Very interesting video Stamp Sleuth! Having forgeries in your collection can be a good thing... as long as you weren't duped into paying full price for them. But since you got them in a huge lot already identified as fakes, you now have exemples to compare them to the real things if the occasion presents itself. At the very least, they are leaning tools. Thank you for showing them!
Talking about de Spiratti, part of his proofs and other material are up for auction today. The auctioneers expect most of the material to realize almost the same value as the original stamps.
Forgeries are often very easy to recognize simply by comparing them to a genuine stamp. In many cases, the forged stamp simply looks "off". The printing is crude, the image is different, details are unsophisticated. Paper type or perforation size is wrong. The most crude examples may even have different printing method (e.g. offset vs litography), so you can recognize the forgery in a flash. That's why it is a good idea to have some material for comparison. Even damaged, incomplete genuine stamps can be useful for such purpose and these can often be acquired cheaply. What is really, really difficult is recognizing forgeries of overprints. In such case, the stamp itself is genuine (it is often a very cheap stamp) but the overprint, which makes it very valuable, is not. Overprints were often made using makeshift printing methods, so you cannot rely on "crude print = most likely a forgery" rule. It takes a lot of experience, knowledge and vast material for comparison to find the bad eggs. The same goes for different kinds of provisional and makeshift stamps where the same difficulties apply. But the master class is recognizing forged cancellations and whole forged letters. There are some stamps that are cheap as dirt in mint condition, but super valuable when canceled. Again, the stamp itself is genuine. To know whether the cancellation is genuine, you will need many years of experience, very specialized literature and good knowledge of historical context. E.g. "is the cancellation the right type for the time period?", "was the stamp really used in the place and time the cancellation suggests?" "is the stamp correct for the destination according to postal rates?" etc
Wow who knew? This is great information and I feel s if i should encourage you top do a few or more videos of your own. Avid stamp collectors need to know this!
Very interesting video Stamp Sleuth! Having forgeries in your collection can be a good thing... as long as you weren't duped into paying full price for them. But since you got them in a huge lot already identified as fakes, you now have exemples to compare them to the real things if the occasion presents itself. At the very least, they are leaning tools. Thank you for showing them!
Yes, they have now gone into my collection of fakes and forgeries!
The ‘Exploring Stamps’ YT channel has an excellent episode on Sperati
Great to know, thanks.
Talking about de Spiratti, part of his proofs and other material are up for auction today. The auctioneers expect most of the material to realize almost the same value as the original stamps.
Interesting, seems right about the values even though it is a curious aspect of stamp history.
Forgeries are often very easy to recognize simply by comparing them to a genuine stamp. In many cases, the forged stamp simply looks "off". The printing is crude, the image is different, details are unsophisticated. Paper type or perforation size is wrong. The most crude examples may even have different printing method (e.g. offset vs litography), so you can recognize the forgery in a flash.
That's why it is a good idea to have some material for comparison. Even damaged, incomplete genuine stamps can be useful for such purpose and these can often be acquired cheaply.
What is really, really difficult is recognizing forgeries of overprints. In such case, the stamp itself is genuine (it is often a very cheap stamp) but the overprint, which makes it very valuable, is not. Overprints were often made using makeshift printing methods, so you cannot rely on "crude print = most likely a forgery" rule.
It takes a lot of experience, knowledge and vast material for comparison to find the bad eggs. The same goes for different kinds of provisional and makeshift stamps where the same difficulties apply.
But the master class is recognizing forged cancellations and whole forged letters. There are some stamps that are cheap as dirt in mint condition, but super valuable when canceled. Again, the stamp itself is genuine. To know whether the cancellation is genuine, you will need many years of experience, very specialized literature and good knowledge of historical context. E.g. "is the cancellation the right type for the time period?", "was the stamp really used in the place and time the cancellation suggests?" "is the stamp correct for the destination according to postal rates?" etc
Wow who knew? This is great information and I feel s if i should encourage you top do a few or more videos of your own. Avid stamp collectors need to know this!
I started collecting stamps from South Moluccas as kind of a joke but now have 106 different ones. Lol!
I love the forged issues and Cinderellas, good for you!
I resent my Canadian Plate Block question. Did you see it this time?