Coil Authenticity

Finally got motivated to start tackling the W/F's from a collection I purchased a year ago.......Monsoon season this weekend.

Any reason to doubt these ?

Scott 349



Scott 442 LP

#349 is probably a #344 with perfs added. #442 appears OK as long as the line doesn't appear added-in to you.

I have to agree with Al E here on the #349 the perfs are everywhere. Also, the line on the #442 is a drawn in addition.

Here is a 349 from the Siegel site, looks very similar. I wish if people are going to fake these things that they'd do a poor job so you'd know immediately. I want to send them in but in the same turn I hate wasting money.........

http://www.siegelauctions.com/zoom/...wer.php?url=http://www.siegelauctions.com/2013/1044/246.jpg

Washington-Franklin coil stamps, especially flat plate issues, are a real mine field. Those offered for sale without certs. really need close examination. There are far more faked coils than legit coils being offered for sale and being sold to those who are not too knowledgeable about what to look for. When/if I see one that interest me, I ask the seller questions and to send me added scans etc. I get circuit books from the APS and many of the W/F coils in them are not the real deal. Had a nice "conversation" on another message board about that issue a couple of months ago and the APS gurus responded that they really just did not have the resources or time to fully scrutinize everything in every circuit book. I empathize with them on that, but for novice collectors who feel they should trust the APS circuits to be right, that's an issue with me. Gaining the knowledge about how to examine the coils is needed to make good decisions about buying W/F coils.

I hear you loud and clear on that Al, luckily for me the ones shown above came in a large collection I purchased a year ago....finally getting around to the W/F's that came in the collection.

Here's one that came in a kiloware lot. Rough sides make it looked like a trimmed 332.

Stallzer... 349 might be the real deal, no certainty from an image...

However, with the 442, you should scrutinize it a bit if you
have not already...

To be 442 you need to have single line watermark for starters,
and the vignette should measure out at about 18½-19x22, with
the edges measuring 21mm uniformly at all points...

If you get a measurement of 18½-19x22½, then you would be fortunate
to have a pair of 449's, in which case a cert would be in order...

Putting the defibrillator on this one. Since I'm on house arrest until the virus goes away I'm bored, so bored I've actually started looking again at sorting out W/F's.

Here are 2 more perf 10 coils I had tucked on a rainy day page.

If legit I believe this one is a pair of 442's





And I believe this pair to be rotary press? Type III? making it (if legit) either 455 or 492 depending on the watermark I won't be able to find, yes I've looked.





The problem I have with getting certs for these is I'm not seeing the ROI. Perhaps I'm looking in all the wrong places but I just checked the sold items on ebay and the single stamp I posted to start this thread, the *349* which cats at $200 for NH (which this one is)are selling for $10 - $30. I believe the minimum at PF would be $27 for the cert? Or, are these selling at a much lower cost due to not having a cert?

Remember … the flat plate coils sold on ebay that do not have a cert are probably fakes. The various opinions that I have garnered from a few individuals is that this is supposedly true 80% to 95% of the time. I once tested this theory in a small way, purchasing two such coil pairs on ebay with the caveat that I could have them authenticated. One I felt was a fake and one I felt was genuine. The PF declared both pairs fakes. I even had a pair with a valid 2000 PF cert that I eventually decided to resubmit. Given a second look, albeit nearly two decades later, the PF declared it a fake.

Doesn't give one a feeling of confidence getting them certified. Also, am I correct in thinking the best firm for these would be the PF?

Yes to the PF. Rotary coils don't get faked, there is nothing to fake them from. Flat plate coils are the reverse, 90% are fakes, even of the common inexpensive ones.