A Questionable Scott 315
You can find some more infomation about this issue at: http://www.neddog.com/stamps/5c_imp.html
The 2001 Scott price for an unused example (in very fine condition) is $290 and a used version is much more uncommon, commanding a price tag of $475. In fact, legitimate (read as certified) copies of the used stamp are quite scare, the price in the Scott catalog reflects this by italicizing the price. Comparing the imperf to its perforated counterpart (Scott 304), an unused (previously hinged) stamp catalogs at $55 and used a mere $1.50. Serious philatelists collect the imperforated stamp either in imperforate pairs or a single side/corner margined copy, thus guaranteeing authenticity. The perforate version does not exist in either of these states.
This is an ongoing experiment, so it will be evolving over the next year depending on my schedule. It was inspired by several eBay users / dealers and collectors who have emailed over the last few months, and warned me about various unscrupulous sellers who make quite a cash flow selling altered common stamps as rarities. Basically, modifying cheap stamps and selling them as "reference", which in polite company means a forgery or fake. Surprisingly, many people don't read the fine print and usually pay a lot of money for something that is basically worthless.
Another Bogus Scott 519 - New November 2002
The Fake Scott 346 Private Perf - New October 2002
The Most Impressive Fake Scott 62B
The Secret Life of an Altered Scott 72
The Secret Life of a Chemically Altered Scott 78
The Secret Life of an Altered RW5 Duck Stamp
A Fake Scott #320 with Schermack Type III Perforations
Fake Scott #743a
Detecting a Flat Plate Press Vertical Coil, Fake Scott 441
Fake Reperfed 514a
Fake Reperfed 508c
Fake Reperfed 546
Fake Scott 143 w / Bogus Grill
Fake Scott 137 w / Same Bogus Grill as Fake 143
Fake Scott 139 w / Same Bogus Grill as Fake 137 and 143
Fake Scott 315 - Revised June 2002
Fake Reperfed Scott 519 - Revised June 2002
A Gallery of Bogus Stuff Part 1
A Gallery of Bogus Stuff Part 2
A Gallery of Bogus Stuff Part 3
A Gallery of Bogus Stuff Part 4
A Gallery of Bogus Stuff Part 5
Credits, Inspiration and Links of Interest
Bibliography of Research Material I Use for this Site
Download the Schermack Type III Go-NoGo Gauge
New Rev5.1 Design, November 2007
Buy the Sonic Imagery Labs Specialty Perforation & Grill Multi -Gauge
Download Instruction Sheet for the Sonic Imagery Labs Specialty Perforation & Grill Multi -Gauge
Download a MAIL ORDER form for the Sonic Imagery Labs Specialty Perforation & Grill Multi -Gauge
This was purchased on eBay from the seller (stampcpa@aol.com). This company buys thousands of stamps every month and lists close to 300 lots each week. How did this dealer get fooled? I imagine the dealer who sold it to me doesn't own the high powered microscopes, cameras and light sources that I have and, because he deals with 100's of stamps a day, he cant spend the time expertizing every stamp. Since time is money and, this is how dealer makes a living, weeds slip through. Heres some food for thought. This stamp was issued 100 years ago (1902-03). I am guessing that it has passed between 3 to 10 collectors before hitting my website.
Presented here for your consideration is a case of altering a perfectly good Scott 304 by cutting off the perforations. Had the person who altered this stamp used a new sharp xacto knife and a steel ruler he might of been able to fool me. But he didn't and hence we can all learn from his mistake.
It appears to the naked eye to be a Scott 315 of which the 2002 Scotts Specialized Catalog of US Stamps and Covers states is valued at $260 mint and $600 used.
Did I mention that this catalog is the greatest $40.00 investment one could ever make! I think I did on another page but it needs to be restated because below the listing for the 315 it says "Beware of copies of No. 304 with perforations removed"
The publishers of the Scott Catalogs are pretty smart and this is what they do for a living so I take what they say as expert advice.
How can we know for 100% certainty that the suspect stamp has truly been trimed of its perforations? If you ask a spiritual person they would say ask god and he will answer in some mysterious way. Ask a physicist and he will use a mass spectrometer and C14 carbon dating zyclotron. Ask an electrical engineer (me) and he will use microscope and a steel ruler marked off in millimeters that he stole from his employer and then he'll say lets measure it.
Why? Because if one cuts off the perforations, the stamp will be smaller than its perforated counterpart and that will prove that the stamp is not what it seems to be. This is not always 100% for sure, as earlier classic issues sometimes got perforated oddly and hence becomes a "JUMBO" or the stamp might of been a corner stamp on the edge of a sheet and will have 2 huge margins from which to cut away the perfs to make the fake appear to be larger than the perforated counterpart.
Let's measure our suspect and see if I can prove my point. The suspect shown at the left measures 23.75 mm in height
The suspect shown at the left measures 20.00 mm in width. Oh by the way that's the ruler I stole from my employer. We usually give them to customers at tradeshows as gifts for coming to our tradeshow booth. I don't think they will miss it. If you are wondering, the ruler is quite accurate as I compared it against a $500 pair of metric calipers. Steel scribed rulers are typically very accurate as they are used by machinists who need precision.
Helpful Hint No. 1.
Steel rulers are precision instruments, they are cheap, go buy one!
