Forged Stamps of Denmark

“Album Weeds”

by R. B. Eareé

1851

2 Rigsbankskilling. Blue

Denmark_1851_2RBS_Genuine2

Genuine

Typographed, on stout, decidedly yellowish-white wove paper; backed with thick, yellow gum; watermarked with a crown. This watermark is particularly distinct, and can very often be traced even on the face of the stamp as it lies on the table. There is a net-work pattern, in pale brown, over the face of the whole stamp; but in some copies this is so faint as to be hardly visible. This same pattern will be found on the 4 R.B.S., brown, which is common enough in all collections; and this will be a guide to those who do not possess a genuine specimen of the 2 R.B.S. The front of the tail of the 2 is very sharp, and points obliquely towards the top hook of the G of RIGSBANK. The back end of the “tail of the 2 curls upwards, and almost inwards, towards the rounded shoulder of the figure. The letters of the central inscription are all slightly sunken into the paper, as is also the numeral above them. There are very well-marked cross-strokes to the top and bottom of the R of RIGSBANK. The I is a little taller than the R. The top of the G comes well forward, and is level with the bottom of it. The S is nearer to the G than to the B. The A is very much squeezed up, i.e., the sides do not spread out much. The upper oblique tail of the K is quite as large as the lower one. The S of SKILLING is almost exactly under the R of RIGSBANK, and is of the same width. The two tail-strokes of the K meet at the center of the letter. The bottoms of the letters KILLIN all touch each other. The cross-strokes of the 1 are large. The G is smaller than the N, and is at some distance from it. There is a stop after SKILLING, which just touches the border of the circle round it. There is a hyphen after the word RIGSBANK, which does not touch either the K or the outline of the circle. The colored line, immediately round the center of the stamp, is very thin just under the crown, but broader all the rest of the way, and broadest on the right-hand side.’ The lower part of the crown, i.e., the part from which the arches spring, is divided into three compartments; the middle compartment has one largish dot in the center of it; each of the others contains three small dots. There are only two dots on the central arch; the dots on the other arches cannot be counted, as they generally run together more or less in the printing. The cross on the top of the crown
is not at all distinct; the upright stroke of the said cross slants over a little to the left; the cross-stroke is thinner than the upright-stroke. There is a large white hyphen, with squarely-cut ends, after the word POST. The little piece of dark background, behind the cross on the top of the crown, is of a more or less circular shape; but it is not at all prominent, and would hardly be noticed unless expressly looked for. There are four places, between the arches of the crown, where the dark background of the circular label shows through. These dark places are irregular in form; the two outside ones are very small, and the two inner ones are large. All four are of a sort of three-cornered shape. Outside the circle, containing the words FRIMAEERKE, etc., there is a white line, running just outside the rim of the circle; but only extending from about level with the I of FRIMAERKE, round the top of the circle, to about level with the O of POST. The floral work, outside this circle, is all in one unbroken piece; and every one of the crescent-shaped portions of the scroll-work touches the outer border of the stamp. These last two tests ought to be particularly noticed. The scroll-work forms a sort of rough fleur-de-lys in each of the corners. The central coil of the post-horn is very large, quite dwarfing the mouthpiece and the bell; indeed, this coil is so large that it reaches almost to the rim of the bell. There is a row or ring of small dots all round this coil, about twenty-five in number, but so small as to be uncountable without a microscope. The hyphen after the word POST is level with the bottom of the T. There is a large white stop after KGL, very close to the L. The watermark is like that on all the small square Danish stamps; it is evidently made in the usual way, i.e., during the manufacture of the paper itself.

