Is this a legitimate predated cover for Famous American Authors, Scott 861-863?
I found this cover hiding in my collection. Scott 859-863 with a cancellation date on the rear cover of Feb 3rd 1940. Scott 861-863 were officially released after that date. The pencil markings on the cover were entered by a previous owner.
My questions are can this be considered "Predated" when the stamps themselves are not actually cancelled with a date stamp? Or is this just an interesting cover?
Comments
There isn't anything magic about "South Carolina" in this group of famous Americans. I suspect that this was a cover sent registered from SC to NY (the back stamps are legit). The front of the cover however, has a specific arrangement of these 5 stamps that is a little unusual.
One rule I have is, if someone has written "history" or "instructions" on a stamp or cover, it becomes immediately suspicious. They are working in "Anchor Bias" because we see their writing, and then we LOOK for that. None of these stamps was FDC of Feb 3, 2 were Feb 5, but this stamp is on the receiving end, and not FDC.
There is "conveniently" a very generic oval cancel used on the stamps themselves. While there are uses of this specific cancel, in every case that I have seen it in some "suspicious cancellations" they are fraudulently applied, and comparing these to others I have (and I have a lot), they are suspicious both in their construction, the color of the ink, and their application (why 2 cancels on the 2c? Even if the first on was tiny strike on the corner of the stamp, that's enough to cancel it, and apply a second horizontally that only touches that stamp is unnecessary.
If you lifted the two upper right stamps, I suspect we would find some trace of cancellation, where another stamp was removed, and then these stamps were fraudulently applied to the cover after it had been through the postal system.
I would have to have it in hand to examine those cancels under high magnification to be certain, but I believe this is a fake cover.
Thank you for your feedback!!!