So at this point we know the suspect is 23.75mm by 20mm
Let's compare these height and width dimensions to a known good real stamp and see if the suspect is smaller.
The Scott 304 with perfs measures 23.5mm in height. Hmmmm very close height wise to the suspect.
Let's compare these height and width dimensions to a known good real stamp and see if the suspect is smaller.
The Scott 304 with perfs measures 19.875mm in width. Hmmmm very very close width wise to the suspect.
Let's compare.
SUSPECT FAKE...................23.75mm by 20mm
REAL #304 inside perfs.........23.50mm by 19.875mm
The fake is bigger. Well lets not get all happy yet. Remember that we want to know with close to 100% certainty. Dont forget about JUMBOs and Corners and other Big margin issues. Let's look closer at the edges of the suspect.
The suspect on the left is magnified 42X and you can see an odd top edge. Also note the cancellation ink stops but the paper still protrudes out about 0.25 mm. Hey! Scissors don't cut like this. Xacto knifes don't cut like this. What is it. Let's look some more.
The same weird edge is also on the right hand margin as well. What is it and why is it there? It looks like the faker cut the perfs off and then used an emery board or 400-800 grit sandpaper and roughed up the edges to hide or disguise perf holes. It was sanded at an angle which left beveled edges of clean white paper exposed. Thats why the cancellation stops before the paper does in the image above.
Look at the right edge about 1/2 way down and you can almost see the remains of a perfholes inside edge. Had the sandpaper/emeryboard job to the edges not been done to this stamp, it would of measured 0.25 to 0.33mm smaller. Rulers and microscopes are our friends!
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I think the evidence presented here proves that the suspect stamp has been altered. Heres a point to ponder. A used 304, which is what our suspect stamp really is, has a catalog value of a $1.50. With some scissors and emery board the stamp becomes an "As is reference" and sold for $39.99. In reality, the 304 here has no perforations an should be considered "badly damaged/all perfs pulled" and basically worthless.
Heres how one should purchase this issue. As a pair. Hard the fake this. If you want to buy a single of this issue it should be purchased with an expertization certificate stating its authenticity.
Here is what one should also have. An expertization certificate stating its authenticity. If you ever decide to sell your real 315. A cert will make your life a lot easier. You will also most likely be able to sell it for more money.
This genuine 315 pair sold for $4000 at The Robert Siegel Auction Gallery in New York
Described by the gallery as:
5c Blue, Imperforate (315).Horizontal pair, large margins, fresh color and proof-like impression, neat strikes of oval cancels
EXTREMELY FINE GEM. USED PAIRS OF THE 5-CENT 1908 IMPERFORATE ISSUE ARE VERY RARE IN SOUND CONDITION WITH LARGE MARGINS. THIS PAIR IS ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL IN EXISTENCE.
A pair with similar margins realized $3,500 hammer in the Hillmer Sale 809. With 1988 P.F. certificate
I was bored tonite and was thinking that a used genuine 315 is quite scarce and valuable. The Robert Siegel Auction Gallery in New York has a census of 315's that they have sold. All had certification and realized at least catalog value and sometimes even more. You see, it is genuinely a very scarce single. In Siegal's history they have only sold about 80. The majority with APEX,PSE or PFcerts. They have been around for almost 60 years. eBay has only been around for 7 years.
I then popped onto eBay and did a search for used 315's. Heres what I found. See below.
Described by eBay seller "stampcpa@aol.com" as:
# 315 Used Cat.$600
F-VF Very Tiny Tear NO RESERVE!!!
Buyer to pay shipping/handling of $2.00
Sold to "hacmacnac" for $49.95 on June 29th 2002
Described by eBay seller "stampcpa@aol.com" as:
# 315 Used Cat.$600
F-VF Very Tiny Crease NO RESERVE!!!
Buyer to pay shipping/handling of $2.00
$69.95 on June 15th 2002. Didn't sell. I wonder why? No cert maybe?
Described by eBay seller "stampcpa@aol.com" as:
# 315 Used Cat.$600
F-VF Creases NO RESERVE!!!
Buyer to pay shipping/handling of $2.00
Sold to "426speed" for $102.50 on June 22nd 2002.
Ouch! That's gotta hurt a little. Obviously sold with no cert.
Described by eBay seller "stamplady99" as:
315 USED -VF/XF - SCV $600
USED - VF/XF - THIN NO RESERVE
$119.99 on June 24th 2002. Didn't sell. I wonder why? No cert maybe?
Described by eBay seller "rogernorth" as:
315 CONTEMPORANEOUS CNCL 3 BIG MARGINS $600CV 315
CONTEMPORANEOUS CNCL 3 BIG MARGINS; SM FLT AT TOP
All stamps are sound except as described. Look at the scan for centering and perf condition. Stamps are not
returnable because of centering or perfs.
Sold to "6006g" for $49.00 on June 16th 2002
No cert! Ouch! $49.00 for a damaged 304 worth $1.50
Thanks for visiting this site. I hope you learn something new as I am having fun doing this and stirring up the "doodoo" so to speak. You, the visitor, have my permission to copy my pages and images for the purpose of showing others how to look for fakes and forgeries. You also have my permission to link to my pages and to share the link paths to others. I only ask in return for you to send me an email if I have made a mistake or have done some other technical blunder that in my rush to put these pages up would cause the visitor confusion. Please also visit my other website www.slingshotvenus.com and support the live music arts.