Another Washington-Franklin Mystery Stamp

It appears to be Washington-Franklin day at my house. I just came across another mysterious stamp, this time a Six Cent Washington, purportedly Scott 396:




The perforations are not parallel with the image frame. I suppose it could be a faked coil but the other margins would have had to be enormous!

Text and image don't match-up with regard to denomination or Scott number, but going from the illustration...

There is no perf 8.5 sheet version to trim this from. It looks like fake perfs added to imperf stock. Yes, the lack of parallelism is pretty bad and pushes one to look much closer.

Hint: Showing both the front and reverse sides of Washington/Franklin issues can be very revealing. It may sound strange at first, but the back side often can show as much as the front.

Anghus,

Imperforate stock comes only with double-line watermark, but this coil issue has a single-line watermark. If this stamp has a double-line watermark it is fake. If single line, then is probably genuine because of the size of the margins. Perforations need to match the genuine exactly.

Definitely shows reperfing on the right side as the distance from the top perf hole to the right outer frame is almost twice that of the relationship of the bottom right perf to the right outer frame. Just my 2c worth, and what do I know?

Sorry about the Scott number, that was a typo on my part. So it seems the stamp is either a genuine but weird 394 or a fake made from 345. I'm leaning toward fake. Unfortunately I cannot determine the watermark at this time due to an allergy to watermark fluid. Here is an image of the back of the stamp:




The straight sides are also not parallel with the frame - you'd think a faker could have gotten at least that right...

There is no reason to believe that the stamp has fake perforations added. Recommend soaking the hinge to show a clean back. The watermark is likely to show in water if the background is black.

Does not seem to have any issues. Type I. 394

"Recommend soaking the hinge to show a clean back. The watermark is likely to show in water if the background is black."

Forgive me if this is a stupid question but it looks like the stamp has OG. Why soak that off? Couldn't the watermark be seen in fluid without soaking off the hinge?

Straight edges do not necessarily have to be parallel to the design border to be genuine on early flat plate coils, but they do have to be parallel to each other. The hinge can be lifted with time and patience. Carefully lightly applying water to just the hinge, sometime multiple applications, until the hinge loosens where it can be lifted with tongs. It appears to me to be a good coil from the image.

I use the tiniest paint brush that I can find --- it has like 8 bristles. I wet it with my spit (don't eat beforehand) because the enzymes in spit work on the gum a little quicker. About a half a drop of spit ought to do the job on the hinge shown. Wet the top surface of the hinge, and keep wetting it until the hinge gets 'wrinkly'. Carefully slip the tip of your tongs under one of the 'wrinkles' and lift the hinge. If the hinge is still stuck in places, repeat the process on the stuck areas, rather than pulling the hinge and thinning the stamp. Be careful to not wet the uncovered gum. Practice, practice, practice.

Sorry, when I wrote the post my recollection was the stamp was used, I didn't recheck the image before posting. The comment above about removing the hinge is probably the most effective way to remove the hinge. But, practice on cheaper stamps first until the technique is completely mastered.

The edges, although not parallel to the design, must be parallel. However, early examples of perf 8½ coils lacked a knife on one edge of the web and that edge, may not be exactly parallel.

See also

http://stampsmarter.com/learning/Ho...eHinges.html

Very informative gentlemen. Thank you.

Bob

Thank you everyone. So chances are the stamp is a genuine 394. I may ask my wife to check the watermark but it is not something she has ever done before and I'll have to leave the room to escape the fumes. If we can figure it out I'll post again with the results. I'll have to practice removing a hinge remnant from a cheaper stamp before trying it on this one.