Seeking Opinion On Cancellation On 85A

It, still, raises the question why no example used during the five-year interval has surfaced and why was only one of a pair of stamps that would have been affixed to the same cover kept.

It does not mean it is impossible, but it stacks the "ifs." Ockham's Razor, certainly, would call for caution.

Just want to make sure I am interpreting this correctly: the genuine nature of a 4.4 million dollar stamp is being called into question

This is fun!

This is not a new discussion - only to this board maybe.

Ken Lawrence wrote a long article about this over 20 years ago - I forget the publication.

There are plenty of philatelic matters that we don't fully understand.

Ken's article challenging the marking was in the 1995 Congress Book. Scott Trepel wrote an article in Chronicle 177 (Feb. 1998) defending the marking.

The anomaly of the postmark was noted well before 1995 b y others including several members of the PA postal History Society. That particular cancel was used on literally thousands of 1c 1861 stamps used in combination with 3c stamps paying the carrier fee rate from August/September 1861 to July 1, 1863. Many such covers and hundreds of 1c stamps survive with that cancel. When the rate dropped 2c there was just no demand for 1c stamps.

Yes, many do believe in the "miracle" of that postmark being used circa 1868 on a single example of that stamp..

PS - Andy Levitt was suspicious when he bought the stamp at the Superior Stamp auction and had it re-certified.

Why fake the postmark if the grill is real?

I suspect the grill merits more scrutiny than the postmark.

Yeah… I just looked at the grill on this stamp

It's a mess. 2 impressions. Weird angles
Not sure what is going on there
Suspect

Probably 63 with genuine cancel

A snippet from Scott Trepel's write-up of the stamp for the October 1998 Zoellner sale. Siegel sale 804 lot 226.

edit: added more of Scott's quote

Thanks for all the feedback on my question! I believe the last sale for 85A, with the Phil. postmark, was anonymous, so nobody knows where the stamp is anymore, correct?