Need Help About Cleaning Dirt Of A 1880-S 2 Cent Washington Postal Stationery

How would I clean dirt of of this 1880's 2 cent postal stamp it's also a double impression should I send it off or try it myself only how would clean it?been handled with dirty hands I believe









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Your U277 may not be "dirty", but rather it might have a non-descript cancel.

Do you have a specific reason to think it is simply dirty?

I don't believe you have a double impression. The doubling you see may be from rework to a working die. However, I'd put my money on it being a printing artifact. I've seen the effect many times before, but have not read of a plausible description of how it happens.

Use distilled water, warm and if really dirty, I wet the brush I use and drag it across a bar of Ivory 99.9 pure soap (yep, still sell it), swish the soapy brush in the water, let sit a minute or two, then gently brush the cover. Remove and rinse with clean water. Blot to remove excess moisture and place in drying book. I use a pad of water color paper but need to place a weight on top as the paper seems to buckle as it absorbs the moisture. Presses out the winkles out as well.

under microscope looks like dust particals real real fine did not see ink not impression from stamp canceling.Also if that is a rework die then that would be same as a coin die variety die error there should be more right????

I agree with Thomas that it is a cancel and a printing anomaly. If you feel it is a new undiscovered die error, then I would recommend that you not try any cleaning and send it in 'as is' to be certified. Please let us know how it turns out.
Don

OK who do I send it to?? I'm trying to learn stamps

The two I would recommend are;

http://www.philatelicfoundation.org/

https://stamps.org/Stamp-Authentication

Different folks may recommend others...
Don