This Has Got To Be Reperforated, Right?

Is the stamp scuffed slightly up and to the left of 1892 (top right)?

Might be a small speck of paper on the surface, too.

Good, bad or no opinion all produce you having a better education in such things. I also think if it goes for a cert, getting a grade is worthwhile. I must agree with hy-brasil in as much if this comes back reperfed, I vote bottom rather than top.


Edit:

There are threads here on SCF where folks argue about which side(s) are reperforated with some stamps having certificates with claims of reperforation in conflict between expert committees. Bottom line, certs are just opinions from folks who get more credit for their opinions than the majority of folks.

I cropped the image to show the slope of the top perforations. It would make zero sense that the bottom would now become the suspect. The top should be parallel to the bottom, and it is not.

I checked that tiny "scuff" - it's just on the scan - it's not on the stamp.

Your logic is flawed. The comment was made that the bottom is perpendicular to the sides which it is not. And it doesn't have to be in any case. In my comparison images, the bottom and top perfs are turned 90.00 degrees and they don't line up exactly with the left side; very close, but not exactly.

rlsny, you sound like you are ready to send it in. Give us a report when you get it back, please.

your logic is re-logic'ed

I still don't like that right side, but we shall see......

I'm trying to learn about how to perhaps spot reperforated stamps. I know there are books on this and I might just start looking to obtain one. But, while I am considering that, consider this #96. I scanned the stamp and rotated the image a bit to make it more square. Then I noticed the top perforations are cut at different depths. Seems get lower in the middle then rise up again. And on the right side, the perfs near the top seem closer in. Is this a possible sign?

Parallel means running straight next to each other so that the two lines wouldn't intersect somewhere off in the distance. It does not mean the holes should match vertically (in your case). Because sheets are fed through the perforation device it would be difficult to have lines of perf that aren't straight, though a skewed perf wheel could easily make a wandering cut.

A good first step is to use a straight edge along the bottom of the perf holes. Generally all the bottoms of the holes should line up in a very straight line. The top perfs on this stamp do not line up - I think that may be what you mentioned. So yes, the top perfs appear to be reperforated to my eyes.

One of the good ways to learn about reperforated stamps is to go to the PF website and enter "reperforated" in the search final comments tab at the bottom. about 21,000 certs will come up, and it will give you clear, large images to examine. Then you can begin to see what genuine AND counterfeit perforations look like on a large scale.