Forged stamps of Great Britain

Queen Victoria

1840. Queen Victoria. One Penny Black

Genuine vs. Reprint vs. Forgeries

Genuine

Genuine ‘Victoria Regina – VR’ Official stamp

Great_Britain_1840_One_Penny_Black_Forged_Blue Maltese_Cross

Plate 4 [PD], with fake blue Maltese Cross cancel

1864 ‘Royal reprint’

Origin disputed

‘VR’ forgery

RPSL certificate no. 200996

‘VR’ forgery

Forgery

No dot after ‘Penny’

Forgery

Cut out from the “Stamp World London 1990” souvenir sheet

Forgery

Photographic forgery

Easy check

Curl up slightly if held in the palm of your hand

great_britain_1840_one_penny_forged_cover

4 photographic forgeries added to genuine cover after removing original stamps

Great_Britain_1840_QV_One_Penny_Black_Torres_Illustration

Illustration by Plácido Ramón de Torres: Album ilustrado de sellos de correo, Barcelona 1879. Torres sold illustrations to various dealers/forgers from 1864 onwards, as well as made forgeries himself.

Great_Britain_1840_One_Penny_Black_Bleeched

Chemically bleached. Red ink still noticeable.

1840. Queen Victoria. Two Pence Blue

Genuine vs. Forgery

Genuine

Genuine – Heavily repaired

Forgery

Great_Britain_1840_QV_2p_Torres_Illustration

1847. Queen Victoria embossed. One Shilling

Genuine

Envelope cut-out

Great_Britain_1847_1s_Torres_Illustration

1854. Queen Victoria embossed. Six Pence

Genuine

Envelope cut-out

Great_Britain_1854_6p_Torres_Illustration

1872. Queen Victoria. One Shilling

Genuine vs. Forgeries

Genuine – Plate 5

Genuine – Plate 6

‘Stock Exchange’ forgery

Corners blurred

‘Stock Exchange’ forgery

The Stock Exchange Forgery was discovered in early 1898, when Charles Nissen, the author of The Plating of the Penny Black Stamps of Great Britain, discovered examples of “Plate 5” and “Plate 6.” The forgeries were used on telegraph forms at the Stock Exchange, and would have escaped notice had they been destroyed after use which was the normal procedure.

The telegraph forms were franked with the forged stamps and the clerk participating in the fraud would pocket the cash. Since the clerk used the forged stamps, the stock of genuine stamps would not be depleted, thus concealing the fraud. The discovery was made possible due to the fact that the bags were taken from storage instead of destroyed and the stamps were sold to dealers.