Anyone Care To Offer An Opinion On This Cancel On Scott 39?

I start by assuming it's a fake cancel. But anyone care to add any thoughts?

Looks like it's trying to imitate the Boston "paid" grid of the period (or maybe it is the Boston grid). I wonder if it's exactly the right size? (always right to start by assuming the cancel on this stamp is problematic...)

I've been examining this closely. I laid it on top of a Boston PAID grid and it lines up perfectly. I even think I might see a bit of the I and D, though it might be my imagination. So I'm leaning into sending this in for a cert. However, if you guys can point out why it is fake I won't bother.

IMO any letters of "PAID" should be as strongly struck as the grid lines themselves. This after reviewing the Boston Paid cancels in the PF database BUT I think it is worth a shot to get certified.

I looked through Siegel powersearch for grid cancels on 39 and there were several with very similar looking cancels. That being said, if it is a fake, that's what they'd be going for. So, yeah. I think this one survives round one. No way it could be sold as authentic without a cert - so that seems to be where this is heading.

Risny, are you going for a cert? Who? Curious about the outcome.

I will. I have several stamps to send in. Haven't yet and not really in a hurry. But I'll report back when it happens.

Must be an interesting story behind that stamp. Ninety cents at that time might have been a lot of money, like a $10 stamp today, yes?

The 90c stamp was often used on Foreign mail. At least one is known on the Heard correspondence to China. Foreign rates could get expensive, especially for overweight letters.

Also for large mailings of legal documents or packages domestically, etc ..

According to https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/in...?amount=0.90
90 cents in 1860 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $33.36 today.

The reason that used copies of this stamp are extremely scarce is not just because that was a lot of money to spend on mailing a letter, but also because the stamp was only on sale for a very short period of time. The stamp was issued in 1860 and demonetized in 1861 (along with all other US stamps) because of the Civil War.