First forgery

Lithographed, on transversely-laid paper, very thin and soft, sometimes very white, but more generally of a dirty, yellowish-brown tinge. I believe these latter are soaked in coffee, to give them the appearance of being very old. There is no watermark, neither is there any net-work pattern over the face of the stamp. The front of the tail of the 2 is blunt, as though broken off. The back end of the tail curls upwards, but not inwards. None of the lettering is sunken. The cross-strokes at the top and bottom of the R of RIGSBANK are not at all prominent. The 1 is the same height as the R. The top part of the G does not come forward enough, and so it is not level with the bottom part. The S is almost equidistant between the G and the B. The A is not squeezed up, and the sides spread out well. The lower tail of the K is considerably larger and longer than the upper one. The S of SKILLING is not centrally under the R of RIGSBANK, but is too much to the right, and it is very much larger than the R. The two tail-strokes of the K of SKILLING meet a good deal above the center of the letter. The bottoms of the letters KI touch each other, but not the others. The letters LL are far apart. The next I is not near the last L, and its cross-strokes are very small, and indistinct. The G is rather taller than the N, and tolerably close to it. The foot of the K touches the border. There is no stop after SKILLING, but there is a small hyphen after RIGSBANK. The colored line, immediately round the center of the stamp, is of one uniform thickness all the way round. The lower part of the crown, from which the arches spring, is not divided into compartments at all, but contains a straight row of eight dots, all of the same size and shape. There are four dots on the central arch, very small, but quite distinct. The cross on the top of the crown is small, but very distinct; and its cross-bar is thicker than the upright stroke. There is no hyphen after POST. The little piece of dark background, behind the cross, on the top of the crown, is of an oblong shape, and very dark, standing out prominently from the lighter portion of the stamp. The four places in the arches of the crown, where the dark background shows through, are all large ovals of equal size. Outside the circle which contains FRIMAERKE, etc., there is no white rim, except just for a very little way at the very top. The floral work, outside the circle, is broken up into separate, crescent-shaped ornaments; and very few of them touch the outer line of the boundary. There is no fleur-de-lys in any of the corners. The central coil of the post-horn is quite small, and it does not encroach at all upon the bell or the mouthpiece. It is shaded with a few short transverse strokes, very different from the clear, colored dots in the genuine, which are perfectly round. There is a very small, white spot after KGL, and it is equidistant from the L and from the P of POST.

Second forgery

This is very much better than the last, and I should call it a dangerous forgery; in fact, I was taken in by it myself a few years ago. Litho- graphed, on wove paper, rather thinner than the genuine; watermarked with a crown. How the forgers have managed to imitate this watermark I cannot say; but it seems to me that the crown has been embossed on the stamp (by means of an oiled die ?) with heavy pressure, and then smoothed flat again, leaving its traces on the stamp. The watermark is visible, both looking at the light through the stamp, and also when the stamp is lying on the table. It is rather different from the genuine watermark, somewhat larger, and neater; but is otherwise a very good imitation. The paper is only very slightly yellowish, and there is no net-work pattern over the face of the stamp. I have seen one or two copies of this forgery, steeped in some dirty concoction, like those of the last-described counterfeit; but most of them are on white paper. The front of the tail of the 2 is rounded downwards, and points to the S of RIGSBANK. The back end of the tail curls upwards, but not inwards. None of the lettering is sunken. The R of RIGSBANK has hardly any bottom-stroke. The I is taller than the R, as in the genuine. The G is badly shaped, the shoulder is cut slantingly, and the top comes too much forward. The S is exactly equidistant from the G and B. The A is not squeezed up. The lower tail of the K is larger than the upper one. The hyphen after RIGSBANK touches the outline of the circle, but it does not touch in the genuine stamps. In the word SKILLING, the S is under the R of RIGSBANK, as in the genuine. The two tail-strokes of the K meet too high up. The bottoms of the letters KILLIN do not touch each other. The first I has no cross-strokes. The letters LL are not close together, and they lean away from each other at the tops. The next I is placed at an equal distance from the L and the N, and the cross-strokes do not show on the right-hand side. The G is the same size as the N, but is placed on a lower level. The stop after SKILLING is not near the outline of the circle at all. The colored line, immediately outside the central circle, is the same breadth all the way round. The lower part of the crown, from which the arches spring, is not divided into compartments at all, and bears a row of nine oblong dots. There are two dots on the central arch, as in the genuine, but they are very much too small. The cross on the top of the crown is very distinct, though the ball on which it rests is almost invisible. Both strokes of the cross are about the same thickness, and it is perfectly upright. There is a hyphen after the word POST, but only one of its ends is cut square; the other is more or less rounded, and it is level with about the middle of the T. The little piece of dark background, behind the cross, is quite circular in shape, and stands out too prominently from the background, though not so much so as in the last counterfeit. The dark places in the arches of the crown are very like those of the genuine, except that the outer ones are rather too large, and the inner ones are not triangular in shape. There is no white line running round the outer rim of the dark circle. Many of the crescent-shaped ornaments of the scroll-work touch each other, as in the genuine, but all those along the top of the stamp are distinctly separate, and one or two on the left-hand side do not touch the border of the stamp; the others touch the border too much, i.e., the border seems to cut part of them away. The corners have a sort of fleur-de-lys pattern, but they are not all alike. The central coil of the post-horn is too small, and does not encroach at all upon either the bell or the mouth-piece. There are about four dots on the coil, just at the top of it, and very different from the complete circle of dots in the genuine. There is a white stop after the letters KGL, but it is almost as near to the P of POST as it is to the L; at any rate, it does not nearly touch the L. And now I think that any amateur who allows himself to be taken in, after this extremely minute description of both genuine and forged, richly deserves to lose his money.

