Counterfeit stamps

I would say that collecting forgeries is a personal Choice. While I do not seek them out, I do keep them. I make sure they remain identified as a forgery.
i have limited knowledge and experience on the matter.
One site is use is.  www.stampforgeries.com . For me it has been a great reference site.  I am sure there must be many results if you use a search engine.
Members if the Forum might be able to assist or direct you to correct places or sources.
I so see forgeries for sale. I find they are worth what ever you are willing to pay. Reputable sellers will identify the stamp as “forgery” or “fake”. Always buyer beware in my view. I collect Nova Scotia stamps and weekly see forgeries for sale and are not identified as such. I take the time to inform the seller. Most are grateful but others never respond nor change the listing. 

David

The challenge is that every stamp is a different situation. Study and experience is key and often having fake ones to personally examine.

I gave up on collecting US Washington-Franklins since most fakes were altered stamps (trimmed, etc) and did not want to invest the time and money to become an expert nor spending money to have to expertize them.

deniseb , it really depends on what you are buying. In stamp collecting, if you are spending money on a $100+ stamp, as an example, you want to make sure you are not being duped and purchasing a forged/counterfeit stamp. If you are like me and buying stamps that are of low value and are not overly costly and just spending a few $ on, then it is unlikely you are being taken advantage of and getting forged stamps. As a starting collector, forgeries and counterfeits are not really something you should be worried about.

Also, if you don't already have one, purchase a stamp catalog or check one out from the library so you can get a sense of what things cost. Catalog values, however, are not reality and many stamps, especially used stamps, sell for less than catalog value.

To be honest I'm really not worried about acquiring forgeries or reprints I was just more curious on how do I identify them. Because no matter how you look at it they're also a part of our history in every country and they have their own story to tell.
I have a very inquisitive mind I love learning new things so as much information that's being thrown at me right now at this moment I absolutely love it it gets my mind active and I'm learning new things which is but I love and the more I research a reading watching videos and asking questions the more I'm falling in love with collecting stamps I've actually spent more than I should have the last few months, just don't tell my husband lol

So there's really no solid way Of telling if their forgeries are not? I just recently bought an older stamp and I absolutely love it, but looking at some of the other pictures from the threads I came across regarding forgeries, I'm questioning if it is as well. I am sorry if I'm repeating things that have been discussed in other threads. I'm Finding things as I go along looking to more areas And unfortunately it seems I find them after I've already asked a question And I do apologize for that
If I'm able to Maybe I can post a scan of it Sometime tomorrow right now it's 3 o'clock in the morning here and don't want to wake up the house

For U.S. stamps, postal counterfeits are listed in the Scott Specialized catalog and often have catalog values far exceeding those of the genuine stamps.

The listings for U.S. postal counterfeits begin as far back the 1895 2 cent stamp (Scott 250).

Scott editors caution that "before purchasing counterfeits, collectors should obtain a certificate of authenticity (that the item is a genuine counterfeit) from a recognized expertizing service."

A good starting point for detecting forgeries is the book, Varro Tyler, Focus on Forgeries: A Guide to Forgeries of Common Stamps (Linns, 2000). It covers a lot of the ones most likely encountered in a worldwide collection.

Serrane Guide and Album Weeds are two early but thorough works.
Album Weeds is reproduced here: stampforgeries.com/album-weeds/

For the German area, look in philatelic libraries for the multi-volume GPS Reference Manual of Forgeries, compiled by Werner Bohne.

deniseb
It is not a general rule, but in general you can recognize forgings at first sight by different printing method (lithography) or different perforation (in line).
Try to learn about printing methods and their recognition elements (this is what I started with and it was very helpful)
The different drawing elements are difficult to identify without having examples you can find in specialized works (they are not accessible to me, but there are members who can give you examples on the forum)
The work Vade-mecum by Serrane (in French) can be downloaded for free (it has enough features to recognize forgeries)

Denise............a new way to show your scans   ??