Philatelic fakes and forgeries


In general, philatelic fakes and forgeries are labels that look like postage stamps but have been produced to deceive or defraud. Learning to identify these can be a challenging branch of philately.
To a large extent the definitions below are consistent with those given in the introduction to various recent editions of the Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue. "We use the term 'forgery' to indicate stamps produced to defraud collectors and to defraud stamp-issuing governments. 'Fake' is used to indicate the alteration of a genuine stamp to make it appear as something else. Fakes might refer to cancellations, overprints, added or clipped perforations, stamp design alterations, etc." While difficult to do today, one famous case is the Stock Exchange forgery of the late 19th century.
Questions are often raised about when a stamp is legitimately produced for postage. Matthew Karanian has proposed the following guideline:

History of philatelic fakes and forgeries

The first postage stamp was issued in Great Britain in 1840, and by the early 1860s the first postage stamp forgery—in the sense of a stamp created to fool philatelists into thinking that it is a genuine one—appeared on the market. By 1863 forgeries were so common that the book Forged Stamps: How to Detect Them was published and by 1864, forgeries were being produced of both common and scarce stamps from a wide range of issuing countries such as Austria, British Guiana, Finland, India and Spain.
Jean de Sperati is among the master forgers in the history of philately. He created forgeries of the 10 cent black, one of the first United States postal issues, in 1847. It is possible to identify these forgeries by two small flaws. The Vancouver Island forgery refers to a stamp that was originally issued in 1865. To produce his forgery, de Sperati bleached a real, cheaper stamp of the same vintage. He then used a process called photolithography to make an almost perfect copy of the stamp. In his lifetime, Jean de Sperati forged over 500 stamps. He sometimes signed his work in pencil on the back. His forged stamps are now often worth more than the originals.

Classification

Stamp-like objects, not all of which are really fakes and forgeries, are described below for the sake of developing a better understanding of such claims.

Postal forgeries or counterfeits

Those who produce counterfeits appeal to a very different market from philatelists. They depend on their stamps being produced in large quantities in order to be able to recover their outlay. The person who would use them must feel that he or she can purchase them for a price that is significantly lower than the price at a legitimate post office, or is perhaps duped into thinking they are genuine. This makes the most common current stamp used for everyday mailing a prime target for counterfeiting activity.
The earliest commercial forgeries are all postal, and the Penny Black was the first stamp to be copied in 1840, its first year. Partial forgery consists of changing colors or changing the face values of stamps to imitate a higher value stamp. Other tricks consisted of methods to make the cancellation disappear. The Spanish Post Office had to change its stamps almost annually between 1850 and 1879 to stay ahead of the forgers.
Notable postal forgeries include:
As a curiosity postal authorities have published their own forgeries, thus the British Post Office forged its own 1d stamps in 1856 to see if its features were fraud-proof.

Protective measures

Postal services developed, early on, measures to protect the integrity of their stamps. Some of these steps are similar to those used to protect against forged currency. Major steps include:
  • Watermarks
  • Special paper
  • Delicate engraving
  • Printing methods
  • Special ink for postmarks
  • Insertion of silk threads
  • Secret marks either visible or invisible to the microscope
  • Re-issue of stamps
It may not be possible to distinguish between a philatelic and postal forgery if the stamps are unused, merely by looking at them; the techniques utilized in producing them are identical. However, if the stamps bear cancellations, they may be more readily distinguished. If a stamp has a forged cancellation, it necessarily is a philatelic forgery since it was obviously made for sale to collectors, not to be used to send a letter. If the cancellation is genuine, it is likely, but not necessarily, a postal forgery, since sometimes forgers have used genuine cancellation devices to "cancel" forged stamps. A helpful distinction may be to have one of these stamps on an envelope that actually went through the mail, but that too requires caution. Counterfeits that reach the philatelic community are fairly scarce, and that alone makes them more valuable.

