The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1893-11-12
PHILATELIC PITFALLS.

4 4 XEIAA(s
| Since the spread Of stamp-cOllectng has
given great value to many stamps, and
| made dealing in them an exceedingly
profitable business to those who possess
proper knowledge of phifately. lis pleas
ures are frequently msrred by the efforts
| Of INSCRIPTIONS persons TO make illegal
gains IRONS its devotees. To escape the
| numerous dangers that beset the path OF
| the collector. he must be close student Of
| the labels which are the foundation OF his
| hobby. and must be liberal subscriber TO
| the philatelic journals and other publica-
| lions pertaining to it. So minute and ex-
act must be his knowledge that many
victims Of this peculiar mania have dig
! nifed it by referring to it as science.
| Some of the stumbling blocks that the
| beginner must look out for are a follows :
! Counterfeit stamps, counterfeit cancella-
| ton, counterfeit grilis, counterfeit sur
| charges. reprints, essays. proofs, fac
SMILES. canceled-to-order stamps, fraudu-
| lent split PROFESSIONALS, fraudulent errors,
| fraudulent unperforated stamps and last,
| though not least, fraudulent dealers and
| collectors. He also has 10 learn to dis
! crlminate against the stamps ostensibiy
issued for postal use, butin reality to drain
| the purses OF collectors, such as the nO,O-
rous Seebecks and many of the provi-
sional surcharged stamps, notably those Of
| the French colonies.
| Of course the most prevalent and most
| dangerous evil Is the making Of counter
| felt stamps, but this industry is one
VIII ich flourshes most largely on the En-
ropean continent, the United States being
| COM aratively free from il.
| But large numbers Of counterfeit stamps
! find their way, nevertheless, into the col
lectons Of Americans, Hardly collec-
ton that is purcha sed by the local dealers
| Is free from them. Switzerland Germany
and France ire the countries where these
pests of philatey mostly make their head
quarters.
Exceedingly clever WORK is often turned
out, particularly when rare and valuable
stamps are initiated. but like counterfeit
money, there are always some little i'm
| projections by which the expert is enabled
to distinguish the spurious stamps. But
even the cheaper grades OF stamps are
| cOun terfelted, many bogus specimens eX-
| listing of stamps valued at only l cent each
| Or late, however, counterfeiting has con-
| siderably diminished, as most collectors,
| when buying high-priced stamps. now SUBJ
| nit them to the cOunterfelt-detect0r OF
| their society or to some expert collector or
| reliable dealer. The latter, if he is of the
| enterprisiDg kind, maintains counterfeit
| collection. In this city a dealer has a col
! lection OF this kind which contains several
thousand varieties of counterfets, and he
values it as highly as any equal part of his
| stock of genuine labels.
| The most recent instance of this nefari-
! Gus practice which came to light in this
| city Is described In McKeers Weekly
Stamp News, published at ST. Louis, by
the San Francisco correspondent of that
| paper. The latter wrote:
"SOme enterprising fakir in Germany is
| likely to get himself into mess of trouble
/ with the authorities Of this country If
| there is any International law that can be
made to cover his case. This individual
has produced complete set of the United
States stamps which are fair limitations in
both color aud des On, while the perfora-
ton is almost that Of the genuine stamps
! That they are not intended to deceive is
clearly shown by the word ImitatiunP
printed on their face in great primer
Gothic condensed type. Several sets
| of them were sent to local
dealer, with the suggestion that he offer
them for sale simply as curiosities. but he
refused to have anything to do with them.
To prevent any further possibility of fraud
on the part of the c0uDterfeiter the dealer
referred to sent set of the cOunterfeits
to the POst0ffice Department at Washing
ton, suggesting that measures be taken to
prevent the importation Of them. While
colors of some are so we'll reproduced that
| were 1t not for the surcharge on them it
would be comparatively easy matter to
use them In preparing postage and thus
defraud the Government"
Many stamps are worth more in used
condition than new. and this makes a
temptation that the phiatelic birds of
prey cannot resist The result is that can
| cellatiOns are initiated for fraudulent pur-
poses.
Grilled stamps are those which have
been pnnctured in regular rows of various
dimensions, similar to the way in which
| checks and drafts are treated to prevent
the alteration of the value on them. The
stamps were grilied to prevent their being
| cleaned after having been Cancelled, as the
grill allowed the cancelng ink 10 pene-
trate the paper of the stamp. This device
was in vogue in this country up to 1872
when it was discontinued. Thus many of
the United States stamps of the same de-
sign and denomination we're issued with
and without grill, those with the grill
being invariably The most valuable; for
instance, the used Scent rose of 1868,
without grill, Is catalogued at cent, while
| the same stamp, used and drilled all over
issued IN 1868, Is valued at S15. The great
discrepancy between the prices of grilled
and ungrilled stamps created quite crop
OF fraudulent grlls. and so expert have
the wrongdoers now become that even the
best informed and sharpest-eyed collectors
cannot distinguish the counterfeit from
the genuine grill.
Surcharges are produced by overprinting
stamps with new value or some inscrip-
ton. They are always provisional stamps
issued to do service until new plates Of the
desired stamps can be made and supply OF
them printed. They generally become
scarce owing to their short life. And here
another field is opened to the unprincipled
operator. Among the most interesting
surcharged stamps to the American col
lector are those Of Hawaii. When first
issued by the Provisional Government a
few months ago they sold here for about
20 per cent over their face value. but 1t
was not long before phiatelic spectators
secured large portions of the stock printed
and forced prices up to such an extent that
paid for sets Of the Hawaiian Professionals.
| Such aparmnus prnfits Wera exidaptlx ton