FORGED STAMPS
Stamps are forged for two purposes, first to cheat philatelists, and
second to cheat the postal authorities. The former kind of trade is
fairly lucrative, but in England, at any rate, the production of
fictitious stamps for postal uses seldom enjoys more than a short-lived
success.
The forger hardly ever takes up his abode in the Home Country, for the
pains and penalties awaiting him, when apprehended, are severe. He far
prefers a Continental existence, where he can work his printing-press in
obscurity. His unsavoury wares, however, are made to circulate in
England just as much as abroad, and the novice must be ever on his guard
in consequence.
Some forgers possess elaborate and costly plant, and have the means of
turning out labels printed quite as well as the originals. But most
people in this dishonest trade are handicapped for capital, and have to
rely on the cheaper processes--usually lithography--in the production of
their forgeries. It is here that a knowledge of the various means of
printing stamps proves so valuable to the collector. A specimen, say, of
a line-engraved stamp produced by lithography immediately excites
suspicion, and a close examination shows it to be an undoubted
counterfeit.
The watermark is another stumbling-block with the stamp faker of small
means. He has no opportunity of procuring paper impressed with all the
various watermarks, and so he often prints on ordinary paper, and trusts
to the philatelist's ignorance or lack of examining powers. Of course,
the beginner is often caught by such practices, but it is really
wonderful how soon a serious collector grows to know at sight the real
and the unreal.
An ingenious trick of the forger in a small way of business consists in
transforming a common stamp into a valuable one. His work is not very
arduous, and his apparatus costs but a few pence. All he needs is an
aptitude for drawing, a few paints, brushes, and some chemicals. He
selects, first of all, an issue where the stamps all bear an identical
design and are printed in the same colour, the value, and perhaps an
additional word or two, only being printed in a distinctive colour. His
choice of stamp is by no means limited, for in Queen Victoria's time it
was a favourite arrangement with many Colonies for the head and
ornamentation to be printed in a shade of purple and the name of the
colony and the price to vary on each value.
The forger takes a nice copy of the halfpenny, and cleans out the price
and any features which make the stamp distinctive, by means of
chemicals; then he fills in the blank areas with the particular
lettering--using, of course, the correct colour--of a high-priced stamp.
His work takes but a few minutes, and in this time he can transform a
label worth, say, a penny into one catalogued at, perhaps, ten
shillings. This form of faking is particularly dangerous, because such
distinguishing marks as perforations, watermark, and quality of paper,
are correct in every detail.
The length to which some forgers will go is positively amazing. A few
years back a case came to light where one of these rogues regularly used
real stamp-paper on which to print his worthless imitations. His plan
was to buy a whole sheet of low-priced unused stamps, to remove all the
printing by chemical means, and then to print on the blank paper so
obtained a complete sheet of high-priced stamps. Of course, he had to
select his paper and his stamps with care, but this was a matter simple
enough. It is interesting to point out that the home authorities, seeing
the possibility of such practices, have made it a rule to use one
watermark for adhesives of low value and another for those of high
value.
What is the best way to tell whether a specimen is a forgery? This is a
question often asked. The first test is the watermark, but sufficient
has been said already to show that too much faith must not be placed on
this detail, especially as we may add that a very respectable imitation
may be produced by painting the back of the label with oil. The next
point to note is the perforation. These marks must be shaped in a
business-like way, and be of the correct number as indicated by the
catalogues. The third point is the printing, and the fourth the colour
of the ink used. Lastly, the design should be compared with an identical
stamp known to be genuine. Beyond such simple tests as these the
collector needs to exercise ordinary common sense in arriving at a
conclusion. If, say, a specimen is nice and fresh, and the catalogue
tells us that it is at least fifty years old, a certain amount of
suspicion might not be out of place.
It is not always a simple matter to know whether a stamp is a forgery or
not. Cases are on record where the postal authorities themselves have
been unable to distinguish between the real and the unreal. Some years
ago the shilling value of Great Britain was counterfeited and used for
postal purposes not once or twice, but some thousands of times, and
never an atom of suspicion was excited. The case is recorded by Mr. F.
