A Recent W F Purchase. Let's Analyze Together

Posted for your comments. These two were hidden away in an older Stamp Wallet in a large box, and probably ignored by all that looked. I picked them up for a buck for both.



Perf 12 Vertically. No blind perfs. Double line watermark, which would put them as Scott ??. Here are the backs.



The top and bottom edges on both stamps are not parallel, looking a lot like a scissor cut.

Are these just fake imperforated stamps (Scott 343, 344) with perforations added?

I find no record of A138 or A139 with that error, so your inclination towards fake 343/344 might be correct.

The perfs do not look evenly spaced. Also, they vary too much along a straight line up the sides. They are reperfed.

Agree, the perfs are added. These are Imperf faked to appear as imperf pairs. One clue is how irregular the "straight edges" are.
mootermutt987 these aren't "reperfs" because they were never perforated to begin with.

There is a slim chance they could be 343V imperf coils, but the bad edges would suggest otherwise. Still the 343 variant, in either case, just altered stamps now.


EDIT: For more information see Scott Specialized Catalog section "Imperforate Flat Plate Coils" in the 2019 book, page 570, for other years, around that page number.

The perfs are all fake (and not a very good job at that. The gauge and alignment of holes is very inconsistent.) These are crude fakes made from Scott 343-344.

Yes, pretty much what I thought. If I was a new member, I might try to argue and threaten to ask for more proof, or threaten to send it out for an official certificate. However, I have been a member of this wonderful community for quite some time and know that you get good advice from a diverse audience. I'll create some type of Fake display for my own use. Thanks again.

I agree, the perfs look bad. I suspect this was done a long time ago. A very good reference pickup for that price.

Partime,
These are not garden variety 343 and 344 though... so that makes them a little more interesting at least. They are imperf coils. I say this because of the consistency of the with at perf tip, and these are much easier to make appear as perf coils with missing perf (imperf pairs). Just something to be aware of, as I find most (even very experienced collectors) are unaware of the Flat Plate imperf coil issues.
Keeping them in your "Fakes Library" in your reference collection is a great use for them.

I see no evidence that either of these was made from an imperf coil. IMO they ARE nothing more than "garden variety" 343's and 344's with fake vertical perfs.

Seems to me that they have rather wide margins to have started out as imperf coils. I suspect that they were just imperf pairs originally. Still worth having for reference.