Lithograped, on thick, soft white wove paper. There are only 59 pearls round the head. In the central circle there are 16 white lines on the right, and 17 on the left, counting from the
bottom. There are 42 wavy lines above the value label. The hair and beard are cropped as closely as though the illustrious Michael III. had just returned from an enforced sojourn in Newgate. The nose is snub, and vulgar looking. The P of POSHTA has no bar across the top, and looks like two capital I’s placed side by side. The P of PARA has no bar across the top either. The reader will understand that all these stamps are from the same matrix,
differing only in the figures of value; and this is true of both genuine and forged. The figures of value themselves differ considerably in the genuine and the counterfeits, but I have not judged it necessary to point out the differences, because the tests already given are amply sufficient. I may say, however, that in the genuine, the figure beneath the head is generally the largest in all the values; but in the forgeries, the four corner figures are usually larger than the one beneath the head. The forgeries are all imperforate, whilst the originals are found with small or large perforation; and in the case of the I and 2 paras, imperforate as well. The genuine stamps are postmarked either with a circular date-stamp, or a straight line of large capitals. The forgeries are obliterated with a large square of dots.