:07 pm
