A venue to discuss unusual and interesting items being offered. Report and discuss fakes, forgeries, scammers and con-men. Also fee discussion, and low listing fee promos etc. Discuss feedback. Great items for sale. New policies ..... whatever YOU want!
For sale by ebay seller ocstampstore. I emailed them about it some time ago - no response & no amendment to the listing, so the consequence is a little light negative publicity.
There are no prizes on offer for spotting which side is dodgy.
Always on the lookout for Australian pre decimal First Day Covers.
It's Apfelbaum. One of their head honchos was howling about how grading is a scam, etc... And they're the worst offenders at selling Fine stamps as VF, F-VF as VF-XF and VF as XF, etc.
Meanwhile... That stamp should be "VF Appearance, reperforated top and right". Oh wait, then it'd be worth a fraction of what they're asking. My bad!
Global Administrator wrote:The Roo is re-perfed top AND right.
Sorry if this has been asked elsewhere, but how, other than just experience, can you tell the stamp is reperfed top and right?
To a casual collector such as myself, it looks fine. Obviously it is people like me they are hoping to snare, not that I would buy an expensive stamp on eBay anyway.
Collector of: GB Mint, Commonwealth Used, Dragonflies and Charles Darwin, anything else that looks interesting.
What are these people using to reperforate a stamp? Do they have a some sort of die or a sewing machine with brass puncher on it.
I would emphasise that I have no interest in perforations myself nor am I intending anything criminal but I'm intrigued if this is some sort of industrial effort or merely craft work by some nefarious characters.
Global Administrator wrote:
Some re-perfs are pretty good and fool most. But surely, looking at this dog, the mangled mess across the top is self evident?
No, to me it's not self evident. That's why I asked how you tell.
Collector of: GB Mint, Commonwealth Used, Dragonflies and Charles Darwin, anything else that looks interesting.
With US stamps a quick and easy test is known as the "Srail Test" named after dealer Ken Srail.
Assuming the scan is aligned, some quick copying and pasting will show if the perfs line up properly or not. While not totally foolproof it catches most reperf jobs:
I look for uneven perfs, and on the 'Roo above the holes don't line up the way I like them to and the perf tips aren't the same even size.
Bill, on early USA you have single line perfed stamps, so the corners differ on every stamp, so harder to spot reperfs on that basis.
Roos were comb perforated hence one can never have absurd top corners like that Apfelbaum stamp dog.
That collectors cannot spot that, at a 1 second glance greatly surprises me, especially AFTER they've been told it is crudely re-perfed by a blind nun with a hatpin, but they can almost never spot better regums either, so that is why the spivs prosper I guess.
Global Administrator wrote:
That collectors cannot spot that, at a 1 second glance greatly surprises me, especially AFTER they've been told it is crudely re-perfed by a blind nun with a hatpin, but they can almost never spot better regums either, so that is why the spivs prosper I guess.
We all have to start learning somewhere. Bill has provided an answer, you have provided sarcasm.
Collector of: GB Mint, Commonwealth Used, Dragonflies and Charles Darwin, anything else that looks interesting.
Well you will never learn, if you do not read the advice (twice) of those who know their field, in direct response to your question. In stamps or anything else in life.
And you will likely never learn anyway, if you sneer at those who answered your query.
Ask for free expert advice that might well save you money, and then berate those giving it. Nice touch.
Global Administrator wrote:
Roos were comb perforated, hence one can never have absurd top corners like that Apfelbaum stamp dog.
Global Administrator wrote:
Some re-perfs are pretty good and fool most. But surely, looking at this dog, the mangled mess across the top is self evident?
Leaps out at me - the top corners are just appalling. Looks like the idiot used a hatpin, or drawing pin, or something equally crude to do it!
I sympathise with your question and your response to the explanation. No "sneering".
I've collected for 50+ years, and confess I would not have spotted the reperf or Known why, though I now see the top row as odd.
I do not collect Australian Roos, and am unlikely ever to buy a 10/- at any price , so I did not know that they were COMB Perf . It had never in 50 years crossed my radar. Still on that learning curve .
whatever it is -------it's better than a poke in eye with a wet umbrella !
I'm not familiar with how Australian stamps are perforated as I collect US, however....
These areas that I highlighted are what made me suspect; the uneven perf hole spacing and at top right the top right perf hole being further in than the others.
I repeat as it seems not to have occurred to many, all Roos are Comb perforated hence corners will be neat and square in near all cases. And 'matching' on both sides more importantly.
Like the 2d red Anzac below below which are always comb perf. The 1/- next to to it were always line perf and hence you almost never get neat even comers.
Thank you Bill , I see where the problems are . An excellent explanation .
Maybe because I've never been in the esoteric world of expensive perf stamps , and have not run into (knowingly) the problem of reperfs, and the suspicion of that sort of fakery has never arisen in my collecting.
Apart from Samoa, my interest for 35+ years has been the imperf " square stamps" of Denmark 1851-64
whatever it is -------it's better than a poke in eye with a wet umbrella !
I'm not familiar with how Australian stamps are perforated as I collect US, however....
These areas that I highlighted are what made me suspect; the uneven perf hole spacing and at top right the top right perf hole being further in than the others.
Thanks Bill, a clear explanation.
Collector of: GB Mint, Commonwealth Used, Dragonflies and Charles Darwin, anything else that looks interesting.
I always thought that only expensive stamps were reperforated. I figured the labor involved in reperforating was large and needed some skill so I thought a faker would not earn anything by doing cheap issues.
How wrong I was.
I see so many cheap stamps reperforated - it is amazing. There is no labor in the process and it is very fast and easy with the correct equipment. A comb perforator is just a slam bam thank you man away from a profit. The number one problem with stamp faking is reperfing.