1863-1857. Royal Emblem

8 Skilling. Green

Denmark_1857_8sk_Genuine

Genuine

Engraved in épargne, on rather thin, yellowish-white wove paper; very distinctly watermarked with a crown. The cross on the top of the crown, in the design, is very plain, though small. The handles of the crossed sword and scepter do not touch the wreath, though the handle of the sword comes very close to it. The wreath touches the lettered outer frame at the top, and almost touches it at the bottom, but is not near it at the sides. All the letters of all the inscriptions are very far apart. The top and bottom tongues of the G in the left-hand inscription do not touch each other; the L is well-formed and there is a small stop after it. In the right-hand inscription, there is a stop after the R, and another after the M; and the R is nearer to the F than to the M. In the bottom inscription, there is such a distance between the 8 S. and the winged rods on each side of them, that there would be plenty of room to put another full-sized letter to right and left of the inscription. The dotted groundwork, between the wreath and the frame, is of no particular pattern; i.e. the dots are disposed irregularly. The hell-mouths of the little post-horns in the four corners are quite distinct.

Forged

Lithographed, very badly, on white wove paper, thinner and harder than the genuine, no watermark. There is a white blotch projecting from the top of the crown, but it does not, in the smallest degree, resemble a cross. The handles of the crossed sword and scepter both touch the wreath, and the scepter is very crooked towards the middle. The wreath hardly seems to touch the frame at the top or bottom, but touches it very distinctly on each side. The letters of all the inscriptions are much too close to each other, especially in the word POST, where they almost touch. In the left-hand inscription, the top and bottom tongues of the G touch each other, the upright stroke of the L is hollowed out on its left hand side, and there is a very distinct stop after it, much plainer than in the genuine, where the stop would hardly be noticed. In the right-hand inscription, there is no stop after the R, and an almost invisible stop a long way after the M, while the R and M touch each other at the bottom. In the bottom inscription, there is no room for the introduction of any more letters, and the 8 looks like a badly-formed 3. The dots of the groundwork, between the wreath and the frame, are arranged in a wavy form, being, apparently, a sort of compromise between the genuine stamp of this issue and the 8 Skilling of 1858, which had the groundwork composed of wavy lines, instead of dots. The curl of the tube in each of the little post-horns is so much exaggerated that the bell-mouth can hardly be seen at all, being hidden by the curl.

1853-1857. Royal Emblem

16 Skilling. Grey

Denmark_1863_16sk_Genuine-unperf

Genuine

Engraved in épargne , on yellowish-white wove paper, like that of the 8 Skilling; watermarked with a crown. This stamp is exactly the same type as the last, only lettered 16 S. instead of 8 Skilling. All the tests are just the same as for the genuine 8 Skilling. This value was never issued with the wavy ground.

Forged

Lithographed, more carefully than the 8 Skilling, on thin, white wove paper; no watermark. The handle of the scepter is a very long way from the wreath, as though the bottom knob had been broken off altogether: the handle of the sword touches the wreath. The wreath itself appears to touch the frame on all four sides. The top and bottom tongues of the G in the left-hand inscription touch each other. The top inscription resembles that of the genuine. There is no stop after either the FR or the M, in the right-hand inscription, and the tail of the R is curiously splayed out. The winged rod almost touches the M, though it is at a considerable distance from it in the genuine. And, lastly, the ground-work, between the wreath and the frame, is composed of wavy lines, though, as I said, the genuine 16 Skilling is never found with anything but the dotted ground. Thus this forgery is much more easy to detect than the one last described, though it is very much better executed. I do not think this counterfeit is very common; I have never seen but one copy, which was kindly lent to me, for the benefit of my readers, by Mr. J. Albert, of Paris.

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