Scott US #700 Variety?

Hi and Happy New Year! Submitted for your approval is an image of my Scott US #700 Bison (perf. 11x10.5) and one from an internet ad for the same stamp with a PSAG Cert, graded 98 (the one that says 1/2 in the top right). They look so different. The engraving detail of my stamp looks much more intense (see the thin horizontal lines in the sky and on the ground. The second major difference is the large, tapering white area from the bison's head through shoulders all the way to the left. What's going on here? Scotts has a sublisting for #700, "Retouched in head (20552 UL 83)", worth about twice as much as a normal mint stamp, with no image to identify the stamp with. A Google search did not elicit any pertinent documents or images. (And that in itself amazes me!) Can any of you explain the differences in these stamps? Do you think my stamp is the "Retouched in head" variety?
Thanks, Dave Schwartz

Just different scanners

Siegel sold a 700 with retouched head in 1996 with the following lot description but no photo:

Pane of 100 showing plate no. 20552 at T.L., Mint, showing pos. 83 the retouched head variety, fresh and Fine-Very Fine

In a comparison the retouch is fairly obvious. Not as obvious as the cracked plate, but still fairly easy to see.

Novice us collector.
What is that image above the "T" of cents.
A propeller / Clover type lines, never noticed that before.
Is the Bison a take from a painting perhaps?

Taken from a photo of a group in a DC museum, according to volume 3 of Johl's U>S> Stamps of the 20th Century..

Another thread discussed stamps issued without a specific rate; this was one.

Thanks revcollector,
does no one else find those marks curious?

It's just some flora.

Yes, agree, esp on the right of the "propeller", which maybe was a cactus.

American Buffalo Stamp
The 30 cent buffalo stamp is the only stamp of the Fourth Bureau Issue that does not have a ribbon-banner and description directly below the stamp's primary image. The 30 cent buffalo stamp was designed by Clair Aubrey Huston who used a drawing of an American buffalo from 1901 done by Charles R. Knight. Knight was well-known at the time for his paintings of dinosaurs. The engraving of the buffalo image was done by Louis Schofield, an employee of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.

The American Buffalo stamp was issued on March 20, 1923 in Washington, DC. In total, nearly three hundred million of these postage stamps were printed.

https://animalsonstamps.wordpress.c...o-on-stamps/

"Black Diamond" the Bison / Buffalo.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black...nd_(buffalo)

Remember that this design exists as both 569 (flat plate) and 700 (rotary), so the quantity covers both. Plus it was overprinted for the Canal Zone with both types of A; I am not sure if those stamps are included in the total or were counted separately.

This is my favorite thing in the Central Park Zoo. It's actually in the Children's Zoo; I recommend seeing it to anyone who has the opportunity. The link does not mention that the clockworks move, and it's a great sight.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delacorte_Clock

Thank you to all for your time but can we respectfully get back to my question as to why my stamp looks so different?

Different scanners as stated before and perhaps some image manipulation as well.

Your stamp has a slight bend or uneven crease in the stamp so that is showing the area (from top of shoulder to the plains), as whiter. The whiteness you are referring to extends past the frame through the N in United and past the 6 perf from the top Because the crease extend through that area.