drblade
Member 
Posts: 726
What I collect: GB Unmounted mint & Machin definitives Q.E.II Used commemoratives
|
Post by drblade on Apr 11, 2022 13:47:56 GMT
I just found this newspaper article (from 1995), attached to a page, inside an album I purchased in an auction lot. It got me wondering who collects stamp forgeries & the like & what are your opinions on them..  |
|
renden
Member
Posts: 8,716 
What I collect: World W collector with ++ interests in BNA (Canada etc) and USA
|
Post by renden on Apr 11, 2022 15:32:00 GMT
I do not seek Forgeries, they just happen.......and I keep the in their respective album, usually from my late dad's One example:(ref: stampforgeries.com/forged-stamps-of-central-lithuania/)Central Lithuania Scott 39 Red Brown 5m - Genuine Perf 14  Central Lithuania Scott Forgery 39 (not listed)  |
|
Beryllium Guy
Moderator 
Posts: 5,657
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
|
Post by Beryllium Guy on Apr 11, 2022 15:43:17 GMT
Thanks for your post, drblade. It's an interesting topic. We had a former TSF member who was a real specialist in classic forgeries, and he collected them actively. My situation is much more akin to René's ( renden). I have my share of forgeries, but I usually don't seek them out, and I have only ever once specifically bought any forgeries intentionally. What I can say is that similar to almost any philatelic specialty, there are certainly rarities among forgeries, and in some interesting cases, the forgeries are worth more to collectors than the genuine examples! Alex ( vikingeck) gave a good example of that with an old GB Queen Victoria 1-Shilling issue, I think, that was used by a clerk to defraud the stock exchange and never discovered until years later. Alex can tell that story better than I can. In one of my specialty areas, Cape of Good Hope triangles, there are many forgeries. Thanks to some study, I can generally spot the difference, so I have not bothered to invest in any of the forgeries. I have noted recently on eBay that some of the forgeries are being offered at prices higher than what I paid for a genuine copy of the same stamp, which to me, is simply not worth it. For the money, I would much rather have another genuine example! |
|
stainlessb
Member
qaStaHvIS yIn 'ej chep
Posts: 4,643
What I collect: currently focused on most of western Europe, much of which is spent on France, Belgium, Germany and Great Britain Queen Victoria
Member is Online
|
Post by stainlessb on Apr 11, 2022 17:05:50 GMT
like the other commenters, the forgeries I have were amongst lots of stamps, with the exception of a France #2 and #4, sold together with a low opening bid and described as "Questionable, you decide". I made opening bid and got it. #2 is almost assuredly a forgery, while #4 appears to be authentic, but just not of great quality (and they are rather common ). When I finally trackle the early Ceres issues, I will include the forgery with a brief description of its "clues"
As Chris mentioned, some are quite valuable, but to me they are just curios
|
|
vikingeck
Member
Posts: 3,269
What I collect: Samoa, Tobacco theme, Mail in Wartime, anything odd and unusual!
|
Post by vikingeck on Apr 11, 2022 17:10:57 GMT
Pre internet days , when good images of genuine stamps were not readily available for comparison by the average collector , manystamp clubs had a knowledgeable group of experienced members who were often able to confirm genuine or forged stamps for the members. Larger societies may even have been able , like the Royal PS of London , to expertise stamps by comparing them to a collection of known forgeries. The Aberdeen PS , which is now 112 years old , maintains a substantial Forgeries collection donated to the club over the past century. This is available to members for consultation though with access to the internet it is less needed than in the past. Forgeries which were created to defraud the post are of interest to the specialist collector, such as the infamous Stock Exchange Forgery of the Gb Queen Victoria 1/- green referred to by Chris Beryllium Guy above. Many “forgeries” produced in the late 19th or early 20th century are mere replicas for sale as space fillers where the real stamps were scarce and can often be easily recognised with experience. Forged cancellations and faked covers to defraud collectors are criminal and may be much harder to detect. When found they should be clearly identified in a collection or exhibit, where they have a role to highlight the genuine article. |
|
|
|
Post by biglavalamp on Apr 11, 2022 19:02:13 GMT
I when I come across a fake/forgery stamp I display it next to a original (quietly showing off to myself how clever I am noticing it) ,as stated in the newspaper article the Royal philatelic society requested the penny black for there museum this indicates a clear interest in them.
