Do You See A Face In This US Cancel?

Am I going crazy or do you also see a little face in this cancel? I actually have a copy of Skinner and Eno's fancy cancels but couldn't find anything exactly like this one. What I imagine I see is a little face, almost like a racist depiction of a black person, though maybe it's a trick of the cancel. What do you think? Did they use fancy cancels on officials? I see the cancel as being upside down hence the second image, hope it helps you possibly see it.

Definitely, yes.

The place to look is Stamp Smarter's fancy cancel database which is specific to banknotes, incorporating Cole's work on the subject. That said, I couldn't find it there. That said, it's not unusual because the area has not been studied all that well, with plenty of new ones turning up all the time.

Rather than a human, I think it's a lion. Too much coffee today? Note the sculpted flat nose (which could just be broken), the large full head, plus the triangle that I think is an ear. Pretty spectacular then(!) but of course, it has to be real. But from the scan, it looks genuine to me.

Fancies are on officials often enough; there is no problem with that. Officials were used from all different places and even Washington D.C. had their share of fancies.

a LION??? Well you've lost me there I'm afraid... haha maybe it would help if when anybody speaks their piece if they say which orientation they're seeing their thing in? I stand by little black child, but I see it's more open to interpretation than I thought. At least I'm not wrong that it's some kind of fancy cancel?

I see a pumpkin.

*Respectfully removed, just clouds.

I do not have an answer, but my first impression (pun intended!) was this might be a double-strike of a deteriorating fancy killer. Crudely tracing the unprinted lines in two colors, there is some almost-repeated similarity .... A word or initials?

Rodgcam, you always see pumpkins. Right now, I am imagining red ones on just fella's posts.

John Becker, there are certainly some odd artifacts within the shape. But the area around the mouth, hair(?) outlines and the rounded internal triangle have been deliberately carved to my eye; they're much too cleanly edged to be breaks.

oldboldandbrash, I'm regarding it at the same orientation as you:
(EDIT: No, I'm not)
I think a human head is unlikely since profile head fancies of this era (in Cole, they're under "masks") seem to all be shaped in some manner. Full-face heads are generally round.

Also, I've blotted out the part that looks like a chest or badly done neck. That's part of another strike of the top of the head, if you compare. Plus if it was integral, it's making the whole thing too big to conveniently use as a cancel. These carvers/whittlers were likely mostly using small round dowel stock rather than a hunk chopped off a tree branch (see: Etsy).

As for being a lion, well, there's a lot to be said for the artistry and non-artistry of fancy cancel makers. Explains all those reversed letters used for carved fancy cancels, then. Not a lot of people I've seen have squared-off noses but your mileage may vary.

Now there are other cancels dubbed "scolding woman" and this could fit the bill. But again, is she a time traveler wearing headphones? Explain away the triangular thing, if you can.

Here's the face I see:



Looking at it right side up I almost see an eagle with a shield, but there's no definitive pattern IN the shield to support that-- I mean no US or any letters or real stripes or things like that. Wishful thinking

Hmmm. If it's only a face, then there's no reason for the deliberate carving around what I think is an open mouth.

Perhaps "Charlie Brown" scared by a lion or demon, then? That would be clever.

I was looking at some clouds the other day and saw ..............

This is a Fort Leavenworth, Kansas honeycomb cancellation on the soft paper Official: fourth state. I have accumulated a study group of this cancellation on War Department stamps showing four different states of this cancellation based on the size of the cancellation and the absence of ink in the crack in the cork that was most likely used. I believe a triangular gouge was burnt into a cork to produce the design or possibly a seed pod was used was used to produce this design. The earlier War Department stamps on the thinner paper shows the largest cancel (first state) covering most of the stamp and the soft paper(fourth state), such as this stamp, the smallest cancellation.

Here are four Fort Leavenworth "honeycomb" cancels, all on the first issue (thin paper) Continental stamps. This cancel looks different to me.

Well done, JoNo! Actually, I think your #2 cancel and oldboldandbrash's match up.

Assume what you have is a fairly new cancel and the other is worn, which it is. I think the triangles got some distortion with use/age (expected, I think), but the relative positions work out well. I particularly like the match with the blunt-ended triangle at the 8 o'clock position. Your mileage may vary.

Says the guy with pareidolia...

Wow! That is amazing. What an awesome forum. So much knowledge within.

So, your face is a soccer ball in other words.

We don't need God on earth as gods already walk among us,,, thank you all. That definitely looks like my cancel! Pareidolia is strong in this one I guess