Scott 391 1910 2¢ Washington Coil

I received this in an approval order and was considering adding it to my collection. Scott Specialized warns of fraudulently perf'd imperfs to make this one. Would appreciate the W/F experts opinions on this one please (cfrphoto), before wasting time on asking for an extension to have it cert'd.

The first thing that I would try is to measure the spacing between the perf holes (top to bottom) on the left, then the right and see if they are exact. It looks like bottom perfs slope down at right and top looks straight. But I am no expert on these.

Fake. Draw a line from the top right perf to the bottoms right perf. It's actually fairly easy to tell. The top perf is on the outside of the vignette and the bottom perf is on the inside.

A larger image is needed. From 10,000 feet the perforation holes appear to be too clean. Fake unused perf 12 and 8½ coils were mass produced from imperforate coils by adding perforations. Fake used perf 12 coils were commonly made by trimming a sheet stamp, but fake used perf 8½ are seldom seen because trimming a sheet stamp was not possible. No imperforate higher denomination single line watermark stamps were issued, assuring that almost all higher denomination perf 8½ coils are genuine.

If the perforation holes have no fibers on one side and pressure ridges on the other side, they are unlikely to be genuine. Under high magnification, compare perforation holes with some perf 10 flat plate sheet stamp examples, used perf 8½ coils or unused higher denomination perf 8½ coils. A 10x or 15x loupe or magnifier is recommended.

Who is the seller? Many ebay sellers offer every stamp resembling a flat plate coil lifted from collections at prices substantially below market, signaling that the coil may be bad, especially if it is perf 12. Do not buy perf 12 coils without a recent certificate from the PF, PSE, PSAG or the APS. Older certificates are sometimes overturned. If a stamp has two certificates, one good and one bad, which one do you think will stay with the stamp?

Flat plate perforations need not, and are seldom, aligned between rows. On the other hand, rotary press coil perforations must be aligned. However, the perforation rows should be parallel. Longer perforations on the right bottom may have produced an optical illusion suggesting the bottom perforation row slopes down to the right. A 2400 DPI scan and a program like photoshop would be needed to determine if the rows are parallel or not.

Alternatively, careful measurements of the perforation hole distances to the design at the corners using a 10x Peak loupe with a reticule capable of measuring to the nearest 0.1 millimeter could achieve the same objective. The sum of the perf hole to design distance top and bottom at the right compared with the left should be the same, with measurements of additional perf hole to design distances to confirm if unsure.

Thanks, not an ebay sale. On approval from an APS member. I can't get a scan any larger here at work, will try at home later. I guess then I should pass on the 385 that accompanied this one.

This is Scott 391, flat plate coil:

Fake. Perfs are way too sharp. Real perfs don't look like that.

Does the approval dealer even offer cert extensions? Better check the fine print. This is one of those gray area cat stamps, around $100 where a $40 cert may not be worth the time, trouble & expense for anyone.

I was going to call and ask about an extension . I think cat value is $130, seller is asking $65. I thought PF certs were $27? And I have to cover shipping back and forth, right? I'm thinking it's not worth any of this and will just send them back.

You are right. Minimum cert fee is $27 (I thought it was more). They do charge an additional $2 handling fee. The shipping options (from) are USPS registered or FedEx and, of course, the cost of shipping to them.

They list something called 'super saver' shippin but I could not find what that is on submission form.

pcerio

If you ask PF to mail certified the extra charge is $22.

It appears to have been manufactured utilizing the Phinius Olson Tensile Testing machine modified to accept hole punches in reverse compression.

Tinius Olson?

OK. Maybe try this. As soon as I saw this stamp, my OCD didn't like it. Best I could do being brain dead on my iPhone. Don't know how an optical illusion could make the perfs slope/go up and down when comparing the perfs to a straight line matched up with the vignette, or am I still not getting what's going on because it's a flat plate?

To me the perfs seem straight enough. The problem is the holes themselves. Real perfs are uneven. As cfrphoto said, real perf holes have "fibers on one side and pressure ridges on the other side".