 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(December 2012) |
The Stock Exchange forgery was a fraud perpetrated at the London Stock Exchange during the years 1872 to 1873. It involved forged postage stamps that were applied to telegraph forms and it was only detected over 25 years later.
In 1870, the telegraph systems of the United Kingdom were nationalised and run by the Post Office. The development of the telegraph systems had been of great benefit to the Stock Exchange as stock prices could be quickly communicated. If those working at the Stock Exchange wanted to send a telegram they would, if they followed usual procedure, write their message on a telegram form and take it with payment of one shilling or more to a clerk who would then give them a 1 shilling green postage stamp to apply to it, with other stamps if needed to make up the correct fee, which depended on the number of words. The clerk then would cancel the stamp with a dated postmark, often heavily inked, to indicate that the appropriate payment had been made. However, cozy arrangements between companies that used large quantities of the one shilling stamps meant that the telegraph forms would be stamped and canceled the following day in quantity so that the purchasers never saw them; the companies involved would pay an accumulated sum.
A clerk or clerks supplied forged stamps for the forms in order to steal the one shilling fees without depleting the stock of genuine stamps, which were subject to audit. The fraud was successful because the forged stamps, though not precise in every detail, were yet convincing enough and in any event were not retained by customers. After the telegraph message had been sent, the forms were stamped in private before being put in a bag for storage and eventual disposal. The stamps themselves, by an arrangement with the brokerage houses sending the telegrams, were not seen directly. Instead, for convenience and speed, the message forms were stamped and canceled the day afterward before being bundled together in case they were subsequently required. Months or years after they would be destroyed. Thus the fakes were never subject to scrutiny. Whether such inspection would have resulted in exposure is, of course, impossible to know.
Precise details of the fraud are impossible to determine with certainty. From investigations carried out by Dr. Ian Ray, it seems likely that a head clerk named George E. Smith colluded with his subordinates T. H. Wright and Benjamin Hind to affix the bogus adhesives to forms. Almost four decades after the known dates when most of stamps were sold, Wright and Hind had died, but Smith was still alive, having retired from the post office in 1870s on the grounds of ill health. In 1910, A. J. Waldegrave, formerly Deputy Comptroller and Accountant General to the Post Office, interviewed Smith. Details of that interview have never been made public.
The fraud was not detected at the time and could have remained undetected had all the stamps been destroyed as originally intended; however, they were retained by the Stock Exchange for a period, after which they were disposed of as waste paper. Some of the forms escaped this fate and eventually came into the hands of stamp dealers. The fraud finally came to light over 25 years later in 1898 when the young philatelist Charles Nissen noticed that the stamps he was examining lacked the "spray of roses" watermark they were supposed to have [1] [2] There were other discrepancies that came to light once Nissen noticed the inauthentic stamps.
Several dates when the fraud was operating are apparent from the postmarks applied to the stamps. However, only eleven dates in June and July 1872 have been found, and it almost certain that a scheme this elaborate was in operation for a much longer time than two months. It may have lasted until special stamps were designed for use on telegraph forms in 1876. As a large number of forged stamps were certainly made and as 1 shilling was a more significant sum at the time than it was later in the 19th and 20th centuries, it is likely that the fraud was highly profitable for the culprit(s), who were never identified in their lifetimes. The forged stamps, especially those from plate 6, are now worth more than the originals to collectors.
Philately is the study of postage stamps and postal history. It also refers to the collection, appreciation and research activities on stamps and other philatelic products. Philately involves more than just stamp collecting or the study of postage; it is possible to be a philatelist without owning any stamps. For instance, the stamps being studied may be very rare or reside only in museums.
Stamp collecting is the collecting of postage stamps and related objects. It is an area of philately, which is the study or study and collection of stamps. It has been one of the world's most popular hobbies since the late nineteenth century with the rapid growth of the postal service, as a never-ending stream of new stamps was produced by countries that sought to advertise their distinctiveness through their stamps.
A cancellation is a postal marking applied on a postage stamp or postal stationery to deface the stamp and to prevent its reuse. Cancellations come in a huge variety of designs, shapes, sizes, and colors. Modern cancellations commonly include the date and post office location where the stamps were mailed, in addition to lines or bars designed to cover the stamp itself. The term "postmark" refers specifically to the part that contains the date and posting location, but the term is often used interchangeably with "cancellation" as it may serve that purpose. The portion of a cancellation that is designed to deface the stamp and does not contain writing is also called the "obliteration" or killer. Some stamps are issued pre-cancelled with a printed or stamped cancellation and do not need to have a cancellation added. Cancellations can affect the value of stamps to collectors, positively or negatively. Cancellations of some countries have been extensively studied by philatelists, and many stamp collectors and postal history collectors collect cancellations in addition to the stamps themselves.
