Check my correction on Comment #12 below. I originally said that the Seal was placed on the COLB before it was folded, which is standard operating procedure for placing an embossed seal on a document.
What I wanted to say was that the Seal was applied AFTER it was folded, which required the person who applied the stamp to use excessive force so that the Seal would show up on the Seal.
The depth of the impression left on the paper is highly unusual given that the other 2007 COLBs and the 2008 COLB I looked at had a much lighter impression from the Seal.
This excessive pressure caused the COLB to tear where the fold meets the Seal, and is the It is the reason why all of the photos of the reverse side of the COLB only show the Seal below the tear.
It is also why all of the in-focus photos of the front side of the COLB show it with the folds at 90 degree angles, why the one photo of the expanded COLB is out of focus, and why the close-up of the lower fold on the front side was excessively lightened to hide the tear.
Also, for what it's worth, the rough texture of the paper on which the COLB was printed is not found on 2007-08 COLL=BS.
In my response above, I should have said that because of the fold, the embossed Seal was applied with excessive force to ensure that the Seal impression lookedwas evenly through the fold., I should have said said ...the Seal was applied AFTER it was folded, which required the use of excessive force so that the Seal would be clearly visible through the fold.
He needs to be nailed on this. There has got to be someone out there with the guts to hunt this story down in the MSM.