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.

"According to calculations based on the average numbers used on several days, the Post Office must have lost about £50 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.