Not What They Seem V

This is the fifth in a series of posts that explore postal history items with the 24 cent 1861 stamp that are not entirely genuine.  This post last edited Nov 8, 2019.

This cover was an interesting item that has many interesting markings on the front and back. The cover itself appears to be a genuine Belgian Closed Mail use that was forwarded by the US Consul to Cherbourg, France. The question of the origination of one of the stamps is less certain.

27 cent rate to Belgium with a slight issue.

Belgian Closed Mail forwarded from Antwerp to Cherbourg, France?

At first glance, this cover is enjoyable to view because its travels are so easy to follow. Transit markings on the front and back clearly trace the covers route from Boston, England, Antwerp, Paris and Cherbourg. The cover was clearly to an individual on ship, which often resulted in forwarding such as this. The 27 cent rate is correct for such an item via Belgian Closed Mail as are the markings.

However, if you look at the Red Boston Transit marking to the right of the 3 cent stamp, you have to begin to wonder about this cover.

1. Strong Boston transit marking does not tie to the stamp

• The most condemning indication is a strong marking that shows NO TRACE on the 3 cent stamp. Every indication shows that there should be, at the least, a continuation of the rim on the stamps perforations. There is none.

2. Different grid cancellations on the two stamps.

• The orientation of the cancels is slightly different, but not enough to cause great concern.  However, the width of the bars is definitely different. The right grid cancel gives more of an appearance of a 'rim' - or a more definite termination to the bars than the left cancel. The dark cancellation on the left stamp makes it seem odd that the right strike should be so light.

3. Cancellation ink from the left strike goes under the perforations on the 3 cent stamp.

• Some of the longer bars on the left strike should touch the 3 cent stamp. As a matter of fact, they should tie to the 3 cent stamp. Instead, some of the cancellation ink goes UNDERNEATH the 3rd perforation from the bottom on the left of the 3 cent stamp.

Blacklight image of lower left

4. Black "ties" to the right not consistent with the cancel on 3 cent stamp.

• These bars are decidedly thicker on the cover than the stamp. The bars on the cover more closely resemble the bars on the 24 cent stamp. Further, the cancel on the 3 cent stamp is obviously circular, yet the bars give it a definite oblong shape to the top and right.

5. Aging shadow inconsistent with orientation of the 3 cent stamp.

• Like some of the other examples on this blog, there is a bit of a shadow that is not consistent with the stamp. 

6. Liquid staining in the area of the transit mark not apparent on stamp.

• It seems as though the stamp should show some affects since the cover obviously had a liquid spattered on it at some point in time. It is possible that this wetting contributed to the loss of the original 3 cent stamp.

Conclusion: This is a genuine cover with a replacement 3 cent stamp for the stamp that was lost at some point in the cover's lifetime. There do not appear to be any other alterations aside from a very careful placement of a decent candidate 3 cent stamp with a grid cancellation.  I am fairly confident the 24 cent stamp did originate on the cover.

Personal Note:
This is one of those times when I purchased an item and returned it for a full refund once I was certain it was not good.  I got the opinion of two other people I trusted prior to returning it and I did let the dealer know I was not sure about it.  As could be expected, the dealer was not pleased with the item being returned.  What I have learned since is that it is never fun to have someone tell you that the item you have has been altered so that it is not entirely genuine.  Therefore, the dealer's unhappy reaction should probably not have surprised me as much as it did.  Let's just say that I work to be more diplomatic when I have questions of authenticity.