Philatelic forgeries

Soon after their introduction, stamps became philatelic objects, and stamp forgery to the detriment of the collector became a problem. The first book about the topic was written by Jean-Baptiste Moens from Belgium De la falsifications des timbres-poste in 1862. Shortly thereafter Pemberton published Forged Stamps: How to detect them and Robert Brisco Earée Album Weeds. Stamps produced by famous forgers have become collectibles, as well.
Unlike counterfeits these are very common in collections. Many that were produced in the earliest days of stamp collecting in the 19th century are still plentiful. At that time many considered it quite acceptable to fill a space in an album with a facsimile when the genuine stamp was unavailable. Later, especially in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, massive numbers of stamps were forged for the packet trade, including very common as well as rare stamps, so that the fact that a stamp is common is no guarantee that it is not a philatelic forgery.

Fakes

Fakes begin with a genuine stamp, which is altered in some way to make it more valuable to stamp collectors. When catalogues show different varieties with significantly different values this can be great motivation to alter the cheap example into something that can be sold for great profit. Sometimes only minor changes can affect the apparent valuation of a stamp.
Knowledge is an important tool in helping to detect fakes and forgeries. A person who is able to identify some of the most obvious forgeries can save a lot of money in expertising fees, though the information may not yet be enough to establish that a stamp is genuine. Earee's Album Weeds, and Serrane's Vade Mecum are only two books in the vast literature about stamp forgeries.

Expertising stamps as protection

As an expert can falsify stamps often quite easily, it is advisable particularly when dealing with stamps of value to have them examined and expertised. Such experts are highly specialized and generally focused on a selected philatelic area. Falsified stamps may be marked as such, while a genuine stamp of value should receive a certificate of authenticity by a reputable authority.
In recent years, homemade forgeries can easily reach the market through the internet.

Government and propaganda forgeries

Political and propaganda forgery is produced by countries in conflict to hurt the opponent. Stamps may be issued to deprive the enemy of revenue, to distribute propaganda material, to cause confusion, and to depict propaganda messages. Propaganda stamps are very collectable and have been philatelically forged: a forgery of a forgery. Many propaganda stamps would have been difficult to circulate in the postal system because they would have been immediately removed, thus used propaganda stamps are unusual.

World War I

During the First World War, German postage stamps were forged by Great Britain. Virtually all counterfeit stamps are forgeries for espionage.
The values of 5, 10 and 15 pfennigs of the then Bavarian postage stamp issue with the portrait of Ludwig III fell victim to war mail forgeries. However, only unused pieces are known. Imperforated proofs were also discovered among these forgeries. The war fakes differ in drawing and paper from the original stamps.
The second German postage stamp issue was forged by Great Britain on behalf of the Dutch Propaganda Office. It was used to frank leaflets and brochures in German language. Affected are the postage stamp values of 10 and 15 pfennigs of the Germania edition of the German Reich. The drawing deviates from the originals, as does the watermark, which is too thin, and the chalky white paper. Unlike the previous war mail forgeries, there are also pieces with real postmarks from both forged stamps.
There is also known a type of propaganda forgery, which was produced between 1914 and 1918. Forgeries of German East Africa stamps were produced, which showed the imprint "G. E. A. BRITISH OCCUPATION" and a new value in cents. The five forged issues were about twice the size of the original stamps, presumably to show the overprint in larger letters. The stamps were apparently intended to put the massive German resistance in the colony of Deutsch-Ostafrika into perspective and to propagate an early occupation of the whole area.
On December 12, 1914, two Germania stamps were reproduced in the French newspaper "Le Matin". A red 10 pfennig stamp bore the imprint "Schweiz 10 Centimes", a blue 20 pfennig stamp the imprint "Schweiz 25 Centimes". The article stated that there are more Germania stamps with various other values. This was obviously intended to give the impression that neutral Switzerland was on the verge of being occupied by Germany. The German embassy in Bern felt compelled to deny the article and accuse the newspaper of having fallen for a forgery, which, according to subsequent evidence, was without doubt the case.
Shortly before the end of World War I, war mail forgeries of the values of 5, 10 and 25 Hellers of the then current postage stamp issue of Austria were produced in England. The stamps show the Austrian imperial crown and Emperor Karl. The fake postage stamps were printed on slightly more yellowish paper than the originals. Furthermore, the stamp images of the forgeries are slightly higher. Used war mail forgeries have not yet been found; however, there are mint pieces of all three values as well as proofs of the 10-Hellers value in small sheet format in three different colours with the date September 25, 1918.