Great post.
|
|
renden
Member
Posts: 8,716
What I collect: World W collector with ++ interests in BNA (Canada etc) and USA
|
Post by renden on Apr 11, 2022 20:02:35 GMT
I when I come across a fake/forgery stamp I display it next to a original (quietly showing off to myself how clever I am noticing it) ,as stated in the newspaper article the Royal philatelic society requested the penny black for there museum this indicates a clear interest in them. Great post. I have just done that, if you read my previous POST !! You are right  René |
|
|
|
Post by dgdecker on Apr 11, 2022 20:58:22 GMT
I do not go out of the way to get them. I have many of the Nova Scotia forgeries in my collection but all were given to me. They are separate from the others. I have plans to include in with all the genuine ones at some later date.
DAVID
|
|
hdm1950
Member
Posts: 1,607
What I collect: I collect world wide up to 1965 with several specialty albums added due to volume of material I have acquired. At this point I am focused on Canada and British America. I am always on the lookout for stamps and covers with postmarks from communities in Queens County, Nova Scotia. I do list various goods including stamps occasionally on eBay as hdm50
|
Post by hdm1950 on Apr 11, 2022 20:59:44 GMT
Like many that have replied I have many stamps in my collection that are questionable. They have come to me via old collections and auction box lots. I am hopeful that none of the better stamps I have bought in recent years are fakes. Examples of better stamps I have that are known to be fake I still mount and mark as such. It is good for comparison purposes.
As a side note forgeries is common in all areas of collectables. Years ago when in a previous relationship I bought a questionable Salvador Dali print. The auction house listed it as questionable. The world is full of fake Dali's. The price was right for a piece of decorative art and it was always a great conversation piece when we had company. There would be heavy discussions over whether it was real or not. When we went our separate ways and divided up stuff I let it go. The other half no longer has it and does not say what became of it.
|
|
|
|
Post by jamesw on Oct 6, 2022 2:48:24 GMT
I have a few, especially Confederate, which I'm particularly fond of.
|
|
brightonpete
Departed
Rest in Peace
On a hike at Goodrich-Loomis
Posts: 5,110
|
Post by brightonpete on Oct 6, 2022 9:40:46 GMT
The only forgery I own is the Canadian 6¢ orange Centennial definitive. I'm big on this series, as I started collecting back when Canada Post was ending the series.
|
|
vikingeck
Member
Posts: 3,269
What I collect: Samoa, Tobacco theme, Mail in Wartime, anything odd and unusual!
|
Post by vikingeck on Oct 6, 2022 10:24:37 GMT
If you collect early German or Italian states it is IMPOSSIBLE to avoid landing a few forgeries. Some forgeries outnumber the available genuine examples 10:1 or more.
Demand in 1900s far exceeded supply and printers were only too ready to manufacture “facsimiles” to fill spaces on printed albums. Some forgeries are obvious and easy to spot, some are very good and dangerous to the unwary.
Any serious student of the period will need to include forgeries for reference .
|
|
|
|
Post by dgdecker on Oct 7, 2022 4:12:38 GMT
The only forgery I own is the Canadian 6¢ orange Centennial definitive. I'm big on this series, as I started collecting back when Canada Post was ending the series. Peter, i was not aware of 5his forgery. Do you have any photos you could share. David |
|
alanl
Departed
Rest in Peace
Abbotsford, B.C., CANADA.
