They look like they may have been original gum ! Lord Tyburn from the Stampoffers days used to send envelopes that were classics...he would use United Nations stamps, labels and a legitimate stamp and they always got here.
Phil. Your redacting skills are weak, man! Don't apply to the Government for a job.
So I'm not sure if you were "outing" Al to praise him for being ballsy - or dissing him for being a postal criminal.
But my own take on it was he made a brilliant move to use some vintage stamps on a current cover. I also love to sneak in the occasional really old stamp (but being a Canadian I would never use less than the official postage...). So, I'm voting "ballsy"!
While I know that some purists may complain that these stamps don't have an in-period cancel, that's irrelevant unless you want to detach the stamps and sell them as such (at I suppose a premium?).