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| Counterfeits - Cuba 1871 25c. , 50c. | ||
| reprinted from Eastern Philatelist, April 1896 | ||
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CUBA 1871, 25c. d • peseta, blue Here is a counterfeit of a stamp which is catalogued but two cents, and of which it is extremely easy to procure a specimen ; yet the imitation seems to have had quite an extensive circulation, for I have seen several copies, all in fairly good collections. One of these copies I managed to secure, and will now describe it to you. (1) The original is perforated 14; the counterfeit has 12½ holes in 20mm., but they are not the same shape or size. Sometimes they resemble the so-called "pin perforation;" sometimes they are “regular," and again they are like the "square perforations" of the 1868 and 1872 issues of Mexico. Some specimens were also issued imperforate, probably in order to make a "variety" and increase the sale. (2) The scroll at the top containing the word ULTRAMAR and the date (1871) is open just where it begins to roll up at the left side of the stamp. In the original this line is not broken, and is quite heavy at this point. The horizontal lines of the background are much too heavy in the counterfeit; they also lack distinctness and are irregular, imparting roughness and heaviness to the general effect. (3) The original, when in good condition, is a bright, clear blue. The blue of the counterfeit, however, has a slight tinge of ultramarine and is decidedly milky in hue. (4) This issue was originally printed on thick, heavy paper, with a slight yellowish cast. Perhaps the yellowish cast came with age, but at any rate the counterfeiters have used a much thinner, bluish paper. (5) There are many minor differences between original and imitation in all parts of the design, some being too minute to describe. However, I shall endeavor to present a few of the most prominent of these variations. The horizontal part of the L of ULTRAMAR is the same length (¾mm.) in the counterfeit as the vertical stroke, while in the original it measures barely ½mm. The right legs of the two A's are shortened in the counterfeit, the first one to ¾mm. and the second to 1mm., both being fully 1mm. in the original. The two I's in the counterfeit date (1871) lack the thin hanging top-bars with which they are adorned in the original, and the lower part of the bogus 8 is considerably larger than the upper, being in this regard quite unlike the original. At the extreme top of the stamp, just inside the outer frame, running from either corner to the right or left until it meets the scroll just over the "r of ULTRAMAR and the 8 of 1871, is a fine dotted line which the counterfeiters seem to have overlooked entirely. Further, the scroll described above (2) is separated in the original from the upper horizontal line of the irregular hexagon which frames the background by a heavy horizontal line which conforms to its environment by being thinner at the ends than in the middle, and so filling the space between the curved scroll and the straight line. In the counterfeit this space is left blank but it is much reduced in size by the closer proximity of the scroll to the straight line, which it touches at both ends. In the original the scroll does not even touch the additional horizontal line which is here found. In the counterfeit the fine lines of the background (which, as I have said, are by no means fine enough) connect with the frame at both ends. In the original, however, there is a fine white line just inside the frame, and not a single one of the colored lines crosses this space. There are a number of points I might give in connection with the sitting figure and the shield, but I will confine myself to one: In the lower left quarter of the shield there are four double vertical lines in the original, while in the counterfeit the one to the right is single instead of double. In the label at the bottom containing the value, the 5 (of 25) in the counterfeit has a heavy straight top instead of a thin curved one. Further, the mark after the D • is an ordinary period instead of being above the line like a Greek colon. (6) This counterfeit is cancelled with the second bogus cancellation described in last month's paper. CUBA 1871, 50c. d -peseta, green (1) Perforation same as 25c. value. (2) The scroll at the top of this specimen is open at both ends, so departing even farther from the original than the counterfeit just discussed. My remarks in regard to the background of the 25 c. value apply equally to this counterfeit, but (3) the color of the original is this time reproduced with great skill, almost the exact shade being secured. (4) The paper, however, is evidently from the sane stock as that described above, and the bluish cast of this paper naturally affects the green of the stamp to some extent. (5) The letter L and the figures (8 and both I's) have the peculiarities indicated above, but the A's conform quite closely to the original. The 5 in 50 (in the lower label) has a thick straight top, very much like the 5 in 25 in the other value. All the other remarks under (5) and (6) in my description of the 25c. counterfeit will apply equally well to that of the 50c. value. The absence of the dotted line at the top of the stamp, of the heavy line between the scroll and the inner frame, of the fine white line of demarcation just inside the inner frame, of the fourth double line in the shield, of the proper mark after the V - all these are failings of both these counterfeits, as is also (6) the application of the bogus cancellation. This concludes the list of the half-dozen Cuban counterfeits I promised you, and I sincerely hope none of my readers has any of them in his or her collection. However, I should be proud indeed to own the collection in which I found the first one presented herewith, and so you needn't feel very badly if you find you have entertained one or more of these frauds for a time. Only don't do it again. In order to increase the value of this and the preceding paper, I will say that the pointers given under the caption (5) may be further employed in the following cases: The type described last month has been applied to the 1864 issue for Spain and the Philippine Islands, and the one in this number has been used in producing imitations of the 1873 issue for Spain and the 1874 emissions for Cuba and the Philippine Islands. For next month I have good imitations of the three values used in Liberia from 1860 to 1880, and one of them is particularly fine and dangerous. S. B. HOPKINS | ||
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