Does anyone know if my stamp is real or a fraud?

[Mackaydon]

With mixed emotions, my stamp collection (of 70 years) is now in the hands of Boys Town (90%) and the BSA (10%). Neither my kids nor their kids want the collection; and that's (unfortunately) understandable in today's culture. I 'feared' my collection might be trashed if still around after I'm gone. Best to give it to others (now) who do have an interest and give them the opportunity to learn about people, places and things.
I kept my reference books to continue to help others and to periodically refresh the good memories of collecting and meeting others in the process.
Don....

 

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[DeepseekerADS]

I still have mine (somewhere up here) from my childhood. Tried to get my kids into stamps, even started my son off with a set - but no interest there. Maybe your choice will evolve into my choice as well. Though this does remind me that I need to go through my closets looking........

 

[Catweazle]

Well, just came across your 2021 now, so please 'scuse my lateness to the party! Anyway, the original issues of that stamp are very rare, as the catalogue values might suggest. What type of paper is your stamp printed on, and what colour is the paper in natural light?

In a recent Austrian philatelic auction (Classicphil), Lot 4002 featured what I believe to be a genuine "5 Ps orange ocker" signed by its previous owners (would you believe it?!) Here's a pic - it sold for €1100 not including buyer's fees etc. Note, as others have said here, the size of your margins along the edge – the margins on this genuine stamp are tiny. The postmaster back in the day would have needed to be very careful using scissors!

By the way, for those with stamps in the attic - remember that they are paper and that paper, if not properly archived, can get mouldy or deteriorate over time. Best to take it out now while you can, and re-house them in archival or philatelic type albums if they aren't already (and not those terrible stockbooks from the 1970s that made the stamps tone over time!).

Also, another thought: unless you have something unique, rare, worth big bucks or collected by folks in a small niche, you'd get more money selling to a genuine collector. Even stamp dealers will rarely buy your stamps for 40% of catalogue value. Sothebys mostly do the big bucks stuff.