Creating Your Own Facsimilies Of The Classics

I would rather leave the spaces empty rather then go through the trouble of printing a fake.

One question - are you stamp collecting or scrapbooking?

I think the blank spots in the album are little reminders of what I need. Yeah there are certain stamps which I'll never have, but I have actually filled some of those "no freakin way" blanks over the years.

I guess I find a blank spot as a subtle form of motivation. I probably wont fill some, but I wont stop looking either.

Howdy all,

This is a bad idea which has any number of unintended repercussions.
While I can understand the desire to "Fill the space", this is a slippery slope.

Reason #1: It is illegal. The reason anyone trying to do this has to "resize" the images they find is because law requires stamp images be a certain size, either smaller or larger, than the issued stamp. I'm talking about in the U.S., but I'm pretty sure the rest of the world has some issues with having their stamps reproduced. While you might have been able to argue the size issue if the image was not in color and the stamp was, it's still questionable. Penalties for forgery (which is what it would be called) are rather stiff and the prosecutors aren't going to quibble over why it was done, just that it was done.

Reason #2: You're setting your heirs up for a fall. You know these are reproductions, any stamp collector today would know they were reproductions, but what about your non-collecting heirs? You think labeling the binders "Fakes" are going to stop some non-collector from believing they've just hit the mother lode? I can hear the reasons they ignored that already "Wow! What a neat way of scaring off thieves! Hee....heee....heee." Imagine their surprise and chagrin when dealer after dealer tells them their fakes and their genuine consternation when the Treasury agents swoop in and confiscate the entire collection, fakes and all.

Reason #3: You'll kill any hope of selling the collection for a price which is commensurate with what you do have. Dealers are not going to want to go through a collection which has fakes at every turn when there should either be a real stamp or a blank space. How much time do you think a dealer is going to spend if there is a better stamp? And they'll make a really low-ball offer, explaining that everything which was high value was obviously fake, making everything else suspect.

If the empty spaces are bothering you that much, simply remove the offending pages. For pages which are partially complete, design one of your own which removes the ones you know you'll never be able to add to it. This way, you don't take the chance of running afoul of the law or leaving your heirs to do so, nor will the heirs be misled by what your collection contains.

I 100% agree with Stampman2002. I have ranted in the past about people selling "reproductions" of the classic high value stamps on ebay, and concur with the opinion that these would devalue a collection in the long run. Collect what you can afford, and enjoy them!

I'm a stamp collector and I like to think I'm a philatelist. I am not a labelatelist and a facsimile is just another label. Creating fakes or facsimiles would put you in another category. There is a thin line between the accumulator/collector/philatelist and a labelatelist. I made a choice to be a stamp collector.

Art

I must agree with stampvirgin on this. on the other hand if there is no intention to defraud (and since it's Smauggie and I sincerely doubt that even crossed his mind)I don't see an issue with it as long as it's clearly marked.

Just to be absolutely clear, I was not thinking or accusing anyone of fraud, or even intending that. I merely stated what the current laws are concerning this, and while I have absolutely no doubt there is no intention of fraud here, what happens later down the line? Who's going to know the intent in say 50-60 years? While I'd like to believe I have another half-century to three score years left as a philatelist, I don't see that happening. I think it's just a really bad idea anyway you look at it.

I am gathering stamp images to use in a database I created for faster access to the pertinent characteristics of each US stamp - sort of a computer based catalog with the ability to flag and describe the stamps I own. Lots of data entry, but I'm finally done except for the images. I found ebay a good source for the images. Someone is always selling every stamp except the rarest, and if you can't find the one you need, wait a while and try again! Plus, there are usually several images to choose from. The "US1847" site already mentioned is great, but it stops at 1970.

After reading the posts that disagree with smauggie's idea of scanning to create facsimiles, I have to say I think the comments about the dangers of defrauding people or giving the suspicion of attempted fraud are unjustified.

I can't imagine anyone, even a non-collector, thinking that a scanned image (with scanned perfs) is the real thing. Maybe imperforates could be questionable, but they would have to be really good printouts on the right kind of paper.

I'm sure a skilled forger with a good scanner, printer and a perforation device could create a passable fraud, but it doesn't sound like smauggie intends to do anything but create a "picture" of a stamp that wouldn't fool anybody.

Thank you Munroe.

As the thread title implies....facsimiles, not expensive forgewries that top auction houses are selling for thousands of dollars when it SHOULD be illegal.

Harmless fun.