It is unquestionably counterfeit. I have not come across mention of this particular stamp in Linn's or other sources, but counterfeit issues of other American flag forever stamps have been in the news.
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"All hobbies are absurd to those on the outside, and a joy to those within."
While it is very suspect, this stamp, along with the Statute of Liberty coil pairing was printing in both lithographed and photogravure. The photogravure version will be "grainy". Two things to check for the photogravure version (Scott #4491):
- serpentine die cut 8 1/2 vertical
- microprinting "4EVR" at the bottom of the lowest red stripe on the flag
Note that the two lithographed stamps have microprinting "4evr" at the same location, and different sized perfs.
Once you verify the perfs and microprinting (right or wrong) then you'll have a final answer. If counterfeit, you found a nice little addition to your collection.
The perfs are not completely uniform - they are around 10.2 and shallow. There is no microprinting (no 4EVR, 4evR or 4evr) at all and it is much coarser than any of the other coil or booklet varieties, - I have a few of each to compare so I think I have a genuine fake LOL!
It just goes to show that even a common flag stamp can be very interesting and super fun. I also found a slight misperf.
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"Just one more small collection, hun, really! LoL "