Question About Cancel On Early Italian Stamp

Is this cancel authentic?

Difficult to say without a close look with a magnifying glass, but to my inexpert eye it looks "grubby" enough to be genuine. Faked cancels are usually very clean or cover a small portion of the stamp. I am sure someone out there has a more expert opinion than mine.

Hi Tim If authentic, the stamp has some value. I question the cancel because it looks different than cancellations of other Italian stamps of the same period in my collection. Hopefully someone will be familiar with different types of Italian cancels and give me some good news.

Hi J2U, the stamp is quite a bit off centre so a catalogue value won't be too meaningful but, if it is genuine then it is certainly a very nice addition to your collection.

It could be real but it would take a expert to be sure .The large circular cancel was common for that time period .

Not an expert, but this should be interesting. It actually looks like a worn octagonal postmark. I attempted to superimpose an arc over the cancel -- it does appear to be sides of an octagon. I believe octagonal cancels were used locally in rural areas that did not have a post office. It may be worth looking into, as that would hold a premium beyond a genuine basic large circular cancel. Too bad the cancel is not clear.

It is impossible to say, if the cancellation is authentic. No expert will be in condtion to confirm the authenticity of the cancellation because no name of the city or the date are readable. In Italy this kind of stamps are not collected.

I have several stockbooks of old Italy, and I'm sorry to say I cannot match up any features of the cancel that would allow me to identify it. Someone might be able to say, "Oh, that's a ______ used in _____ from ____ to ____," but I cannot.

If there is a general sentiment forming that the condition takes away from any value gained from genuine usage, I would tend to agree, and in order to ignore the condition for the sake of a rare cancel, it would have to be more evident.

My 2L.

Jenny

Probably wouldn't show up much, but there is also the "retroreveal" technology mentioned by Jim in his blog -

http://bigblue1840-1940.blogspot.co...Reunion.html

Geoff