Current Ebay listing for a copy of R192A without gum. Stamp is accompanied by an expertization certificate.
Over the years this site has featured copies of R192A in addition to the range of R190-R194s in various states of color and varnish conditions. A current posting on ebay for a copy of R192A with an expertization certificate by William T. Crowe raises questions about how experts understand these stamps and how they were printed.
The stamp above appears to be a normal copy of R192A. There is no numeral overprint, and no sign of varnish, as is typical on these stamps. An owner of the stamp acquired a recent certificate in November, 2022:
"****It is Genuine, Unused and without gum. While the Ornamental Surcharge is partially water soluable and could have dissolved when the gum was removed, there was no evidence under my UV lamp of there having been an Ornamental surcharge on this stamp.*****"
Mr. Crowe describes the overprinted version of the stamp as having an "ornamental surcharge that is partially water soluble". This description is inaccurate, in a significant way. The ornamental numerals are not soluble in water, partially or otherwise. The varnish square, which is unmentioned on the certificate, is what is soluable. The cert needs to say that there is no evidence of a varnish square or the numeral ever having been added to the stamp, which is consistent with the typical copies of this stamp. At this time there are nearly a dozen R192As on ebay, and none appear to show varnish or the overprint. The Scott catalogue does not mention that the varnish square is also absent on R192A, which is an oversight, as it speaks to how this error involved sheets of the stamp missing both the varnish pass and the overprint pass through the printing process. The varnish squares never were made large enough to make the entire numeral wash off with water.
The last of set of 1898 series dollar revenues are the most complex of the 1898 revenue stamps, requiring three passes to print the main image, apply the varnish, and apply the overprint. Experts accustomed to certifying "normally" printed stamps probably need to spend a little extra time understanding these unusual stamps.
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