1867 Taylor Bogus Stamps
It is generally accepted that Alan Taylor pretended to be Don Alberto de Bario of Guatemala accompanied by Charles Lyford (as his interpreter).
It is generally accepted that Alan Taylor pretended to be Don Alberto de Bario of Guatemala accompanied by Charles Lyford (as his interpreter).
They both went to the Holland Printing Company in Boston and ordered stamps for Guatemala. Holland in turn took the design to J. A. J. Wilcox, who engraved the 5 centavos stamp on steel.
Years later they were discovered as being bogus issues. In the meantime, several different forgeries of this bogus were produced as the originals were scarce.
Type I
Size 20½ by 26¾ mm., no outer frame line.
On ordinary white wove paper, except colored paper varieties, which are on tissue-weight paper glued to white wove paper.
Type II
Size 21¼ by 27½ mm., identical to Type I except that it has an outer frame line.
On ordinary white wove paper unless otherwise described.
Imperforate Perforated 11¾
More perforated stamps than Type I
Torres forgeries
Cancelled with his Spanish spider postmark
Note - background lines run through the corner stars.
Type I.
White space at right end of “GUATEMALA,” outer frame line at right from bottom nearly to top.
Lithographed on flimsy colored paper, usually with counterfeit cancels
(Spiro imitation). Imperforate or rough pin
perforation. Size 21 by 26½ mm.
Type II
White space at left side of
“GUATEMALA,” no outer frame lines, short
lettering in bottom panel.
Lithographed.
I have seen only one of these.
Modern Forgeries
