Spud Papers – Nova Scotia

1861. 1, 2, 5, 10 & 12 1/2 Cents.

I feel it quite infra dig. to have to chronicle such rubbish as these Nova Scotia imitations. If none of the forgeries offered to the public were any better than these, the raison d’etre of these Spud Papers would be no more. The 10 Cents, accompanying this paper (which is the best of the whole set), will serve to convince our readers that no collector above the age of nine-and-a-half years would be likely to be deceived by any of them.

1, 2 & 5 Cents.

Genuine

Beautifully engraved in taille-douce; perf. 12. More than half the lower part of the ear is visible, and the central passage is very distinct. The head stands out well from the background, and there is no pupil to the eye. The face has a good-tempered, rather sleepy expression. The nose is strongly aquiline. The last pearl of the tiara just peeps out from the hair.

Forged

Very poorly lithographed; perf. 12 1/2. Only the lobe of the ear is visible. The head is flat, and does not stand out from the background. There is a dark outline to the profile of the nose and mouth and part of the forehead, which is not seen in the genuine. There is a pupil to the eye; the expression of the face is staring; the outline of the nose is straight. All the pearls of the tiara are equally distinct, or rather, indistinct.

10 & 12 1/2 Cents.

Genuine

Beautifully engraved in taille-douce; perf. 12. The eyes are small, with a distinct pupil. The eyebrows are light, especially the outer corners. There is very little light on the hair.

Forged

Very poorly lithographed ; perf. 12 1/2. Very large staring eyes, with a dark iris, but no pupil to be seen. The eyebrows are equally dark throughout their whole length, and they meet over the nose. There are patches of light all over the hair.

Our readers will see that I have not gone very much into details in these stamps; but it really is quite unnecessary, when we consider that in the whole range of philately we can hardly find any set of stamps so finely engraved as these. Lithography will have to make very great strides before it can overtake copper-plate and steel-plate engraving;
and, as long as the forgers insist upon trying to imitate engravings, we need not be much alarmed.

Most of the Nova Scotia stamps are on paper which has a slightly yellowish tint. The forgers have imitated this, and have rather overdone it. The postmark on the forgeries is somewhat like our own, but the space where the numerals ought to be is filled up by curved lines. All these forgeries are ungummed.

The genuine stamps were engraved, I believe, by the British American Bank Note Company.

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