The Penny Black was the world's first adhesive postage stamp used in a public postal system. It was first issued in the United Kingdom, on 1 May 1840, but was not valid for use until 6 May. The stamp features a profile of Queen Victoria.
This a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union and the modern Russian Federation.
The postage stamps and postal system of the Confederate States of America carried the mail of the Confederacy for a brief period in American history. Early in 1861 when South Carolina no longer considered itself part of the Union and demanded that the U.S. Army abandon Fort Sumter, plans for a Confederate postal system were already underway. Indeed, the Confederate Post office was established on February 21, 1861; and it was not until April 12 that the American Civil War officially began, when the Confederate Army fired upon US soldiers who had refused to abandon the fort. However, the United States Post Office Department continued to handle the mail of the seceded states as usual during the first weeks of the war. It was not until June 1 that the Confederate Post office took over collection and delivery, now faced with the task of providing postage stamps and mail services for its citizens.
Giovanni (Jean) de Sperati was an Italian stamp forger. Robson Lowe considered him an artist and even professional stamp authenticators of his time attested to the genuineness of his work. Sperati created what he called a Livre d'Or which he boasted of in his autobiography and which contained 239 favourable opinions as to the genuineness of his forgeries from numerous experts, including Dr. Edward Diena and the Royal Philatelic Society London.
Telegraph stamps are stamps intended solely for the prepayment of telegraph fees. The customer completed a telegraph form before handing it with payment to the clerk who applied a telegraph stamp and cancelled it to show that payment had been made. If the stamp was an imprinted stamp, it formed part of the message form.
The postage stamps of Ireland are issued by the postal operator of the independent Irish state. Ireland was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland when the world's first postage stamps were issued in 1840. These stamps, and all subsequent British issues, were used in Ireland until the new Irish Government assumed power in 1922. Beginning on 17 February 1922, existing British stamps were overprinted with Irish text to provide some definitives until separate Irish issues became available. Following the overprints, a regular series of definitive stamps was produced by the new Department of Posts and Telegraphs, using domestic designs. These definitives were issued on 6 December 1922; the first was a 2d stamp, depicting a map of Ireland. Since then new images, and additional values as needed, have produced nine definitive series of different designs.
In general, philatelic fakes and forgeries are labels that look like postage stamps but have been produced to deceive or defraud. Learning to identify these can be a challenging branch of philately.
Russian stamps have been extensively forged. Both rare and common stamps have been forged and certain stamps, for instance those of the Army of the North, are more common forged than genuine.
Postage stamps of Pakistan are those issued since Pakistan's independence in 1947. Pakistan Post has issued more than 600 sets and singles totalling more than 1300 stamps. Immediately after the independence of Pakistan in 1947, the new Pakistan government was preoccupied with setting up the government so British Indian stamps continued in use without an overprint as was the practice in other countries.
Charles Nissen was a British philatelist, and stamp dealer who discovered the famous stock exchange forgery and wrote, with Bertram McGowan, the definitive book on the plating of the Penny Black.
Raoul Charles de Thuin (1890–1975) was a prolific stamp forger and dealer who was originally a citizen of Belgium but who operated from Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico, of which country he eventually became a naturalised citizen. De Thuin's work was considered so dangerous to philately that his tools and stock were purchased by the American Philatelic Society in 1966 in order to curtail his activities.
Philatelic expertisation is the process whereby an authority is asked to give an opinion whether a philatelic item is genuine and whether it has been repaired or altered in any way.
Harold Treherne of Brighton, England, was a stamp forger notable for his forgeries of the stamps of India and Australia who was known as The Brighton forger and his works as Brighton forgeries.
Edward Loines Pemberton was a pioneering philatelist and stamp dealer who was a leading advocate of the scientific school of philately and a founding member of The Philatelic Society, London, now The Royal Philatelic Society London. Pemberton was entered on the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists in 1921 as one of the fathers of philately. He was born in New York City but educated in Britain by relatives when his parents died shortly after his birth. His son, Percival Loines Pemberton (1875-1949) was also an eminent philatelist.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to forgery:
A local postal service briefly operated in the Polish town of Żarki during the month of October 1918. Postage stamps were issued, in one design but in three denominations denoted by different colouring. A set of forgeries was made in 1928. The stamps, both genuine and forged, have attracted philatelic attention.
The first stamp of the Russian Empire was a postage stamp issued in 1857 and introduced within the territory of the Russian Empire in 1858. It was an imperforate 10-kopeck stamp depicting the coat of arms of Russia, and printed using typography in brown and blue.