A US 1880 Scott #194?

Please help identify if my used stamp is a 1880 US Scott #194. In the photos you will see that I tried to line up mine with one from online. The perforations seem to line up almost exact, and the printed line directions and shadings seem to match. Worth sending in for authentication? Thanks in advance.

No.

The difference between them is not the perforations. It is the impression and the paper. There is no chance of your stamp being a 194.

Thank you for carefully putting the two examples side-by-side. It can be clearly seen that the impression quality is miles apart, and that you do not have a rare stamp.

revcollector wrote:



We can take it a step further. The paper for his stamp is decidedly soft and porous. The design and color are consistent with the reworking of 1882. His stamp is a number 207, and this would be easier to see were it not for the cancellation obscuring the shading of the vignette oval.

As the "special printings" go (not to be confused with official reprints and reissues), it might be helpful to point out that as rare as they are in the first place, few of them are known used. These were specially prepared and sold by the POD for purchase by collectors, and as such very few had gum added for the purpose of attaching one to an envelope.

So a word to the wise: the LAST thing you will see on an authentic special printing is a cancellation. Most of them never had one, and of the few that might have, they would have been held down by a non standard adhesive.

As far as used examples are concerned, the 1869 Re-issues come to mind, but not many others.