Classic Stamp Forgeries

Postal Stone

Prior to any formal post system, messages or letters were left at a designated spot under "postal stones". Passing ships would pick these up for delivery at their home ports

A supply camp was established by the Dutch East India Company in 1652 in the area which later became Cape Town.

It eventually became a British Colony in 1814.

Stamps were first issued by the colony on 1 September 1853. The two stamps that were issued were a one penny in brick-red and a four pence in blue.

The stamps were printed by Perkins, Bacon & Co in London. The original die for these stamps was cut by William Humphrys, an engraver employed by Perkins Bacon.

Special hand made paper was used to print 240 stamps per sheet.

On 18 February 1858 two new values became available: a six pence and a one shilling.

The triangular stamps were demonetized on 1 October 1900.

Genuine Features

Bear in mind that the same die (s) were used for all the Triangles, so these features apply for all the issues from 1853-64. Above, a plate proof is used for better definition of the features.

1. Note that the 4 spines almost touch the ends of the bottom ornaments in most cases.

2. This hatching (fishnet) should have 4 visible diamonds

3. There is a large patch of color in the bottom inner side of the C.

4. There is a dot of colour just below and to the right of the center stroke of the F.

5. There is a distinct white line inside the D of GOOD.

6. The O of HOPE is slightly higher than the other letters.

7. A distinctive cross should appear in the pattern.

8. The serif the G extends to the right well beyond the top serif.

9. The bottom branch of the E extends out further than the top

10. The inner part has a visible white ring which may only be partially visible.

11-12. There is a small dot of color very close to the forehead.

This is often mistaken as part of the hair by forgers.

Note also that the nose is low on the face and its slope.

The eye is large with a distinct pupil.

13. All the fingers are visible but the index is out of proportion with the others

14. The tip of the fluke is behind the body. Also note that the base of the top fluke lacks the inner curve like the bottom one.

15. There is a wide dark outline here

16. There are several boomerang shaped designs in the background. Generally the 3 dots should be visible.

17. Note the shadow of the anchor to the right of the fluke, the curvature of the fluke and the bill (tip) that

points to the 2nd O of GOOD.

18. 5 toes are visible and the feet are proportionate.

Forgers tend to get the shape of the letters wrong, particularly the serifs.

The lines in the rock are often wrong

The shading lines in the tunic will be different

The dots on the skin will generally be missing

The toes and the shape of the feet will be different.

The head and hair are generally not well reproduced

A note on Blued Paper (other theories/explanations exist)

Some of these stamps have a bluish tint in the paper that can be light or quite noticeable.

Potassium Ferrocyanide (Prussiate of Potash) is an ingredient in Prussian Blue.

It is NOT Potassium Cyanide that some "experts" note.

It appears to have been used to prevent removal of the cancel and re-use of the stamp. It may also have been used as an ink fixer & died the paper blue. Potassium Ferrocyanide (not Cyanide) is relatively safe and is an ingredient used to produce Potassium Ferricyanide used in cyanotype printing, a method in early stamp printing.

In any event it might also be that the degree of bluing was due to how much the sheets were wetted prior to printing.

Ivory Heads

I have not seen a reasonable explanation for this feature.

SG makes an assumption that the bluing was unevenly applied. However on some stamps the Ivory Head is just a ghostly blob but on others it is a perfect negative of the front so hardly an "uneven bluing" so skillfully applied. It also occurs on many other country issues of that period.

Watermarks - Important NOTE

Some stamps do not have one (Perkins Bacon ref.)

The anchor watermarks were formed by twisted cylindrical brass wire curved by hand, attached by finer wires to the wire-work of the paper mould. Often the fine wires would break resulting in no watermark.

Genuine stamps

SG 1 Pale Brick Red & SG 2 Blued Paper

SG 6a Blue & SG 8b Deep Green

SG 18b Deep Brown Red & SG 18c Brownish Red

SG 19a Blue & SG 20 Bright Mauve

In 1929 a plate proof without defacement was printed in black on slightly toned paper without a watermark for the G. Allis 1930 book.

All four denominations were printed and may be found in blocks of 4.

Forgeries

Fournier Forgeries

These appear to be plentiful and with a low quality online image could fool many collectors.

There is some indication that Fournier may have used forgeries from Oswald Schröder (discussed later) as the model for his forgeries.

He also sold forgeries from many other forgers as the Fournier Geneva collection clearly shows.

1. The O of HOPE is the same height as the other letters

2. The eye is very pronounced giving the face a “serious” look

3. The O’s in HOPE are not level and the second O is slightly higher

4. The top serifs of the H in HOPE are inclined

5. The toes are indistinct

6. The dots on the body have been replaced by short dashes

7. Shading lines on the tunic are lacking as are the background features

Fournier also sold proofs of the COGH stamps

Blocks from the Geneva Fournier Collection

These were available for sale and were part of the purchased collection.