J. Melville in his work, "Chats on Postage Stamps," in the following
words:
"A romantic forgery, and one of almost colossal magnitude, was
discovered in 1898. About that time a large quantity of British one
shilling stamps--those of the 1865 type in green, with large uncoloured
letters in the corners--came on the market, though, as they had been
used on telegram forms, they ought to have been destroyed; probably the
guilty parties relied on this official practice, not always honoured in
observance, as offering a security against not merely the tracing of the
offence, but the discovering of the fraud itself.
"Anyhow, after a lapse of twenty-six years, it was found that amongst
these one shilling stamps there was a large proportion of forgeries
(purporting to be from Plate V.), all used on July 23, 1872, at the
Stock Exchange Telegraph Office, London, E.C. More recent discoveries
show that the fraud was continued over twelve months, and, as an
indication of the precautions taken by the forgers, Plate VI. (which
came into use in March, 1872) was duly imitated, although the change of
the small figures was a detail probably never noticed by members of the
general public.
[Illustration: STAMPS BEARING NATIONAL EMBLEMS
1 New South Wales 5 Sweden 9 Switzerland
2 Belgium 6 Russia 10 Turkey
3 Mauritius 7 Italy 11 Brazil
4 Japan 8 Bosnia]
"According to calculations based on the average numbers used on several
days, the Post Office must have lost about L50 a day during the period
mentioned above. Who were the originators and perpetrators of the fraud
will probably never be known; possibly a stockbroker's clerk (or a small
'syndicate' of these gentlemen), or, more probably, a clerk in the Post
Office itself. It was an ingenious fraud, well planned, and cleverly
carried out at a minimum of risk, and but for the market for old stamps
it would never have been discovered."
For purposes of reference, we give below a list of the stamps which have
been most frequently copied, together with hints on how to detect the
forgeries. (G. = genuine; F. = forgery.)
ALSACE AND LORRAINE.--G., the points of the network in the background
turned up; F. has them turned down. The "P" of word "Postes" farther
from margin in G. than F. Used copies more likely to be G. than unused.
BELGIUM.--One centime, Leopold, 1861. F., yellowish paper instead of
white. The word "Postes" has no outline round each letter in F.
Obliterated specimens often F.
BRAZIL.--The early issues, with numerals in centre of filigree work
often imitated. Paper too thick in F.
GERMANY.--Nearly all the rarer stamps have been copied; specimens should
be accepted with caution.
CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.--Triangular issues, 1853-1864. G. has knee of "Hope"
rounded; F., angular. If top line of knee produced to border, it cuts
through the centre of the letter "S." in "Postage," in G. but through
letter "O" in F.
CYPRUS.--The line-engraved Great Britain issue with overprint. In this
case forged overprints have been added to genuine stamps. Forgeries have
the "C" in "Cyprus" thicker than the other letters, also the "Y" set
higher than other letters. The extreme length from "C" to "S" is seldom
accurate, as given in catalogues, in F.
FRANCE.--The five francs, 1869. F. perforated 13; G. perforated 13-1/2.
Also F. has dots in corner of frame, not rounded as in G.
MAURITIUS.--Many of the earlier issues F.
NEVIS.--The shilling green, 1861. In G. ink seems to stand up from
paper, but flat in F. The lines on woman's arm are straight in G., but
in dots in F.
NEW SOUTH WALES.--The stamps known as "Sydney Views" have been largely
copied. The large fivepenny, sixpenny, eightpenny, and shilling often
had unusually wide margins when perforated. The faker has trimmed off
the tooth edges, and called the stamps the rare imperforated specimens.
NOVA SCOTIA.--Some of the fine early issues have been lithographed in
F., while the G. were engraved.
STATES OF THE CHURCH.--These stamps have been largely reprinted from
original dies. Only stamps on original envelopes should be accepted by
the novice.
PORTUGAL.--Many of the surcharged issues have been forged; the
overprinted words being imitations.
SEDAN.--No genuine stamps ever existed; all were spurious.
SIERRA LEONE, 1872-1881.--A type of stamp that is representative of many
others. F. lithographed, with the delicate lines on the face as heavy as
those constituting the background.
UNITED STATES.--Early issues often had a grille--_i.e._, an embossed
series of lines to prevent removal of obliteration without being
noticed. F. seldom have grille.