The San Francisco call., 1906-12-25
STAMP FORGER|Es
ARE INCREASING

Among the hordes of rascals who live
by swindling collectors, there is a very
fair sprinkling of stamp takers. .
These men not only sophisticate genu-
Inc stamps, but turn out forgeries by
the thousand; and their productions are
SO numerous that unless the amateur
philatelist is exceptionally shrewd and
Well Informed. or deals solely with firms
which have a reputation TO lose, he is
certain to get a lot of more or less boz
gus specimens in his album
Printing forgeries is so regular an
industry that there are limitations on
the market of nearly every stamp of
value. OF some issues. indeed. there
are nearly a dozen known forgeries,
among which are few decidedly clever.
AS a rule. however the best of such
shams are easily detected by an expert,
because the workmanship is inferior
they are usually autographed, whereas
the originals are engraved-and be-
cause there are always minute differ
ences in design. color etc.
Another form OF dodgery consists in
putting on the market, tor sale to col
leetors, stamps which have never been
issued for postal purposes Usually
these shams are designed and printed
simply that they may be enshrined in
albums; but there was. on one occa-
rule.
A gorgeous individual turned up in
Paris. and. announcing himself as the
ruler of certain country, gave lavish
orders for furniture, clothing, jewelry
and many other things. Including a lot
OF stamps that he purposed to have
used for postal purposes in his own
realms. The printer had them thrown
on his hands, as the king" turned out
to be one of those self-constituted mon
archs who gull business men. So, not
withstanding that they had never been
to the country to which they professed
to belong, they were postmarked in
Paris and palmed of on innocent coll
leotors as genuine issue.
From the collectors point of view
there Is, OF course, an enormous gulf
between an original and a reissue, even
when the latter is not marked 're-
print" or IS nearly indistinguishable
from that actually used for postal pur-
poses, as in the case of the Portuguese
stamps Indeed. high-class dealers
neither buy nor sell reprints.
But "faker" frequently foists q re-
print on collector. II, for instance. 1t
is one issued ungummed for the pur-
pose of showing that it is not an origi-
nal, he will gum it. Or, if it is gummed
but not like the first issue, he will wash
1t and give 1t a fresh layer At little
arts of this kind he is an expert, and
by them he greatly enhances the mar
kot value of his wares.
Takers" can also make az good
stamp out of two pieces which are
worthless In themselves. Suppose a
man gets one which has the corner
missing. First of all he cuts out a
scrap which will exactly fit the vacant
space. Then, If there is paper at the
back Of the dana ged stamp, he brings
1t away by soaking. cuts a fresh
square, gums 1t and deftly Joins the
two pieces on It. so that the whole
looks like stamp which has come
from a letter. II, on drying. the join
shows. he proceeds to cover 1t up with
postmark, which he makes with a
pen and some special ink.
When finished the fake" will pass
muster better than might be supposed.
Still. an expert can detect it for what
1t is He holds 1t up to the light or
bends 1T. whereupon its real character
usually becomes clear. Sometimes, how
ever, a suspected stamp is soaked in
water or even boiled--a test which the
most carefully joined pieces cannot un-
dergo with success.-Detroit News-Tri-
hume.