The 2c Denomination in Letters Perf 8.5 coils Washington Franklin

Watermark Check - There is no need to check the watermark on these stamps for identification purposes, they are all single-line watermarked. It would be a good idea to check it anyway, since these stamps are often faked by perforating the imperforate stamp, US344. See the caution below.

Orientation of Perforations	US Number	Often faked by adding perforations to this stamp
Perforated 8.5 horizontally	391	344 or 384
Perforated 8.5 vertically	393	344 or 384

Caution

If the stamp has a double-line watermark it is clearly a fake made from US344. In any case, one should also examine the perforations. If the perforations appear genuine, there is a very good case that the stamp is genuine since there is no corresponding perforated 8.5 stamp from which to make the fake. Pay particular attention to guide line pairs which command a high premium and are very often faked by simply drawing in the guide line with a similarly carmine-hued ink.

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