Regumming is another story as it is time consuming and requires skill - but that is for another thread.
PSE put out a book on the subject
Stamp Collecting Happened when we Dream Together
Caj Brejtfus, PSE -WE KILL FAKE STAMPS. and always remember......DFTBA
I always thought that only expensive stamps were reperforated. I figured the labor involved in reperforating was large and needed some skill so I thought a faker would not earn anything by doing cheap issues.
How wrong I was.
I see so many cheap stamps reperforated - it is amazing. There is no labor in the process and it is very fast and easy with the correct equipment. A comb perforator is just a slam bam thank you mame away from a profit. The number one problem with stamp faking is reperfing.
Regumming is another story as it is time consuming and requires skill - but that is for another thread.
Remco Mouthaan wrote:Reperfed US Stamp 1862 24c Scott#78c?
And Reperfed US Stamp 1863 5c Scott#76?
Reperfed US Stamp 1870 7c Scott#149?
All of those have been reperfed obviously.
Also, if that 24c stamp is being offered as a #78c then they're on crack. I collect that design, the 24c 1861 issue and known them fairly well. That stamp appears to be a Lilac shade, Scott #78. Scott 78c is Blackish Violet and extremely rare; perhaps 50 copies truly exist.
They are here in between the other stamps, but they did looked like someone did some work on them indeed . So no crack addict this time, #78 it is then.
To bad about the c, i assume they are just spacefillers now as the reperfing ruined their value?
Global Administrator wrote:Yes you are on the right track Bill.
I repeat as it seems not to have occurred to many, all Roos are Comb perforated hence corners will be neat and square in near all cases. And 'matching' on both sides more importantly.
Like the 2d red Anzac below below which are always comb perf. The 1/- next to to it were always line perf and hence you almost never get neat even comers.
... quietly "coming out" that after reading a lot of material I've finally understood the difference between comb and line perforation!
The Eureka moment is priceless!! I'm a visual type after all... Thanks
Remco Mouthaan wrote:Was suspecious already about the perfs.
They are here in between the other stamps, but they did looked like someone did some work on them indeed . So no crack addict this time, #78 it is then.
To bad about the c, i assume they are just spacefillers now as the reperfing ruined their value?
Basically. That 24c is probably worth, I dunno, $10-15, maybe $5-10 on the 5c and the 7c? Couple of dollars unless grilled, and even then maybe $20.
The 24c stamps of that issue come in a myriad of different shades and even the experts don't agree on all of them. From the scan it appears to be a Lilac, Scott #78.
The 78c is extremely rare and rather distinctive; while called Blackish Violet a true 78c appears black with a slight violet cast to it.
Here's a pic of the copies in the Philatelic Foundation's reference collection, both on cover and with virtually identical centering and from the same correspondence and mailed within a week of each other in Hartford, CT in 1864 so almost certainly from the same sheet:
It is $10 postage paid to anywhere - so in Australia the book is pretty damn close to free after shipping costs
And as for the 3 pictured stamps - the size should be a big clue before you do anything else. All 3 stamps are incredibly small. Obviously when a stamp is reperforated you "take away" paper and these have had a large reduction in size.
Stamp Collecting Happened when we Dream Together
Caj Brejtfus, PSE -WE KILL FAKE STAMPS. and always remember......DFTBA
A Blackish Violet looks like it's Black at first glance. I'd need to see the eBay stamp in person but it's likely a Brownish Lilac (70) or a Lilac (78).
Genuine Blackish Violets are BLACK, not any shade of Lilac or Violet, they appear BLACK. They're also extremely rare stamps.
To enhance the centering, cover a bad perf, clean some toned edges (sometimes). Any and all.
Greg - Looking for Goulburn Australia Cancels and Grangemouth Scotland Cancels and Covers Member of the S.T.A.M.P Club for Slightly Twisted And Mad Philatelists - Motto: "Bring back the lick!"
ChrisGray wrote:Okay, I'm not knowledgeable about this awful (and often obvious) butchery of stamps, what on Earth are they hiding by re-perforating one side?
Are they hiding toned perfs, or is it the odd pulled perf that would turn away certain collectors?
Yup.
Also, on US stuff, they're trying to hide a straight edge or make a stamp appear to have better centering.
CollectorColin wrote:Thanks Bill that makes sense.
Global Administrator wrote:
That collectors cannot spot that, at a 1 second glance greatly surprises me, especially AFTER they've been told it is crudely re-perfed by a blind nun with a hatpin, but they can almost never spot better regums either, so that is why the spivs prosper I guess.
We all have to start learning somewhere. Bill has provided an answer, you have provided sarcasm.
As well as some humour ... "blind nun with a hat pin"
CollectorColin wrote:Thanks Bill that makes sense.
Global Administrator wrote:
That collectors cannot spot that, at a 1 second glance greatly surprises me, especially AFTER they've been told it is crudely re-perfed by a blind nun with a hatpin, but they can almost never spot better regums either, so that is why the spivs prosper I guess.
We all have to start learning somewhere. Bill has provided an answer, you have provided sarcasm.
As well as some humour ... "blind nun with a hat pin"
This is why we at PSE put out the Book of Secrets.
By the way - anyone who ordered it, How did you like the book?
Stamp Collecting Happened when we Dream Together
Caj Brejtfus, PSE -WE KILL FAKE STAMPS. and always remember......DFTBA
Global Administrator wrote:Well it has a missing corner, but it is not re-perforated.
Then I am missing the meaning of re-perforated.
I thought it means that new perforations are cut into the stamp.
In this case it looks like the stamp is smaller because it has been cut into...
I think its time I do some more research into the subject.
But thats one half penny yellow that I will not be buying... at any price.
I already have some dodgy ones... from now on only quality purchases for me...