Riverside Stamps
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Methods of verifying used Nebr./Kans. overprints.
A recent visitor to my website asked whether or not the cancel on used Nebraska-Kansas overprints could be determined to be on top of the overprints? I looked through my stock of overprints and found a canceled one that could be used for an analysis.
The stamp I'm goung to use for this analysis is a #673 4c with a Grand Island Nebraska double oval cancel that appears to go over part of the overprint. One would think that trying to see if a black cancel is over or under a black overprint would be near impossible but I'm going to give it a try. First thing I'll do id determine some basic charicteristics of the stamp:
- What gauge are the perforations?
- Are gum breaker(s) still detectable?
- Is the color correct?
- Is the overprint correct?
The stamp gauges out to 11 X 10 1/2 which is correct for the issue, I can't detect any remains of gum breakers which is not unusual for used stamps, and the color appears to be correct when compared to three 4c stamps with each of the gum breaker types. The stamp on the top left has Type I gum breakers, the top middle stamp has Type II gum breakers and the top right stamp has Type III gum breakers. As can be seen from the image the color of the canceled stamp matches the color of the top middle stamp which was used to manufacture the overprints
Lastly is the overprint correct? the image below shows the overprint of the canceled stamp overlaid on a certified genuine overprint. The canceled stamps overprint has had its color inverted (blacks become white and white becomes black) to more easily see any fit problems with the genuine overprint. as can be seen below the fit is near perfect.
In my opinion once an overprint is proven to be genuine then the statement of
the overprint came first and any cancel had to have been applied afterwards and
must be on top of the overprint has to be true. For the sake of
completeness let’s look at the relationship of the cancel to the overprint to
see if it can be determined that it is indeed on top of the overprint.
The above image is a close up of the cancel and the "ebr" of the overprint.
The overprint is a very dark saturated black while the cancel is a lighter shade
of black. If one follows the curve of the cancel as it crosses the lower left of
the "b" it can be seen that the edges of the "b" are a little softer than the
rest, the color line of the cancel can be seen as it goes across the "b".
The same can be said for the "r" which is mostly covered by the upper portion of
the G in Grand. There to the edges of the "r" are softer and the color is
slightly muted by the cancel ink. The image below is the same image with the
colors inverted which shows the color change and edge softening a little better.
In conclusion I can say that the cancel on this stamp is definetly on top of the overprint but proving that the overprint is genuine negates the need to determine if the cancel is over or under because if proven genuine the overprint must have come first.
Reference material used: used:
- Counterfeit Kansas-Nebraska Overprints on 1922-34 Issue By Robert H. Schoen and James T. DeVoss / First Day Covers of the Kansas-Nebraska Overprints by Jack V. Harvey.
- US Definitive Series 1922-1938 By Martin A Armstrong, pages 47 through 64
As always comments and suggestions are always welcome.
To Contact Riverside Stamps:
Email:
Mike Girard - Owner / Operator / Web Master:
g1rardmn1099@comcast.net
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I am a member of the American Philatelic Society
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I am a member of the United States Stamp Society  USSS #: 16733 Visit the United States Stamp Society Website at www.usstamps.org |
I am a member of the Perfins Club
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