Forgeries, Fakes and Facsimiles
FFQ Chalons
1855 - 1873
Forgeries, Fakes and Facsimiles
This section aims to identify the forgeries, fakes and facsimiles as they relate to the FFQ Chalons. Firstly some definitions.
Forgeries are attempts to deceive the Post Office of revenue through the postal service.
Fakes (couterfeits) are attempts to deceive dealers and collectors.
Facsimiles are copies of stamps, sometimes quite realistic but often not, that have been produced so collectors can fill the spaces in their collections that they may never be able to fill. Facsimiles were very common as early as the 1860s as stamp collecting became the rage. Because access to many stamps was very limited some 'artistic' types took to producing 'space fillers'. Spiro and Jeffryes are two that come to mind, but quite often their attempts to produce something useful were put to illegal use by others and so they ended up getting into trouble. The 'Collection' has copies of Jeffryes and Spiro facsimiles below.
In many cases the quality of the copies were exceptional and are now worth more than the original stamps themselves. Thankfully, the FFQ Chalons were never seriously forged. But fakes abound. With FFQ Chalons, fakes tend to be attempts to alter authentic stamps in some way so they become more valuable. Adding roulettes, altering perfs, fixing flawed stamps to add value and with non FFQ Chalon stamps adding overprints are the common issues facing collectors of NZ stamps.
The Jeffryes 'Forgery'
One of the more intriguing forgeries is the above Jeffryes forgery. George Kirke was his real name and there is a hand holding a crook above the stamp which was his 'trademark'. He claimed that he never intended to dupe anyone and that his work was a facsimile for those who wanted the ONE SHILLING stamp in their collection, but couldn't afford it. He forged stamps from various commonwealth countries and Australian States. The Judge at the Old Bailey disagreed and he did 6 months of hard labour. He had some 'friends' who sold his stamps through their store - Benjamin and Sarpy - who were probably the main antagonists by claiming some of the forgeries were real items.
The Collection has two copies of the forgery, a complete and one that has been cut (not sure why you would do that). Jeffryes went to the trouble of including a 'Large Star Watermark' on his 'facsimile' which is very intriguing indeed.
The Spiro 'Forgeries'
Philip Spiro was the head of the German printing firm of Spiro Brothers of Hamburg who from 1864 to about 1880 produced around 500 different lithographed reproductions of postage stamps.
The reproductions are not believed to have been intended to deceive, but some of them were so well done and so numerous, that they contributed to a backlash against stamp forgery that was reflected in the publication of The Spud Papers; Or, Notes on Philatelic Weeds by the Rev. Robert Earée.
The forgeries were often produced in small sheets of 25, which are still sometimes found complete. Many old stamp collections include Spiro forgeries due to their wide distribution and a greater acceptance of forgeries as "space fillers" before 1900.
As can be clearly seen above there was little threat in the Spiro FFQ Chalon forgeries fooling anyone.
My favourite Spiro forgery is the one below because of its certificate. A Robert Odenweller certificate stating that this stamp is a genuine forgery! 😂
Altering Perforations
The altering of perforations on FFQ Chalons is very common, and it can be very hard for non-experts to identify a fake. In fact it can be very hard for experts to identify and not all certificates stating a stamp is authentic, or those stating a stamp is not genuine, are correct. Below are some examples of attempts to add value by altering perforations, roulettes and other separation techniques. I have added all of the certificates so you can see the opinions of the experts.
Paper Alterations
There are other methods of altering stamps so as to increase their value. The stamp below has been extensively repaired with new backing paper to give it a blue paper effect.
Watermark Alterations
The SG 109 perf 12 1/2 with the 'NZ' watermark is a very rare stamp. In the below case Bob Odenweller has determined that the stamp's watermark has been manipulated to turn this stamp from £150 stamp to a £4500 stamp!
Postmark/cancellation Alterations
There are other methods of altering stamps so as to increase their value. The stamp below has received a fake cancellation to increase its value. The 4d Bright Orange Yellow was issued provisionally on unwatermarked paper, but as a single stamp it had no use as there was no 4d rate at the time. It was more used in combination with other stamps. or in one case, as a strip of three. Therefore it is very rare used compared to unused copies. Hence the application od a fake postmark.
