Watch Out For This Fake Grill

Got this one at a recent auction for $125 plus 10% house commission (not ebay). The description said it's a 138 without gum with minor faults. Cat $4250 or $1550 without gum.




How did I do?

essayk,

I know nothing of the classics, but that is a beautiful stamp (yes, it has faults, but it is still a great looking stamp). I'm guessing you did okay.

essayk.....you know.
This is NOT a #138....you want me to post....
or let someone else.
OK...tell him why??

essayk.....please dont think Im bashing you like
another poster in another thread.

OK, I'll bite - the grill is not authentic. Notice the single pin-like grill holes and the slant to the grill matrix orientation.

Sorry!

Dave....there is more.

Looking closer, I see that some of the grill impressions aren't in a straight line. Not sure if the point spacing is correct.

Sorry, essayk, this appears to be a manufactured item. Technically, also with some manufactured perforations...

Dont want to steal essayk s thunder.....
I will let him reply.

but...there is more evidence

OK, I'll wait now for others to chime in

But wait - it's not even the National Banknote company - it has the secret mark...!

Sorry, couldn't help myself...

Fake perforations on all four sides too.

Thanks for holding off Kevin.

orstampman got the main points, especially noticing the secret marks, the Continental giveaway.

But the real reason I wanted to post this was so I could point out some things about the grill. I have seen this particular fake before on another stamp from a completely different vendor. I don't think those sellers have anything in common, and I suspect there may be quite a few examples of this fake floating around.


Let me assure you that this stamp arrived in my mail two days ago, and yesterday afternoon it was sent on its way back to the seller, with a deduction from the invoice (per his suggestion). But I did take some time to record it this time, which I did not do for the 139 I had to return several weeks ago.

Heheh, 'minor faults'. :) I count at least three creases, the tear, the reperfs, possibly an added corner, and the fake grill. I wouldn't be surprised to find the cancel was removed too...

A couple of years ago there was a seller on ebay for quite a while whose specialty was buying ungrilled stamps on ebay, adding grills to them then reselling them at enormous profits. Fortunately, the fake grills were not very "good fakes" so we caught him and got him shut down. I can't say for sure if this was his work, but this one reminds me of his poor work. Any faker worth his salt woul be sure to put a fake grill on the correct stamp, which explains probably the poor work.

To add a slightly different slant, if I read the Scott Specialized correctly, having the Continental secret mark and a grill does leave 160a, the J grill, as a possibility. So not a complete open/shut case against Continentals as suggested above.

Of course the grill dimensions/points are completely wrong on this stamp for a J grill, thus easily determined to be a faked grill.

Just curious, and trying to learn something here, what is the giveaway for reperfing on all 4 sides? Nothing is jumping out at me with that. Thanks.

A reasonable thought, but the 'J' grill looks nothing like any of the other grills. In this case, even without the secret marks, this grill screams "fake".

I admire the tenacity of our members for working to expose the fakes out there on the market, but it's a hard pill to swallow when you're fronting your own money to do so. Well done!

Brian