1902 Germany/China Office cover embellished to enhance value
May 12, 2022 3:18:14 GMT
philatelia, dorincard, and 5 more like this
Post by jimwentzell on May 12, 2022 3:18:14 GMT
Although I already believe the following cover to be genuine in origin, the manipulation (added, hand-drawn "cancels" and Chinese auxiliary markings) begged to be shared so others may learn. The cover, I believe, started out as a "favor cancelled" maybe handed back at a postal counter to a collector, or otherwise "cancelled to order." I see a lot of these covers especially from Germany, as the collectors were (and fewer today still are) feverishly collecting their vastly varied homeland and related areas. But along the way a (likely German) collector/dealer/scoundrel decided to try his or her hand at embellishing the cover. It took me about thirty seconds to realize, the additional "Chinese" cancels, were drawn in by hand. A crude and obvious attempt to inflate the cover's value.
Most hand-back favor-cancelled (also known as CTO=cancelled-to-order) "covers" are unaddressed. This joker typed a fictitious (I believe) recipient in Germany. No way did this cover ever enter the mainstream in China (German Offices) nor in Germany. But I can see how, if the con job was executed more realistically, that SOMEONE'S heart would flutter and cause an inexperienced collector to plunk down some solid money, especially being from a "hot" area (pre-1920 Colonial mail originating in China). There are far more "embellished" covers around, from ALL corners of the philatelic world, and most are far better forgeries than this poor attempt.
the back does NOT have the arrival stamp/cancel (Ankunftsstempel) normally on overseas mail, even if unregistered....
Most hand-back favor-cancelled (also known as CTO=cancelled-to-order) "covers" are unaddressed. This joker typed a fictitious (I believe) recipient in Germany. No way did this cover ever enter the mainstream in China (German Offices) nor in Germany. But I can see how, if the con job was executed more realistically, that SOMEONE'S heart would flutter and cause an inexperienced collector to plunk down some solid money, especially being from a "hot" area (pre-1920 Colonial mail originating in China). There are far more "embellished" covers around, from ALL corners of the philatelic world, and most are far better forgeries than this poor attempt.
the back does NOT have the arrival stamp/cancel (Ankunftsstempel) normally on overseas mail, even if unregistered....
