Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-07-11
A Stamp Fraud.

are lust now considerably excited ever
the very recent discovery that a couple
of rogues have been swindling them
most outrageously. 1t appears that
Afghanistan stamps arc dear to the
hearts of all collectors. The first stamp
eve issued in that country appeared in
1901 (Mohammedan date 1881, dur
ing the reign of Shere Ali. 1t is a
LARGE circular stamp with the head of a
tiger in the center and the value written
in characters above this head. Other
issues appeared in subsequent years, but
all such stamps are extremely scarce.
and therefore valuable.
The brilliant idea of personally profit
ing from these facts occurred to one
Hafez Hamed, who arrived in Paris
some short time 100 and proceeded to
the old stamp-exchange in the Avenue
Gabriel, Champs Elysees, where he in
formed buyers that the ex-Postmaster-
General of Cabul had arrived in Mar
settles, but that in one of his trunks,
still retained at a port in the Persian
Gull, were stamps of the early issues,
particularly those issued in 1898, and
valued at from one hundred and twenty.
five to one thousand francs. Hafez said
he had written to the eX-Postmaster.
General to telegraph to the port and
have his trunks forwarded without de.
lay, and that Immediately on their ar.
rival he would be in a position to fur.
nish collectors with some rare stamps.
Just nine days later q letter reached
Hafcs stating that the luggage had AZ.
rived, and very soon afterward the
Afghan stamps were in the market
Of course they were bogus, which
fact was soon discovered, thanks to the
shrewdness of an English gentleman re.
siding in Paris, who, knowing that il
was impossible for a vessel to come
from tho Persian Gulf to Marseilles in
nine days, made a close study of one OF
the stamps. He got Hafcz to write for
him the address of the Postmaster-Gen
eral of Cabul, and this address was
made in characters that neither Dye.
mel ed Din, s'the learned Afghan" nor
any Arab, Egyptian or other Oriental
in this CITY could read. They all said
that not a single postmaster in Afghan
istan would be able to do so either.
Moreover, some Of the stamps were OBJ
liberated in red ink, and the postmark
was almost as visible on the back as it
was on the front of the envelope. Now,
as a matter of fact, postage stamps in
Afghanistan are not sold to the public
as in Europe; it is the invariable rule
for the natives to take their letters to
the Office and money with them to pay
the postage; the stamp seller takes both
letter and money, and having first torn
off a piece of the stamp, sticks it on the
envelope and the operation is ended.
This method, known to the Paris col
%lectors, was overlooked by Hafez Hamed
and his accomplices, hence the forgery
was 0 discovered and Hafez had to
seek refuge in flight.
1t is astonishing what a number OF
stamp collectors there are in the world.
1t is a passion which did not come into
fashion until 1861, but since that year it
has spread everywhere. Twenty years
ago the divers stamps to be obtained
did not exceed five hundred. Nova
days some albums contain at least
three thousand. In the Berlin museum
there are four thousand five hundred
specimens, so it is said, of which two
thousandfour hundred and sixty are Eu.
ropean and ,one thousand one hundred
and forty-seven American. The rarest
English stamps among those actually
issued are the black penny with the OBJ.
literating mark in red ink, and the
postal envelopes with pictorial borders,
black for thelpenny and blue for the two
penny ones
When Marshal MacMahon was Presi-
dent of France his wife was very anx-
ious to see, his image set in stamps,
and some such designs were pre-
pared, but the postal commission re-
jected them, and adopted the
present design. There are collectors who
believe that some of these MacMahon
stamps got into circulation; hence they
are supposed to be withou tprice, as valu-
able, intact, as one or two s'Victoria and
Albert penny stamps, which some
people also confidently believe were not
destroyed, although never officially
issued.
There exists in Paris a regular market
or exchange for old stamps. AS most
people perhaps know, it is held every
Sunday afternoon in the Avenue Ga
brlel, and is attended by two hundred
or three hundred persons of all ages
and social standings. Among the num-
Der can be regularly seen such famous
collectors as DR.. Legrande, M. Camp
bell, M. de Ferraei, son of the Duchess
of Galliera, the Baron Arthur de
Rothschild, Mr.. I. TAPPING, M. Castle
and M. Marco del Point.
A journal devoted exclusively to the
interest of stamp collectors makes it's
appearance in this city once every
month, and there are others printed in
Berlin and Vienna. One of the men,
bers Of the Paris exchange, an English
gentleman, has a collection of two
Thousand five hundred postal cards,
which is valued at upwards of fifty thous-
and francs. There are collections
at Paris which cost their owners thous-
ands of pounds. and which include
stamps valued at one Thousand five
hundred francs. One amateur is now
on his way to Europe from Australia
who is said to have the best private COL
lection in existence. Parts News.
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