Spud Papers – Bahamas

1862. 1S., Green.

Genuine

Typographed, on slightly glace paper; perf. 14, watermarked CC and crown. This stamp, though not particularly striking, is very carefully engraved. The face is shaded almost all over; there being but a small white spot at the corner of the nose, and a small blank space at the top of the forehead. The ear is all shaded except the tip, which hangs down a little. Just under the middle A of BAHAMAS there is a small ring, or circle, with another circle in the center of it. The conch-shell (I think it is meant for a conch-shell), in the right lower corner, has a sharp spike projecting from the right-hand side about the center, and another from the left-hand side at the bottom. There are five leaves at the base of the pine-apple, and five more in the bunch at the top. If a straight line were drawn down through the center of the pine-apple, it would cut into the O of ONE, considerably to the right of the center. The white space round the inside of the central medallion is equally broad all round, and the outline of the portrait does not trespass upon this white space anywhere. There is a tiny full stop after the Etruscan bordering to the right, above the G of SHILLING; and the upper horizontal stroke of the last “key” in the pattern is wanting (the border cuts it off).

Forged

Lithographed, on ordinary white wove paper; perf. 13; no watermark, ungummed. The front of the face, from the forehead to the chin, has hardly any shading upon it. The rim of the ear is white, and the lobe inclines forward instead of downward. The letters of name are clumsily copied, and the circle under the middle A has a dot in the center of it. The spikes on the conch-shell are absent. There are only four leaves at the base of the pine-apple, and the leaves on the top cannot be counted. A line drawn down through the
 center of the pine-apple would cut exactly through the center of the o of ONE. The white space round the inside of the central medallion is much broader at some parts than others; notably, under the MA of name, and below the base of the neck. The chignon and the pointed front of the neck project slightly into this white space. There is no stop at the right-hand end of the key-pattern, and the last “key” (over the G of SHILLING) is only a straight line. The base of the defective “key” over the S of SHILLING is much longer than the bases of the others, whereas, in the genuine, it is the same size as the others.

Postmarks

The forgeries are cancelled with a stamp something like our own, but without the central figures. I think this stamp will not have a very extended sale, though it copies the original very closely.

From “The Spud Papers” by Atless, Pemberton & Earée, 1871-1881.

See also —> Album Weeds – Bahamas