Instructive Example Of Rebacking - #4 Beaver On Ebay

I generally don't bother sharing my observations on what I see being sold but, since the pictures will disappear in 15 hours, have a good look at this beauty. Quite educational -

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/nystamp-Cana....m4902.l9144

It's a textbook rebacked stamp, probably done 30-40 years ago. Note how the tone of the rebacking paper differs from the stamp paper. The borders are cut close - the stamp doctor painted in the frames to conceal the edge of the trimmed stamp. Note how the border and printed stamp differ in shade a bit. The PD cancel might be genuine, and it's not common, perhaps explaining why the stamp got special attention.

The seller, like other high-volume sellers, usually pleads ignorance when you point out such work. I think they just don't care to check when they know it will get multiple bids just for eye appeal. Comments or differing opinions welcome.

NY Stamps are some of the worst, when it comes to selling "doctored stuff." There was a whole thread on them on the Aussie board during the spring. They even got somebody from NY Stamps to respond to the allegations.

I wish to make it clear that I posted the link because it's a great opportunity to see how the doctoring is done. The seller is just a high-volume reseller, turning over collections. Many, even more knowledgeable dealers, would miss this one, and I do not wish to harm anyone's business.

Good eye, though something with big margins like that would make one look twice.

Also, note the oiliness of the red PD cancel in the margins only.

Also note you are given a bigger-than-average picture that you CAN'T magnify. And you are given a darker, smaller scan of the back. Were they also afraid to soak it to remove the adherence?

My story is of a young Dutch dealer who had a pair of US #1 that he was offering in the US. The pair had 1/4" margins all around and 1/4" between stamps. If you know the issue, this is impossible. The designs were really carefully shaved down like this Beaver, with a little painting of framelines. They were stuck down on very blue paper. I dropped the pair in fluid to show the guy what was going on and even then, it was hard to see the rebacking because the designs were shaved down so thin. He was disbelieving even after showing him a photo of a genuine pair.

If the red cancel is even partially real it is a shame this came off the cover as the cancel either reads "PD" or "PP" which means it was on a cover to France at one time.

Wow that is crazy, all the little details that I would have never seen but then I am brand new to stamp collecting and appreciation. After reading how the stamp was doctored and the tell take signs it screams all the issues and I can see them now!

Thanks for sharing this info archerg and hy-brasil, it is always nice to hear what to look for!

Also I went in and took screen shots of the stamp to save here. And if anyone is interested it did sell for: $122.50.

-Willie

Here are the images, for reference when the ebay listing goes away.

Just to add something:

If we could examine this in person, a blacklight (with both wavelength settings) would probably show the painting repairs very clearly. The new ink would glow a lot if it had relatively modern brightening agents. You could probably see differences in colors between the original printed ink and painted parts.

Just out of curiosity (*NOTE* In no way am I defending NY stamps ) but many times when I scan a stamp the back scan always seems to look different than the front as far as true representation of shade / hue. Could this not be the case here? Would one not have to see this in person to determine or is this stamp ( Beaver) detectable by an expert from a scan?

Definitely. Fluorescent lights flash on and off at 15 times/second, and so you can get a dark picture after shooting an acceptable one, depending on camera settings (they're pictures here). Our scanners also attempt to adjust light/dark/contrast by itself, so we can get very different fronts and backs.

But since someone is trying to sell this, wouldn't they check and make sure the back was decently lit and close to the same size as the front? I would, you may not. Sloppiness may be just that, but sloppiness/carelessness also happens when someone doesn't think much of what they're selling.

Take the broad view of what's happening here. The back view doesn't matter that much after seeing the front. It is a doctored stamp, no question whatsoever. There are painted-in framelines, you can see the edges of the original stamp paper around the bottom and lower left. The PD in circle is in two different colors, with the orangey painting causing larger oil stains on the added paper but not much on the real stamp paper.

EDIT: Parts of the cancel rings and the "7" at top are in a different color and look painted in; in fact, they are painted in.

This could be taken as a upper right corner example but why would it be cut down so much and just look like one with jumbo margins? We could perhaps plate the position from the scan to check, I don't know. But if it came from any other position, we would expect to see parts of the framelines of adjacent stamps at top or right or both.

It's a (relatively) skilled job done by someone who knows Canadian stamps or was told how to do this. But mistakes were made that are detectable from this scan.