Need Opinions On Scott #158 Bluenose

Here's a recent purchase I'm a little concerned with.
When I look at the gum on an angle to inspect for hinge marks it has a uninterrupted shine all across the stamp. I'm thinking everything is good.
This is best seen in the first set of photo's.
However when I look at it in daylight I see a portion in the middle which seems lighter.
This can be seen in the last photo's taken in sunlight.
Could this be from the application of the gum somehow perhaps leaving a small section with a thinner coating of gum?
Could someone have played with the gum and still get that solid shine when viewed at an angle?
Most important to me is it MNH with original gum?
Appreciate any and all opinions. TIA

Cheers, Bill

houndog bill, it is a beautiful stamp. looks fresh and very well centered. If I were you, I'd submit it for a certificate via the VGG foundation. If it receives a genuine certificate that it is MNH. you would have an great stamp with higher valur, for future trading.

Looks MNH to me and nicely centered too - enjoy!

Hi Bill,

I have the 10, 12 and 20 cent stamps from the series MNH and they all have shiny gum. My bluenose and 1 dollar are hinged but also have shiny gum.

Hope this helps

Thank you all I appreciate everyone's opinion so far.
I may be just a little too picky.
Bobby De La Rue, I have now finished this set also, here's the Scott #159 to go with the Bluenose.

Cheers, Bill

You have two beautiful stamps!

I would send it to the Greene, the gum on the perfs looks like it has been played with. I suspect it may not be original gum. The stamp should not curl, but lay flat if it was original gum.

Hi Bill....I believe fantail is 100% correct.{without having it in my hands}

I have seen lots of re gums...

I think you should sent it to Greene Foundation for verification of it's MNH gum...See pic below.
Gum on tips not right...After perforation those ends should still have gum to the end of the tips in my opinion.

Place the stamp in the palm of your hand, face down. Let it sit in your palm for a few minutes and see if the warmth of your hand causes the stamp to curl significantly. If so, suspect regumming.
Don

The stamp looks fine. If you had gum right to the very end of the perforation tips I would be more concerned. Tear apart stamps and the perforation ends will look just like your stamp.

As far as curling goes I think that it could be indicative on some issues of regumming and this stamp is one of those. For lots of other stamps it is not indicative of potential regumming. I have quite a few Russian stamps that curl like heck and drive me nuts mounting and they are not regummed. It is just the nature of the beast.

PS: I just looked in my carton of "Face" US stamps from the 1940's up and most of them are curling to one degree or another. Of course I do not keep them in a controlled environment. (Bad Stamp Owner!!!)

If it was regummed, it was done by someone who was skilled (meaning they used a very fine airbrush, masked the perfs, and perhaps lightly sanding the edges of a few of the perfs). The stamp looks good to my hobbyist eye, I would mount it and enjoy it.
Don

Also looks good to me. Unless you wanted to sell it or get your money back from a seller, I wouldn't bother with a cert personally but to each their own. I'd throw it in a mount and it'll look lovely beside the 159.

I really appreciate all the input, many thanks to everyone.
I don't think I'll send it in for grading the cost are too high but I'll keep it in my collection and move on.

Cheers, Bill

Very nice stamps in any event!