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| Counterfeits - Guatemala, Bavaria, French Colonies | ||
| reprinted from Eastern Philatelist, February 1896 | ||
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GUATEMALA 1878, ½ real, green This is not a very accurate imitation, but it has one or two interesting features, and so I will describe it: (1) The original is perforated 12½, while the counterfeit is about 11½ and also irregular and uneven, as if done by hand. (2) The counterfeit is evidently a wood engraving instead of the common lithograph. The very accurate shading and perspective of the original engraving have not been reproduced, nor have the smoothness and polish of a lithograph been secured. (3) The bright, vivid green of the original has been rendered dull and lifeless by the wood engraving, and a purple postmark that has been applied makes this already pale color took particularly sickly. (4) The horizontal lines with which the oval is shaded are coarser and farther apart in the counterfeit than in the original. A very pleasing effect was produced by the engravers of the original by darkening the oval at the top and making it gradually lighter towards the bottom, where it is quite light, to contrast with the flowing hair and bring out the neck and shoulders of the native woman who is the principal feature of the design. The shading of the oval is quite uniform in the counterfeit, and the face, neck and shoulders of the native woman are almost uniform with the background; so that, except for the hair which falls down past the face and neck and over the shoulders, one could scarcely distinguish these features from the background. Apart from the shading, the typical native face is sadly altered in the counterfeit ; The high cheek bones are not prominent enough and the jaw is abnormally wide, changing the entire aspect as well as altering the type. The masses of wavy hair were entirely too much for the counterfeiter, and he has done them very poorly. From the four sides of the label at the bottom, which contains the words "MEDIO REAL," extend semicircular projections, in each of which is a little rosette which you will need a microscope to see in detail. These rosettes are wanting in the counterfeit. (5) The collector from whom I received my copy of this very poor counterfeit was deceived at first by the purple cancellation before mentioned. This has the double circle and the proper inscription, but the letters are too tall and square cornered. BAVARIA 1854, 18 kreuzer, yellow This is a very clever imitation, showing great ingenuity; but for the insurmountable "silk thread" difficulty it would be really dangerous. (2) The original, as we all know, was typographed, but the design was impressed with such force into the paper that all the white parts are in relief, i. e., raised above the colored portions. The counterfeit being lithographed, it was impossible to reproduce this effect; but (and here's where the cleverness comes in) all the white parts in the counterfeit were made slightly larger than in the original, as if the raised portions had been ironed out or otherwise smoothed down and so increased in horizontal area. In the lower left-hand corner this is carried a little too far, resulting in a bad blur which obscures the small figures in that comer. (3) The bright golden yellow of the original is always soiled to some extent by handling, rubbing and cancellation (unless one is fortunate enough to possess a well-kept unused copy), but this does not justify the buff hue (or lack of hue, rather) which mars the counterfeit. (4) In the absence from the paper of the red silk thread which runs vertically through each stamp of this typographed series (except the first 1 kreuzer), we find the fatal defect of this otherwise fairly good imitation. The paper is quite like the original except for this thread. (5) The circle containing the large ornamental figures (18) in the centre of the stamp, is broken in two places (left and right) by the square inner frame. These breaks are similar to those in the 6 kreuzer "variety," but not so long (3mm. and 2½mm. only). FRENCH COLONIES 1862, 1 centime, olive, on greenish blue paper (3) The color of the original is well reproduced in this counterfeit and the surface of the paper is about the same color as the original paper, but (4) the original paper is colored "clear through," while that on which the counterfeit is printed is only tinted on the one (upper) surface. The stamps of France and the French Colonies were subsequently printed on surface-tinted paper, and are so issued at the present time, but this was not the case until 1876, since which time it has been the rule. Besides, the paper used by the counterfeiter is much thicker than that which received the original impression. (5) On the eagle's left wing there are five rows of feathers in the original and only four in the counterfeit. The junction of this same wing with the body should form with the neck and shoulder a perfect curve. In the counterfeit, however, this junction is effected by a straight line 1½mm. in length and nearly horizontal, which forms an angle with the shoulder at one end and the raised wing at the other. The crown in the original (above the eagle's head) is topped by a ball or globe on which stands a small Roman cross. From this ball the sides slope very rapidly to the base. Now in the counterfeit the crown does not slope so ; in fact, it projects horizontally in both directions from the globe until it forms "shoulders," which extend beyond the base, to which they recede in straight lines. This formation makes the crown too high, and consequently the little cross is omitted and the globe tops the crown. In the original the circular background of both eagle and crown consists of fine colored lines alternating with colorless spaces ¼mm. thick. Through each of these spaces runs a line of minute colored dots. The ensemble of this combination is very pleasing, but in the counterfeit there are no dots in the white spaces, and the spaces themselves are irregular and frequently run into each other. In other places they are too narrow, allowing the colored lines to spread themselves too much, and the general effect is of the haphazard order. Just inside and outside the inscription are circles of pearls, in which the pearls are very close together and perfectly circular; but the counterfeiter got his very irregular, some being quite small, others flattened out, others not properly aligned, etc. 'The dots are missing between "COLONIES " and “1c.," and also between "Postes" and the other "1c." In the next number I will describe six common counterfeits of early Cuban stamps (1864-1872). I have seen one or more of these miserable counterfeits in at least half a dozen good collections, and I have no doubt "there are others." Some collectors seem to think that only scarce stamps are counterfeited, and this mistake is responsible for much carelessness and misplaced confidence in procuring new specimens for the album. I have already described counterfeits of stamps worth five and six cents, and the originals of these Cuban monstrosities are worth only a few cents each. S. B. HOPKINS | ||
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