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Forgeries
of T-E-N's and "Framelines" (#9 and #10)
Another area
of concern with this design relates to reproductions. Two of the
best known reproductions are the Sperati forgery and the Springfield
Reproductions.
The
Springfield Facsimiles
The
leftmost stamp is the Springfield T-E-N #9, while the right is
the Springfield "frameline" #10,
which is particularly easy to note by the four full frames (almost
never found on the real stamp)
and the "writing"
at lower left below the frameline.
These are
the most commonly encountered of forgeries. Many years ago, a
complete set of counterfeits were made up and marketed by a stamp
dealer in Springfield, Massachusetts and these are known as "Springfield
Facsimiles". The yellowish paper of the Springfield reproductions
is of a different texture than the genuine stamp. Frequently,
this difference is apparent in the images used on eBay where they
are offered in profusion usually, but not always, described as
facsimiles. There is a distinct woven texture that is not present
on the genuine stamps. The face of the stamps is not a clear printing
as would be expected from a copper engraved plate printing. Detail
present in the original is lacking in the flat looking reproduction.
These will often be back-stamped
"facsimile" in various ink colors.
T-E-N
#9 Sperati Counterfeits
The most deceptive
counterfeits of Confederates general issues were done by Jean
de Sperati, the French counterfeiting genius. The color of the
T-E-N is very close to the original and easily confused with the
genuine issues. The Sperati forgeries are very well executed and
dangerous to even experienced collectors. They have a "flat"
look to the printing, the first thing for which to look and compare
with a known genuine copy.
There are
two types of T-E-N Sperati counterfeits. Type A (shown
at left above, example from a die proof) has a small colorless
dot that appears in the dark area between "Confederate"
and "POSTAGE"; a second colorless flaw appears just
after the "E" of "POSTAGE"; and the "e"
of "The" is missing the dot which serves as a cross-bar.
Type B
(shown at right above) is similar to type A, but the colorless
flaw between "Confederate" and "POSTAGE" is
missing. The "T" and "E" of "TEN"
appear to be joined at the top. "T" and "A"
os "POSTAGE" are slightly closer together, with the
bottom serifs touching or almost touching.
The "used",
actually more properly called "canceled" copy (center
example above) bears the cancel, amusingly enough, of NEW
PAID (YORK)/JUL/10. This is clearly even more of a dead
give-away than the uncanceled varieties.
The
two right examples above are Type B, from the private collection
of Trish Kaufmann.
Some
Sperati reproductions are signed by the maker, while others bear
his reproduction backstamp.
Above
is a Sperati signed die proof of the "T-E-N" forgery,
a scarce and very collectible item.
Detecting
forgeries of the "Frameline" stamp
The
first thing that should be looked for is the most obvious. Is
the "frameline" a Type I 10-cent design? If it is Type
II, it cannot be a genuine "frameline". Even fakes
are known with the T-E-N design. Both are a dead giveaway that
what you have cannot be a genuine frameline. Look for the plate
flaw above the "N" of "CENTS". It is thought
that the transfer was damaged during the making of this plate.
Consequently, some stamps do not exhibit the flaw, some have been
recut to fix the flaw, and some exhibit the flaw, but there will
be no filled in corner ornaments and other tell-tale signs of
Type II.
The next thing
to look for in detecting fakes of the frameline is to examine
the color of the lines and compare them to the color of the stamp.
This will usually expose the fake immediately. Unfortunately,
scanners typically do not capture the true color of stamps well,
and color also depends on the computer monitor used. Thus, this
method is seldom very dependable when looking at scans alone.
The stamps themselves must be examined. If the lines are obviously
a different color, you should assume that the item is fake. If
the colors appear to match, other characteristics should be used
to evaluate the stamp further. If you hadn't
guessed, the illustrated frameline stamp has drawn in lines, which
are lighter in color than the rest of the design and not raised
(engraved).
The quality
of the lines should be examined. They should be straight and smooth,
of fairly even thickness and not significantly inclined. If the
lines are shaky or wavy, the lines most likely have been painted
by hand. On the plate that produced the #10, lines were applied
by drawing an engraver's burin along a straightedge. There were
places where the lines may be slightly thicker due to repositioning
the straightedge and restarting the burin, but the lines should
still be straight. Immersion in water may reveal faked lines,
as most of the fakes lines were ruled in water color ink.
Toothless
Old Man
The "Toothless
Old Man" forgery of #9, not illustrated here, is rather crude
and would not fool an experienced collector of Confederates. It
has a portrait background of only vertical lines. The lower jaw
juts out relative to the lips. The hairline in front of the ear
is heavily drawn and dark. The front point of the bust is thicker
than on the genuine stamp. Below the ear on line with the jaw
line is a small dot of color that is not present on the original.
 Caveat
Emptor - Perforated Issues
A March 2007
Mail Bid sale had the stamp pictured at left with the following
description. "12 VF, OG, sm flts, Privately Perforated 14x14".
Genuine perforated stamps are "officially perforated"
12 1/2. There are several unofficially (private) perforated issues
as well, but they don't look like this. They are generally very
crude and range from "sewing machine perfs" to "sawtooth"
design. There will be another "Trouble Spots" section
eventually to deal with this sticky subject. Another clue here
is that it is a Keatinge and Ball print, which were never perforated
officially. If you are not an expert in this area, it is wise
to buy with option to get the stamp expertized.
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