Ebay Listing For 1847 US Washington Sperati Forgery

Everything in the title except maybe XF seems misleading: #2 VAR. XF "SPERATI REPRINT" USED. Not a #2 variety, not a reprint, and probably forged cancel rather than used. Nice stamp and the bidders probably know what they are getting, but when you only have a title description it should be accurate.

Sperati reprint? Did he pull out his old plates years later and crank out more forgeries? Did he keep records that were dug up years later by specialists?


http://www.ebay.com/itm/141612357490?ru=http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html%3F_from%3DR40%26ghostText%3D%26_sacat%3D0%26_nkw%3D141612357490%26_rdc%3D1

Yes, but you get 10% if you purchase 2, lol

You are right Ray, he should have described it (accurately) as simply "A Sperati Forgery".

The seller probably used the word "reprint" because of the ridiculous ebay requirement that forgeries be marked on the back. It may be that the word "forgery" in the title would get the listing pulled. Unfortunately, the ebay requirement for marking modern forgeries is not specific enough. Some mass production sellers mark by adding a rubber stamped legend on the surface of the gum. Certain bogus items have later turned up on ebay offered as the genuine item but without gum.

In any case a Sperati forgery is quite collectible and should not be defaced or marked on the back.

Clark

cfrphoto...Well, here is a seller calling this REPRINT stamps forgeries.
And when I got them, they did NOT ahve copy on the back..But that was ok, I can use them as fillers or give them to kids at the stamp club.

Wert: Are these forgeries engraved printings?

Your post shows clearly why the ebay marking requirement is silly and ineffective. I doubt if more than one or two sellers have ever been busted for photoshopping the back of the stamp with a word like "copy" or "facsimile". While the word copy is somewhat ambiguous, it fits the back of the stamp better assuming that it is actually present. It seems clear that photoshopping the word "forgery" or "Sperati" onto the back of the faux US number 2 listing would detract because some potential buyers would probably not be able to figure out the "wink, wink, nudge, nudge" indication that back image could be ignored, something that repeat buyers would know. The easier solution for the seller was substituting the word "reprint" for "forgery" in the title.

To remind readers of how irresponsible and incompetent ebay application of "rules", just try to sell stamps from the time of the US military occupation of Cuba after the Spanish-American war. Instead of applying some intelligence to the issue, if there is one, ebay chose to ban words like "Cuba" from titles, and possibly the description. This did not make the owners of covers from Cuba, NY happy either. I wonder how a hypothetical ebay seller living in Cuba, NY would fare. It is not clear to me that ebay has any actual responsibility for enforcing bans on products from embargoed countries. If so, would be up to ebay to provide sellers a means of defining the country of manufacture and the time period before attempting any enforcement.

What ebay is doing now is not only incompetent, but it is intellectually lazy, showing a lack of understanding of the philatelic marketplace and their complete lack of common sense. As Bill can attest, ebay has shown an appalling indifference to the welfare of buyers in the stamp marketplace.

Clark

Here is another example of a filler I got (have not got it yet)....Will see if "COPY" is actually on the back.

Robert

I agree that ebay has ridiculous rules enforced by people who don't know the first thing about stamp collecting. I still think there are better ways around the issue.

How about "Sperati version of U.S. #2"? I wouldn't use 'reproduction' either, but it is more accurate than reprint. Reprint makes me wonder if Sperati stole the original plates. Or maybe Bargain Bill has Sperati's and is cranking them out himself. As Area66 said, 10% off for 2 or more.

He could have used the same title minus the letters "RE" in "REPRINT" and called it a "Sperati print." The big thing is that he made an association between the item in the picture and the name "Sperati" which speaks volumes to those who know that story. Those who don't know that name/word/term should use Google before plunking down $600.

If I were after a US #2, the presence of that name in the title would put me on alert, and wave me off. But If I were after a Sperati print, my chief concern would be that his identification of it as a Sperati is correct.

no they are just computer printed and he make perforations

Who did..?

For those who don't know the story (I never studied it before) you may find this link quite an interesting read:

http://www.philatelicfoundation.org...-Sperati.pdf

Great link wt1....thanks
Robert

you say you purchase them, so you know who send it to you

@wt1
Interesting read. Did you notice on p.23 the statement that starting sometime in the late 40s to early 50s, "His work became so famous that he was swamped with orders for reprints of his forgeries?" Maybe classing it as a "Sperati reprint" isn't so far off after all.