An unusual forgery

Feebletodix · **Posted:** Fri Jun 15, 2012 02:58:51 am

Here is an unusual item.

A forgery made up of two stamps cut horizontally and glued down so the phosphor band is contiguous. Which made it through the system.

Regards

Feebletodix

makielb · **Posted:** Fri Jun 15, 2012 03:48:59 am

Is that on piece or a cover. I would think that as a cover it would be a wonderful exhibit piece.

Feebletodix · **Posted:** Fri Jun 15, 2012 04:11:08 am

Alas no, it's just on piece. Would have been nice though.

Regards

Feebletodix

librarianc · **Posted:** Fri Jun 15, 2012 04:11:19 am

Rounded bottom left corner would lead me to believe it is on piece. Cover would have been quite interesting................

.........especially if return address was included!! :oops:

John A

Hendriks · **Posted:** Fri Jun 15, 2012 07:05:04 am

I don't get it. Are these two entirely different stamps, or two copies of the same stamp with the non-canceled parts glued together?

fromdownunder · **Posted:** Fri Jun 15, 2012 07:07:38 am

These are two different stamps - the margins don't match.

Norm

norvic · **Posted:** Fri Jun 15, 2012 07:19:26 am

But it isn't a forgery, as the (parts of) stamps are genuine. It might possibly be a fraudulent use of (parts of) two previously used stamps.

makielb · **Posted:** Fri Jun 15, 2012 08:09:39 am

Fraudulent use indeed. Just out of curiosity - Would this, as a cover, be legal to own, since it was used to defraud the government?

It's one thing to cheat collectors, it's another (and quite serious) to cheat the government.

chippin · **Posted:** Fri Jun 15, 2012 08:10:27 am

Almost certainly fraudulent use. Two previously used stamps cut to remove the original postmarks and aligned along the phosphor band to 'fool' any automatic sorting machine.

chippin

Allanswood · **Posted:** Fri Jun 15, 2012 12:51:59 pm

I could make one of those right now. What makes anyone think it actually went through the mail?

Unless for some weird philatelic reason, who would spend all that effort to save 2½p?
Or someones idea of a political statement by adding the Northern Ireland top half?

jjarmstrong47 · **Posted:** Fri Jun 15, 2012 14:11:57 pm

I agree. The amount of time and effort could not be worth the saving. It could only have been done for fun, to see if it would work.

norvic · **Posted:** Fri Jun 15, 2012 19:44:44 pm

jjarmstrong47 wrote:

I agree. The amount of time and effort could not be worth the saving. It could only have been done for fun, to see if it would work.

Oh, I don't know. Back in 1972 a tanner was worth something. :lol:

40 years later it costs 20 times as much to post a 2nd class letter.

fromdownunder · **Posted:** Fri Jun 15, 2012 20:36:43 pm

Allanswood wrote:

Unless for some weird philatelic reason, who would spend all that effort to save 2½p?

I know it was less effort, but in my previous incarnation as a collector I recall seeing a 1966 4c red Queen Elizabeth booklet definitive which as many of us know was overprinted 5 cents when letter rates went up.

This particular stamp (on piece) was "overprinted" 5 cents with a ball point pen, So somebody thought it was worth the effort to save one cent.

Norm

Allanswood · **Posted:** Fri Jun 15, 2012 20:50:34 pm

Pensioner's...they never change! :lol:

Tassie_Stamps · **Posted:** Fri Jun 15, 2012 21:00:46 pm

Seems pointless to go to the trouble of doing it for the tiny financial gain - We should use pens to overprint all our stamps with new, higher denominations - Look out eBay. :lol:

muruk · **Posted:** Fri Jun 15, 2012 21:05:30 pm

Allanswood wrote:

Pensioner's...they never change! :lol:

How very true. :lol:

Most of the recycled stamps I find on incoming mail at my workplace are from law firms. :shock:

Perhaps there's a universal truth in there somewhere, too.

hatter · **Posted:** Fri Jun 15, 2012 21:46:50 pm

Quote:

Back in 1972 a tanner was worth something

it was indeed !
and how many did this person make ???

Feebletodix · **Posted:** Fri Jun 15, 2012 23:00:54 pm

Greetings all

You are right it is not strictly speaking a forgery, however I was at a loss to come up with a pithy description quickly.

Allanswood, there is no damage to the paper it is on now and the cancel ties the lower section to the piece nicely so it must have been soaked, cut and glued to a new envelope, then sent through the mail to get that cancel. Why, I don't know, but it is a nice novelty.

Regards

Feebletodix

tonymacg · **Posted:** Sat Jun 16, 2012 23:07:24 pm

By chance, I was looking through a batch of used Alwar State stamps on piece, and lo!

The same batch also yielded this:

which incidentally shows what a complete stamp should have looked like. The manipulated stamps had a face value of ¼ Anna, so around $US0.01 at the time. Sufficient, I suppose, to make it worthwhile in 1890s India. Both almost certainly from the same correspondence.

The sender must have had a friend in the post office. I don't recall ever seeing anything else like this from Alwar.

librarianc · **Posted:** Sun Jun 17, 2012 23:38:04 pm

Tony:

Isn't the lower piece from the top image, the missing piece from the bottom stamp in the pair?

Curious if a post office employee may have thought that a bisect was ok.........

John A

tonymacg · **Posted:** Sun Jun 17, 2012 23:58:30 pm

I tried comparing them, too, John, and I don't think they belong together. They are most likely from the same correspondence, though. You have to wonder whether someone at the State PO was getting his cut of what must have been a mere couple of cents. Still for a downtrodden servant and an underpaid post office clerk, it was probably worth it

Grendel · **Posted:** Mon Jun 18, 2012 17:30:30 pm

You should give it a try on Ebay.

As a double bisect on piece someone will probably pay hundreds for it!!

tonymacg · **Posted:** Mon Jun 18, 2012 17:37:01 pm

Er, I bought it on eBay in the first place :lol:

(Though not for the 'bisects', I hasten to add.)

Machaggis52 · **Posted:** Tue Jun 19, 2012 08:32:13 am

Feebletodix wrote:

Here is an unusual item.

A forgery made up of two stamps cut horizontally and glued down so the phosphor band is contiguous. Which made it through the system.

Regards

Feebletodix

Ummm... both halves are not tied, one cannot state with certainty that it 'made it through the postal system'.

Feebletodix · **Posted:** Tue Jun 19, 2012 18:12:29 pm

Machaggis


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An unusual forgery

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