Help For 5 Cents George Washington

No offense John , but the Perfs just don't line up, and on the right they don't appear to have been punched.
They appear to have been pushed as Mooter stated. On top of that the cut of the Perfs is not round but angular. At best the stamp is damaged/ improved.
I wouldn't be surprised that this is a flat plate printed issue. Without the stamp in hand this is all academic.
Regards Mark

Rotary horizontal coils are slightly wider & shorter than their flat plate counterparts. So, while we can't measure the actual dimensions of the OP's stamp, we can get an idea of a possible id by measuring the apparent ratios of these two values ... which, even taken from a scan or photo, should be close to the actual ratio.
But first note that I have successfully used this technique to identify & acquire all of the 1928 sheet stamps printed on special booklet paper. All measurements were made from screen images ... one of the stamps thus acquired (E13a) has since been certified.
I measured certified copies of Scott 447 and 458 that I have on hand. The results were 1.19 & 1.13 respectfully. In my experience, there is some variation in this value from one stamp to another ... but almost all stamps measured have fallen neatly on one side or the other of some middle value (about 1.15 to 1.16). The OP's stamp measures about 1.12. Which leads me to believe that it is likely a rotary coil. Add to this the fact that there is no rotary imperf material from which a fake could be easily manufactured. So I find myself agreeing with Mr. Becker.
Added: Fixed typo.

GMC, you state ...




The image is a photo NOT a scan, thus there is distortion. Second, I sense those of you who believe this is an altered stamp of some sort are building on your knowledge of mint stamps and NOT taking into account that this is a used stamp which has passed through a fairly aggressive handling of an affixing machine - under tension, pulled, knifed. Have you looked at the pictures of the affixers in the link in my first reply post? Damaged, certainly yes! Exactly the "damage" which occurs during legitimate affixing process. Improved, no.

Additionally, for anyone wanting to fake something like this ... who would make the angled cut of the perfs? There is no more point beating my head against a wall here.

Greetings John
With all due respect I took into consideration your prescient points. The fact however we, as we know them, don't support your conclusions. The Perfs are not correct as the first scan illustrates them. The photo only confirm this. According to my reference copy of Paul Scmids book the "Perfs must line up exactly". Granted the stamp is used it still does not pass muster. If as suggested by JLLebert they are rotary press then they have been"improved" . I do have a large collection of US classic material used including copies of all these questioned stamps, None indicate the characteristics seen here. I am sorry for your head beating, that is not necessary, this is merely a discussion on the merits of a posting.
Regards mark

We will have to agree to disagree then.

As in life, we agree on somthing.
Cheers John,regards, mark

For those who believe this stamp had been faked/altered in some way, please explain the identical, parallel and slightly diagonal cuts to the the perforations on both sides.

Marco, Please try post a SCAN of the stamp, rather than a photo. I hope the discussion so far demonstrates that importance.

Here it is. Tell me please if has some value or not.