Scott #177 Mnh Opinions Please

I'm still very new to stamp collecting and all was good until I came to the point where the cost of a stamp exceeds $100.00.
I feel I've lost all confidence in my judgement now that mistakes can be more costly.
I recently purchased the stamp photographed below and if possible I would really appreciate any opinions or comments on the grade and value.
All the pictures are unadjusted with the same settings with the only difference being with a flash or no flash.
Does the curl shown in the last photo effect the grade or anything?

Cheers, Bill


Taken with no flash


Taken with flash


Taken with flash filtered


Showing the curl

Could be VVLH ... Back taken with flash shows an area with different level of "glare" where a hinge may have been. Back taken with filtered flash shows a curved line where bottom of an old hinge may have been + a bit of checkered gum. If a good hinge (ie Dennison) was used originally, the area that was under the hinge can very lightly moistened and, when dried, could mask a lot of the hinge mark. But then again, these observations are made from my little phone screen.

I've bought stamps with PSE certs that say previously hinged that look NH to me. There are lots of fixers out there that can make hinged stamps look NH.

One can only tell so much from a scan.

Gum looks a bit shiny and uneven in tone, suggesting mild sweating.

In your sidelight (sorta) scan, I think I see a bit of gum piling at hinge area, so it may well be previously hinged. It's more obvious viewing at an angle under good light.

Again, it's a scan, not my real eyes on it.

I am a bit dubious about the gum and the curling. Place the stamp in the palm of your hand (face down) and hold it there for a few minutes. If the stamp curls up even more I would suspect regumming.
Don

I can almost always diagnose a hinge mark, no matter how light, by using diffuse sunlight replected off the gum. Any light coming in a window should give you great contrast between gum and hinge when viewing the light reflecting off the gum. Direct sunlight isn't necessary or desireable.

Don is giving you a good idead about possible re-gumming.

I have helped a couple people at out local stamp club who asked me to look at their gummed old stamp...They did not like it when I told them that their stamp was re-gummed...One quick way is to look directly at a perf..Real close..Remember stamp is gummed/printed and then perfed.

Perf machine removed gum in the perf hole to expose the actual stamp colour..If..If..You see gum down the actual perf hole..Probably re-gummed..

I did a very quick show of perfs..Original gum on left..Perf hole colour of stamp...Right perf hole has gum sliding down the perf hole covering up the original stamp colour..Not the best picture..Did it very quickly.

Robert

It can be surprisingly difficult to tell between a VL and NH sometimes. Gum does look a little sweated on yours. I find holding the stamp under my desk lamp and turning it at different angles slowly so the light hits it obliquely is the best way to find those telltale marks of a previous hinge.

Couple of thing first I brought this stamp forward not because I suspect anything nefarious.
I was hoping everyone would have just replied that it looked like a sound purchase.
I should also point out these are photographs and not scans.
I did hold the stamp in the palm of my hand and in my judgement the curl became slightly more.
I've added more photo's of the gum taken at different angles hoping this will be of assistance.

Cheers, Bill

From those photos, looks never hinged to me.

~Greg