Posts: 1,670
|
Post by alanl on Oct 7, 2022 17:44:17 GMT
|
|
brightonpete
Departed
Rest in Peace
On a hike at Goodrich-Loomis
Posts: 5,110
|
Post by brightonpete on Oct 7, 2022 19:13:29 GMT
The only forgery I own is the Canadian 6¢ orange Centennial definitive. I'm big on this series, as I started collecting back when Canada Post was ending the series. Peter, i was not aware of 5his forgery. Do you have any photos you could share. David |
|
|
|
Post by greaden on Oct 7, 2022 21:09:30 GMT
I try not to collect forgeries but occasionally I identify one, far too late to return a stamp to the dealer. These I add to a small accumulation in a binder labeled Hall of Shame.
|
|
|
|
Post by dgdecker on Oct 10, 2022 15:22:20 GMT
Peter, i was not aware of 5his forgery. Do you have any photos you could share. David Thanks Peter, now that I have seen it again I recall your original post. And gee in my “notes” of things to do I have a notation to “ check” my holdings to possible forgeries. Obviously, I never made it that far on my list. |
|
vakhtangchigogidze
**Member** 
Posts: 15
What I collect: classic period issues (1840-1875) from all over the world; errors, oddities, forgeries...
|
Post by vakhtangchigogidze on May 4, 2023 17:46:25 GMT
Well, as far as the counterfeit activity is an integral part of postal history, i personally think that it's pretty interesting to learn about the history of forgery as well and the developent of their printing abilities... Once i saw a very beautiful handmade stamp album about postal history of cape of good hope, with all the inscriptions and texts and examples of genuine and forged stamps with different variations, which showed a complete history of that era. Well, of course i can not justify forgery, but the fact is that it existed... and we can't just clear that part from philately. Especially when in terms of history it made a huge impact on the development of the world we all love, i mean without forgery, there would be no those watermarks and security features that we all are trying to distinguish and talk about.. well, of course most of the forgeries were made in bulk and in low quality, because they were made just to deceive postal clerks, who would never examine them properly, but if you go deeper in this part of philately you will find out that there are forgeries which is almost impossible to detect, like jean de sperati's forgeries of rarest collectible stamps, which were forged so perfectly that they even had the certificates of genuiness from top graders from all over the world, and after his work was revealed, the brittish philatelic association had to buy all his plates, not to allow them to appear in another forgers hands... So, there are many examples still remain undetected and the fact is that the stamps you have, even certified ones and are proud of... Theres a chance they are forgeries  so, heres why im telling you all this: if you have any forgeries you want to get rid of, im the guy who would accept them with great pleasure happy collecting guys and cheers. |
|
rod222
Member
Posts: 9,913
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps, Ephemera and Catalogues
|
Post by rod222 on Oct 16, 2023 4:07:23 GMT
Catalogue : World Forgeries : G. Kock
|
|
armenin2000
Member
I am 73 years old. I have been collecting stamps since 1963. My interests are Greater Russia. Stamps
Posts: 273
What I collect: Greater Russia. Stamps, covers , maxcards
|
Post by armenin2000 on Nov 2, 2023 16:25:07 GMT
I collect fakes to the detriment of mail. Basically, these are definitives stamps. Only one stamp in honor of Dahl's anniversary is not definitives, but to the detriment of mail.
|
|
|
|
Post by viking1234 on Nov 25, 2023 7:00:31 GMT
I use Fake stamps as a reference, if I have doubt I always ask Collectors specialized in the area of interest, they usually know what to be aware of. I am Collecting Belgium stamps and have a great portion of the Mérode-stamp, you can all get your own copy just go to the most popular sales pages I garanti you will find them for sale for prizes that is rediculus because the seller think A. they a real B. sold as Essay, die prove(yes, they where made of the false stamp to) ec. Here is a nice copy of a false Mérode 10 C unperforated. |
|
so, heres why im telling you all this: if you have any forgeries you want to get rid of, im the guy who would accept them with great pleasure 
