Something Strange On The Back Of This Pair Of Revenue Stamps

This is something you don't see very often (at least I don't).

An impression of a design offset onto the gum of a pair of second issue revenue stamps.

My best guess is that the gum on the stamps was only partially moistened before it was applied to a document of some kind. Somehow, a considerable amount of ink from that document was transferred to the gum of the stamps, and then the stamps must have fallen off of the document. Clearly, the stamps were never soaked off, as the design would have then disappeared.

Kind of a weird thing to see.

Jim

I've gotten these kinds of transfers from soaking stamps with gum residue left, picked up from the newspaper used to dry. Nonetheless, the image here is of the period, so I'm confident your theory is right.

Probably a mining scene here, with pickaxe heads at right.

I believe this is the offset image from a check. I'm fairly certain I've seen the vignette before; I think it's a harvest scene (that's a pitchfork to the left) with a farmer taking a break and a dog at his feet. It shows up fairly often on ebay -- I'll keep my eyes open and post an example if I see it.

Here's the image:

That's the one -- well done!