Facsimiles On Ebay

Why do these things even exist? Surely if a collector really wants colour in every space, then a full colour illustrated album would suffice?

And if they are so very easy to produce with the facsimile marking on the reverse, then wouldn't they be equally as easy on paper with no such marking. A very scary thought and something that would easily discredit the whole collecting field.

There have always been forgeries but it is so easy to produce excellent copies today that are visually perfect, even if they would not stand up to close scrutiny, that it means a person has to guard themselves seven ways to Sunday when purchasing anything that they have seen only as a scan on the internet. Buyer beware, indeed.

I know this topic has been discussed before, but I really do not think that it is a bad idea to toss it up in front of the membership, just as a reminder, every so often. Recent postings do remind us that there are always new collectors joining the ranks.




http://cgi.ebay.com/Facsimiles-US-1...em45fb3c8fe3

Thanks for bringing this to our attention. Unfortunately, there is little we can do to discourage the practice short of not buying such products, but there are still those who will buy them anyway. At least the seller is up-front and clear about the facsimile status of the items offered for sale, some more unscrupulous sellers may not be so forthcoming.

I was sent free of charge facsimilies of the 3 different zeps and only one had the printing on back and the sad thing is all were facsimilies of used copies cancel and all. I contemplated mounting in my album and marking with *F* but just doesn't seem right . I could see things like this being placed in albums, then albums end up at auction and if not picked up on someone could easily be unknowingly dupped.

...and if I just could just add one more thing: The printed "facsimile" notice on the back of the stamp can probably be easily removed by soaking the stamp and then you have a stamp that would be destined to deceive an unknowing buyer.

It's a problem, but so is counterfeiting currency and other printed documents with the advent of color laser printers offering such great resolution even the experts have a hard time telling things apart. I guess that's the price we pay for advanced technology.

A timely reminder!

The Indian States have been bedevilled by this sort of thing in recent years. Someone has been reproducing many of the stamps from illustrations in the Gibbons catalogues, and trying to pass them off as the real thing. Here is an example from Alwar



and here is the Gibbons illustration it was taken from:



and finally, here is the real thing:



Gibbons describes the stamp as 'emerald-green' or 'pale yellow-green', and while the basic stamp should be perforated, Gibbons records both shades as existing as (rare) imperfs. And how hard would it be to add 'perforations', anyway? The genuine, perforated stamps are catalogued at £7 and £9 each mint, so not not enough to insist on a Certificate if you were buying.

Of course, the fakes are just laughable - once you've seen the real thing. If you haven't, and all you have to go by is an illustration is a catalogue, it would be easy enough to be fooled. The only answer is experience.

Another example from the same dealer. It has, apparently, facsimile printed on the back of the envelope but doesn't it look remarkable. Perhaps, too good to be true?

Here is what I said on this thread:

https://goscf.com/t/10908&whichpage...s=Facsimiles






There are copies of many things, all over the world. It's the forgeries that are dangerous.
I like my Cinderella collection of Facsimiles.

Londonbus1

I don't have a problem with facsimiles. Most of us will never own a real copy of the expensive classics. I don't own any facsimiles but wouldn't mind having some to fill spaces. But I'm got going to pay $1.00 each for them. As far as any showing up on ebay and people being mislead well then if someone is dumb enough to think someone will put a $100,000 stamp in a stamp album for sell then they deserve to be fooled. If someone intentionally puts it up for bid as an original then they have committed fraud and that's another issue altogether.

There is a very interesting split of opinion here. Those of us who think that the proliferation of excellent quality reproductions is evil, evil, evil and those who think they are harmless and can be enjoyed as useful adjuncts to a legitimate collection.

I agree with Ironhelm that we SHOULD be suspicious of valuable stamps appearing in unlikely places, but how about a small handful of interesting looking $50.00 items scattered in an older collection?

I think my main point is that we SHOULDN'T HAVE TO BE so wary and that cheap, well made, visually attractive items are a danger.

I don't suppose that I will change any minds. The only people who are right are thee and me ... and I often have doubts about thee!

Please don't forget that these Cinderellas are also issued by the World's Postal Services on special occasions.

They look very good too.

The coin collectors are having a horrible problem with this.
It is legal to counterfiet coins if you mark it somewhere with
the word 'copy'... However, you can buy high dollar coin copies
that are getting more convincing everyday, from China, and you
can specify that they not mark it as a copy. Of course all the
ads and ebay auctions have pictures of coins that are marked,
but anyone knows you can contact the seller to leave it off.

Then the coins (unmarked) show up on ebay almost immediately,
portrayed as 'real'. You can even look at the sellers' purchase
history and trace many of the coins right back to the auction
where the now seller bought them. It's crazy.

I'd hate to see the same thing happen to stamps, but these guys
are pros at finding a way to make a quick buck off Americans.
(and others, of course)