Counterfeit Stamps In Its Heydey

There's been a number of posts lately about early counterfeit stamps. On that subject, I thought some might find this article from the NY Herald in 1895 interesting on a counterfeiter who was caught making TWO MILLION fake stamps from Haiti and his explanation to authorities is that they weren't intended for postal use but to sell to stamp collectors. Some excuse, huh?!?

If this is an example of only one counterfeiters actions, I can only imagine how many went undetected.

http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/...feit1895.jpg

Thank you wt1. A very interesting affair. The guy just thought he was in business until the police caught him. Looks like he was about to print British Columbia stamps. I wonder if even one of his fake stamp survive till today. I'm curious how long he stayed in jail. I don't think the judge believe his story.

I have a slow internet connection (dial-up) and images that are large from Imageshack or Photobucket will 'time out' and only load about 20% of the way and think they are done.

Is there any way to get it and reduce it in size?

How's this (reprinted as text version):

MADE COUNTERFEIT HAYTIAN STAMPS.

United States Secret Service Detectives Owen and Baggs last evening arrested Maximilian Maitreat, thirty-five years old, of No. 235 West Twentysecond street. He was taken to the West Thirtieth street police station, where he was locked up after the detectives had entered a charge of counterfeiting Haytian postage stamps against him.

Maitreat lives with his wife in the boarding house at the above number. He has a printing office at No. 36 Frankfort street, where he makes his headquarters during the day. He described himself to the detectives as a musician and foreign stamp collector.

The secret service men have been on the track for several months of a band whose members have been counterfeiting in large quantities the postage stamps of South American and West Indian countries. The detectives who were assigned to the ease discovered that the actual printing was done at No. 36 Frankfort street, and for three weeks they closely watched the building.

FOLLOWED TO HIS HOME.

Maitreat left the building at six o'clock last evening, and was followed by the detectives. Under his arm he carried a small package. He took a Ninth avenue " L " train to the Twentythird street station, and walked to his home. Just as he was ascending the front steps he was seized by the detectives, who relieved him of the package and then went with him to his room, which they carefully searched.

They found a machine of a new and improved pattern for parforating postage stamps, and in the package which they had taken from him they found four thousand sheets of Haytian three cent stamps newly printed.

They then took him to his office, where they unearthed four sets of plates and one woodcut of the Haytian stamps and also a plate for the printing of stamps of British Columbia. The detectives have traced two million stamps, which, they say, were manufactured by Maitreat. He told the detectives he had been in this country four years. He was born in France.

A LIMIT TO HIS CANDOR.

When arraigned before Sergeant Lane in the police station, Maitreat was cool and collected. When the detectives accused him of making the stamps for the purpose of selling them, he said they were not intended for postal use, his object being to mark them as if cancelled and then sell them to stamp collectors. He frankly admitted that he had made the stamps, but when asked if he had counterfeited those of other countries, he smiled and said:

"That is for them to discover," pointing to the detectives.

He is thick set, well dressed, very dark and has a long black mustache and curly hair. It is believed he has accomplices and agents in Hayti, to whom he has sent large quantities of stamps. All the printing he did at his office, but the perforating and packing of the stamps he did evenings at home.

There were twenty thousand stamps in the bundle found in his possession, when arrested, and the detectives believe they will find more this morning when they search more carefully his printing establishment. Detective Baggs told me he had learned that Maitreat was about to sail for Hayti, and that was the reason he arrested him before he had obtained all the evidence he wanted against him.—N. Y. Herald, June 21, 1895.

Most excellent, thank you.

Quite a story.

Yes indeed, quite a story. I wonder what the authorities would have done if it was found out he was selling them to collectors only ??
Would he still have been put on trial and convicted ?

Timbres667 had an interesting thought




Yes, what if it did. What if one of us had one and we wanted to sell it. Would we be arrested and go on trial?
In the summer, BeeSee found a seller from the Ukraine offering Bogus stamps on Delcampe. But what if they weren't his bogus stamps and he was selling them only. Maybe he got them in a job lot somwhere? It's possible, indeed most collectors selling these kind of shady items are only selling. Most had nothing to do with their production.

Let's say I purchased an 'illegal' stamp and then got bored with it, could I resell it ? Of course I could. But would I be arrested or be subject to some investigation if I did ?

Londonbus1

I thought I recognized that address. I am pretty sure Frankfort St in New York was where Newspaper Row was, right across from Manhattan City Hall. Long after this Newspaper Row was demolished, and Pace University was built around 1965. Tne New York City Library has a digital site showing photos/postcards of Newspaper row, and if you get the street location of City Hall, you can get a current day view of the area by entering the co-ordinates on GoogleMap. BlankPage