S.A. Taylor - BNA Bogus - Bell's Dispatch

 

S.A. Taylor

Taylor created the stamps for this bogus post around 1864.

The stamps feature an image of Montreal’s first coat of arms.

These stamps were one of Taylor's most popular items.

They were also reproduced by several other forgers who copied his design.

The Taylor stamps can be identified by several flaws that show up in the printings

Some will have more than one flaw.

- A break in the ribbon above the “T” of “MONTREAL”

- A break in the ribbon to the left of the “L” of “MONTREAL”

- An extra small dot under the period after “DISPATCH”

- A dot to the right of the coat of arms, above the left split of the ribbons end.

- The “C” of “CENTS” is broken in the middle.

Taylor Flaws

Taylor paper & color variations

Samples of printed paper Taylor used

Bogus replicas of a bogus issue !!

This bogus issue was Taylor's most successful.

This prompted others to create replicas of his bogus issues.

They key differences are:

- The shape, size and position of the 2's

- The position of the top of the crown relative to the letter "D" above

Type II bogus replica

- The middle arm of the "E" of "Montreal" is very small or missing

- The crown top is directly under the "D"

- There are 5 dots under the right bottom of the shield

Type III bogus replica

- The top circles touch the frame line

- The "2's" are smaller

- The crown top is to the right of the "D"

Type IV bogus replica

- There are no periods after the words

- No apostrophe in “BELLS”

- The top of the crown points to the “I” in “DISPATCH”