Overall, they are very well executed and would be rather dangerous forgeries

They have a lot in common with the Oswald Schroeder forgeries

Oneglia Forgeries

Erasmo Oneglia was an Italian forger in the late 19th century from Turin. He is famous for his engraved forgeries. Many of his forgeries were previously attributed to the forger Angelo Panelli. The engraved Oneglia forgeries are usually 'overinked'. When Oneglia applied an impressed watermark on his forgeries, it is very clearly visible. He forged at least 788 different forgeries from over 30 countries

1. The C inclined slightly to the right & thinner

2. The E of CAPE is distorted

3. Top serifs of the H are inclined

4. Long index finger on the left hand

5. Only 4 toes visible

6. Typical box cancel with a blank center

7. The left hand shows only 2 fingers

8. The rays of the right corner ornament are very short

9. The face lacks shading lines

10. The lines in the skirt run in all directions unlike the uniform ones in the genuine

This set has many of the same features as the previous Oneglia but all the letters are smaller and thin. Note in particular the very thin C of CAPE.

The thin C is held as being a feature of the actual Oneglia. Perhaps the previous set was made at a different time or one of them is a Panelli forgery.

This set is considered as possibly being an Oneglia Lithograph. The cancels match the other Oneglia/Panelli forgeries.

However the head is very different

The C top extends out

The bottom right ornament has an elongated pearl in it.

Senf Forgeries

The Senf brothers (Emil Louis Richard and Wilhelm August Louis) printed a journal, the 'Illustrierten Briefmarken Journal', in Leipzig, Germany.

They added 'Kunst-Beigaben' or 'art supplements' to each issue of their journal from 1884 onwards.

These forgeries always had the overprint 'Facsimile' or 'FACSIMILE' or 'FALSCH' included in the design and often were removed as shown below.

1. Easily distinguished by the both hands missing
2. No details in the body of Hope.
3. The top tip of the anchor is visible.
4. The cancels are wrong for the period.
5. The shape of the head is very distinctive

Spiro Forgeries

These are very common and account for most of the forgeries.

It should be noted that although Spiro forgeries appear ubiquitous, in many cases they are wrongly identified.

Many belong to the Spanish forger Torres. Spiro probably collaborated with other forgers of that period. They possibly ordered custom cancels or applied their own.

1. The key feature of the Spiro's is the head of HOPE which is crudely drawn

2. The A & P of CAPE appear damaged on most copies

3. The lower fluke tip points in a different direction

4. The foot on the right has toes not on the original

5. The index finger is shorter

6. All the netting before and after the word groups is missing

7. Guide lines between the stamps are generally visible

A forgery that appeared online as a "genuine" with matching value

This set has the general features of the previous Spiros but with very unusual cancels not normally associated with Spiro but rather with Torres

The above compared to a typical "Spiro" shows badly distorted or damaged letters in the SIX & CAPE. Possibly an unknown or a badly worn die and printing defect.

Torres Forgeries

Placido Ramon de Torres issued the "Album Illustrado para Sellos de Correo" in 1879.

This catalogue has illustrations of many of the stamps that correspond to known forgeries. He also provided illustrations for other catalogs of the period.

It appears he trained and cooperated with Usigli and Bonasi.

Later on he ventures to other countries including a not so fortunate trip to America to sell his forgeries from sources unknown.

1. In all of these the head of Hope is unlike the original
2. The background is mainly made of dots and dashes
3. The rocks are shaded with thick lines
4. The toes are lacking
5. The letters are misshapen
Note on the top left one a Spanish Spider type cancel was used but lacks the arrow points

This block is from a sheet of 15 not the usual Spiro 25.

It appears to have more in common with Torres.

Taylor Forgeries

Samuel Allan Taylor was the leader of the "Boston gang", a group of forgers located in Boston.

Taylor operated from about 1862 to 1891 and made many forgeries and bogus United States stamps in particular the local issues. Many of these exist printed in a variety of papers and in a wide range of colors.

Although he did make some forgeries of Canadian stamps, his work in other countries is relatively unknown. So, although these are attributed to him, the period forgers would often sell items from other forgers.

These forgeries have little in common with the originals
1 The head is crudely drawn and large
2. The anchor fluke tip points to the D not the O
3. The netting in the corners has been replaced with wavy lines
4. These is no background detail
5. It appears that there is only 1 foot

Scott/Taylor forgeries?

There is possibly some relation between the two as a forgery attributed to Scott has many Taylor features

Scott advertised he was purchasing dies of various countries

Scott on top, Taylor below

Unknown Forger

The main features of this set are the unusual cancels like the France one bottom left

The forgeries do not correspond to any others and are reasonably well executed.

The lower letters are an issue

1. The C has a long pointed serif

2. The second O of GOOD is smaller than the other letters and slightly tilted

3. The P of HOPE looks like an inverted J

4. The last E is distorted

This forgery also shows up in other bogus colors such as a 1p black and with other types of cancels.

Unknown Forger

These may the the Oswald Schroeder forgeries

Oswald Schroeder was a stamp forger of Leipzig (Germany) around 1890 and was a partner in the printing firm Schroeder & Naumann He produced 56 different forgeries, before he got discovered and fled to Zurich.

He generally used actual stamps and reproduced the plate variations.

These are excellent forgeries and definitely fall into the "dangerous" category