White Collar TV Show Episode "Return To Sender"

Am I the only one who watches the very entertaining TV series White Collar on the USA cable channel? I guess I am since no one else has posted anything regarding last night's episode "Return to Sender" which featured the protagonist, Neal Caffrey, tasked with stealing a copy of the Treskilling Yellow. In the episode there are two extant copies of the Treskilling. The copy Caffrey is to steal is being auctioned by an individual to a very select, wealthy private audience. There is some nice dialog poking fun at stamp collectors which I have added to my collection of stamp quotations. (OK, some people collect stamps, I also collect things people have said about stamps: http://globalstamps.blogspot.com/20...tations.html)

One fun part is where a fake Treskilling Yellow needs to be passed off as authentic. One of the characters in trying to fool some non-philatelists remarks "The shade of yellow is a dead giveaway that it's authentic. You see they used to mix uranium in with the ink to give it a color that is impossible to fake today."

Speaking of quotations, there apparently is a bit of philatelic content in the movie Foxcatcher that is about John DuPont who owned the unique British Guiana 1c magenta. Although I understand that the film is very good, it isn't the kind of movie I will go to see. Perhaps someone else who does will post a comment.

I have not seen any episode of this series.

In the past, there have been a few tv series that had stamps involved in the plot, some genuine and some of the non-existing type of stamps. Always interesting to see philately crop up on tv.

Chimo

Bujutsu

I agree. And it is always interesting to see what the writers get "right." My take is that with the possible exception of the sequence where a forged copy of the Treskilling is being created, that this is a credible philatelic plot.

I've been pondering, though, why the writers chose to use the Swedish Treskilling Yellow rather than the 1c Magenta British Guiana. Perhaps it is because even though both stamps are unique, a greater part of the folklore attached to the British Guiana derives from it being one of a kind.

Which I guess would make an interesting poll: Which stamp, the Treskilling Yellow or the One Cent Magenta, would seem less special if there were two of them? Or is that a silly question?

I am not really sure how to answer that simply because the two rarities in question have been on a 'teeter-totter', as far as making record prices are concerned in the various auctions the past ten years or so.

However, if I was asked to make a choice, I would be inclined to think that the British Guiana one is the most famous.

Just an opinion of course.

Chimo

Bujutsu

I thought there was only one of them.

IBFS

Yes, only one Treskilling in the real world. This was artistic license on the part of the tv writers. The plot pretends there are two (well, three, if you count the forgery created during the episode).

That's why I started to wonder, if you wrote say a novel that introduced a second copy of an iconic, unique rarity, is there a logical reason to chose the Treskilling Yellow rather than the 1 cent Magenta?

Thanks for sharing this! White collar is delightful - action that doesn't always revolve around solving a murder like 90% of the shows today. Caught the fellow who plays the FBI agent as a Senator in Agents of Shield.

philatelia7, I agree completely. And the fact that some collectable is usually involved in the plot makes the show even more enjoyable.

Incidentally, for anyone new to the series, this is the final season, but I don't think you will be at a tremendous disadvantage watching the last episodes without having seen earlier ones.

Seasons 1-4 of White Collar are available on Netflix streaming also dvds. Enjoy!