Could Be R5B And A R15B?

I've scanned pictures of a possible R5b and R15b. However the imperf is horizontal rather than vertical on both stamps. And unfortunately the R15b has the diagonal cancellation perforations. I thought that both might be trimmed, but the margines are pretty big.

Possible R5b



Possible R15b

Appears to be trimmed perf holes on this one?



Don

Ah! Could be. Good eyes, Don.

Here's another possible R5b, but this one leaves me a little suspicious. The top perfs appear almost like sew machine perfs, while the bottom appear normal. The side cuts look torn, but there also appears to be perf marks.
What do you think?

I think that most will agree that your R15b candidate has been trimmed. The herringbone cancel places this stamp very late in the First Issue period. That plus it looks to my eyes that there are dimples in both the top and bottom margins that are the remnants of perforations.

Both original bank check stamps are trimmed. There was a lot of trouble with the first issue perfs, so very tall stamps were not all that unusual. The perforated stamp is one on thick soft paper, so the perfs did not get cut cleanly. Again, not all that unusual. Definitely not sewing machine perfs. The vertical edges were trimmed using a steel rule or something similar, which produces edges similar to these. Probably a legitimate part perf.

Although the part perf bank check is not a scarce stamp, I think the blue one was trimmed because it is on the wrong paper for a part perf.

Good to know, thanks. Back to treasure hunting!

For the early 1st issue, is there a "rule of thumb" for identifying "b" type or part perforate stamps? Or is it just knowledge and experience?

Part perfs are always the most difficult. Paper, shade, impression, margins, and cancel date (if known) are all important in determining both imperfs and part perfs. A lot of it is experience though.

The 2018 Scott's catalogue has a note about the the R15a and R15b. The members of the forum are working to delist these two entries if no genuine examples surface over the next several years.

The only way they could possibly exist is as an error. The only way to prove that is to find a genuine multiple, which seems unlikely but not impossible at this point.

The R5b is known both horizontally and vertically imperforate. Here are the two examples from my collection.

All part perfs that are known both ways have an asterisk next to them in the catalog listing.