The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1910-06-07
RlR6nRlSlA&SlANBS
Notable Instances in WhlcF
Collectors We're Hooked.
TALES OF eBOGuS KINGl
This Business Carried On 20 Large
Essent d Japan-sIlHht Errora
Thas Hive LED 10 Imprisonment
coIors often charsed BY use
81. Aslds. 81

That Have LEG 20 ipipris9rl Isislit
ceIors Often Charged by gse
otAslds:
IN SPITE ~ the nprnipts am cunt 81
labor and secrecy liecessary y tofge
I ! postage sctanp m chemist hen EgE
the gauntlet 81 lynx eyed dealers
IL Ii. nesertheles q That 4 lsrge
I number Of forged stamps are p0tigi =
by collectors every we ese lo 81
gesffes says the Eondon y ~ Bits arc
carried out for the greater part q
Japan. Austria also ccntr tbrtes
large quota. but very few are made
in England. Il
The great object Of the forger %
the first place Is to deceive the deas
ers IL he possibly car; and SO create
a medium for the sale o. the stamps
as they are prod uced, but Il Isl cry
rarely that this can be done The
most colossal stamp forgery on record
e,ieaiied the successful sWind ling g
collectors throughout Europe in 1888.
one day the French papers an
nouriced that King Marie 4. Of Sedlang
Ian island in the vicinity Of China
was coming to Paris. AS 1t happened
this selt.creafed monarch was IN 5e +.
oficer Of the French navy, and his
appearance in Paris created consider
able sensation. AS soon as his Maj.
esty bad been duly advertised" sets
Of seven different postage stamps
marked "sedang. and bearing three
halt moons, appeared and 50 great
was the demand for them that In
less than a month they realized 900
II. each. Not until the king and big
Ministers had geaped fat fortunes
in this manner was II discovered that ~
the whole thing was hoax ana 81
the stamps were consequently worth.
less. is
one Of the most amusing hoaxes
on record was purposely set1by the
greatest stamp expert Of his time
namely, NJ. j. B. ns-in order 70
tran other dealers who repeatedly
stole and republished, without. per.
mission information from his paper;
lie Tlhbre Poste. According ly, on
April / one year, N. Mems anncunc.
ed that the Commune, Of MoFesnet
was about to publish aset Of postage
stamps, and he gave lllustrati lions Of
the issue. which other phila!ellle
journals promptly copied. instantly
stamp collectors throughout Europe
we're electrified by the news, and i'm.
mense sums were deposited In order.
to securelthe first stamps issued. But
time passed on and the stamps did
not appear, till at last the hoax be-
came apparent, to the dlsappo ointment
Of dealers and collectors alike.
1t very often happens tnat the en-
craving and water marking Of forg.
ed stamps are so perfect that the
cleyerest experts are deceived. But
the forger frequently comes to grief
over asimple point when a little more
care would have made the forgery
perfect. A few. years ago Hawaii
1851 issue became rather common,
and collectors began to wonder how
this could be: To all Appearances tho
stamps were genuine. but suddenly
a dealer discovered something which
was Instrumental in bringing the
forger to Justice. In making these
stamps the individual had shaded .
button incorrectly, trifing, error
which secured for him a term Of
imprisonment.
A second instance occurred In Par
is. where number Of nine kreuzer
lpinli) Wurtemberg stamps came on
the market Now, a specimen Of this
stamp is worth to-day about $40,
but dealer there found q man who
had seventeen Of these stamps, and
he thought he had secured q bargain
when he bought the whole lot for 6 s.
apiece. In addition collectors AL
over Europe picked up stray spect.i
mems at high prices The torger
might have made his fortune by the
manufacture Of this stamp had It NOT
been that an English dealer discov.
cred that he had spelt "Wurtemberg'
on the stamps in the English fash
ion with one az instead Of with two
as was the case on genuine spect,
mems.
tits very seldom that English deai.
ers can be caught mapping like this,
all the well known firms employing
experts especially to guard against
.forgeries, so the stamp forger has To-
act as his own dealer, and for the
sake Of convenience as we'll as safe
ty heusua1ly prefers to live abroad,
with perhaps a few agents 20 sell
his stamps here direct to collectors.
The forger. therefore, starts small
businesses under various aliases in
different countries and cities, chang
Ing bis quarters frequently as occa;
sion demands. He, Of course. only.
makes stamps Of high value, for a
set Of dies for a stamp will seldom
cost less than 96Oto begin with.
Buthe can imposeon the guileless
collectorin other ways. The colorS
Of stamps can be very often changed
by acids. and this Ii, the case o.
some stamps will make a difference
~ 4 IL