United States, Scott #2485, used(o), 1991 definitive in the Flora and Fauna Series, stamp shows the head of a male Wood Duck, the Wood Duck is found along the eastern coast of the United States and Canada, the male of the species is brightly colored with iridescent greens and purples accented with white; while the female is a dark brown color; 29 cents, booklet stamp, stamp is positioned as one of the top row inner stamps of the booklet pane, line perforated 11 on right, left and bottom sides, customer torn perforations on these sides, imperforated at top, one the seven stamps in the book of 20 stamps so configured, photogravure printed, with red inked values and black 'Wood Duck' lettering, by the J.W. Fergusson and Sons, the production company for KCS Industries of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a front organization for several printing operations used to give the air of competitive bidding for the government contract, as apposed to a similar stamp (Scott #2474) printed by the government Bureau of Printing and Engraving (BEP) whose stamps are printed with black-inked values and black 'Wood Duck' lettering and perforated 10, this stamp, by Fergusson, is issued with water soluble self-adhesive gum, multicolored, Scott 2019 Catalog Value: 25¢, nicely centered, very light, red-inked, quarter-to-half circular, single-rimmed, hollowed-out, socked-on-the-nose cancellation over the lower half of the stamp and through the main image, the lightness of the cancel and its hollowed-out effect leaves the main image remarkably clear, sound back, the line perforation method used in this series, makes the lower right corner perforations appear clipped, but they are the natural consequence of the asymmetric nature of line perforations, the corner perforation is not clipped, all-around good perforations; centering and image clear cancellation warrants a selling price premium. This is not a 'bait-and-switch;' the stamp you see will be the one you receive.
Please review my terms of sale. If you are not ordering from the United States, there is a $US1.55 additional postage expense that needs to be added to the price of the stamp. If you are ordering from the United States, there is only a $US0.68 added postage expense. Also, if you make additional purchases from my offerings, they can all go in one mailing at no extra shipping expense for the added purchases. I will send the purchase by US first class mail, since the relatively low value of the stamp does not warrant signature or tracking mail. Hence the buyer assumes risk of loss or non-delivery. I will keep a scan of my mailing to verify that the correct mailing address was used. If not satisfied, return the stamp to me at your own expense, and I will refund the cost, but not my postage to you. If the stamp is not as described, I will refund the cost and reimburse you for postage both ways.
By way of reference, I am an American Philatelic Society member (195176) and an American Stamp Dealers Association (ASDA) member. Thank you for looking, and I hope this is the perfect stamp to fill that gap in your collection.
