Spud Papers – Nicaragua

1862. 2 and 5 Centavos.

Genuine

Beautifully engraved, with sky formed of fine lines, close together. Rays not too strongly shown; the pole, surmounted by cap, is clearly visible; the right side of the farthest mountain is much less steep than its left side. Lettering well formed, and the numerals filling the circles prepared for them.

Forged

Coarsely done; the shading of sky consisting of rather thick lines, wide apart. Rays of sun very glaring, one of them running into the left angle of the design. The cap of liberty is shown, but not the pole. Both the sides of the most distant peak are almost straight. Lettering is poor; and in the lowest value the numeral in upper left circle is smaller than
its companions. There is an older state of this forgery, in which the cap of liberty is absent.

1871. 1 Centavo.

This stamp is a fine example of the foolishness of man in attempting the impossible. In the present case the foolishness consists in the effort to make a lithograph look like a taille-douce engraving; and though the forgers have done all they could, in the way of copying line for line, yet the effect produced is very poor; and anyone who has once had the pleasure of seeing one of the beautifully-engraved originals, will be able to judge and condemn this forgery at a glance.

Genuine

Engraved in taille-douce, on thick yellowish paper; perf. 12. The rays of the sun are very faint, and delicately done; but eight of them can be counted. In the left bottom corner, above the u of UN, there are two small trees. The oak tree on the mountain does not touch the top of the sky. The ornamental curls on the figures of value do not touch the outline of the circles, but they would do so, if they were made the least degree larger. The lettering is very clear. The P of PORTE just touches the 0. The volcanic peak in the front catches the full light of the sun; whilst the other peaks are not so strongly illuminated. The framework is slightly embossed on the back of the stamp, owing to the pressure of the plate. The colour is a rich, very yellowish brown.

Forged

Lithographed, in a sort of reddish brown, on white wove paper, moderately thick; perf. 12 1/2. The sun’s rays are very coarse and white, and nine of them can be counted. There are no trees in the left bottom corner, above the U. The oak-tree on the mountain is very faint, and just touches the sky-border. The ornamental curls to the corner figures are very small, and might be made much larger without touching the containing circles. All the lettering is poor and ragged. The P and O of PORTE do not touch each other. Two of the peaks in the background are as brightly illuminated as the one in front. There is, of course, no embossing to be seen on the back of the stamp. The genuine stamps are backed with yellow gum, whilst these forgeries are ungummed. The postmark is an imitation of our own usual cancel-stamp, without the figures. Printed in sheets of 25, 5X5.

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