New! Looking Forward To Meeting You!

Hello everyone! I'm new to this community and am glad to be here to be able to communicate with others who share the same love of stamps. I can't wait to hear your thoughts, opinions, as well as your expertise. I'll start off by asking what anyone thinks about this stamp. I stumbled on it in my grandfather's 92 year old collection and was wondering your thoughts. Does it seem to be real? I just can't tell. I know it is not the same as the world's most valuable stamp, but it bears a striking resemblance and might be a true from British Guiana. What do you guys think? Thanks!

Hi and welcome!

To cut to the chase, no way that is genuine. It's one of the many fake reproductions of the one cent rarity. There is only a single one cent value of this design and that is the unique rarity. For one, the printing is lithographed and not typeset like the genuine. The originals (there are several 4 cent values in a similar background color) must have a countersignature on them to be used. Colors are not easily figured from scans and computer monitors, but the real color is not this dark originally but was more due to the original being so dirty at one time. This still remains a fun thing to keep.

A big help would be to drop by your local library's reference section and you will probably find the Scott catalogs alphabetically arranged by country name. So British Guiana will be in the first volume. Older versions might be available for checkout, but I warn you, they are heavy. The preface section will tell you a lot but might cause your head to spin at some point. StampWorld is an online catalog that has its uses as a quick reference.

Welcome!


Peter

Welcome. I concur that it is a reproduction.
Don

Ah, I remember coming across one of these in a circuit book, listed for $1. The owner had written next to it, "Well, one can dream..."

Welcome!

Welcome to the forum! A great resource you have found!

Thanks for the welcome and answering my question!

Further reading.
You may wish to search this forum (The Top Search option)
with "British Guiana Magenta" text string.

Welcome!

Dale

Welcome Aboard!

StampingIsLife

Collecting for the enjoyment of collecting, whatever that might be, is the name of the game. Don't hesitate to ask questions especially if you need basic information and especially more advanced sources of information for any possible topic. You should be able to find folks on this board a little further along on their collecting journey glad to share experiences. Russ

Thank you to all of you for making me feel so welcome. Looking forward to learning and growing as a stamp collector. I'm really thankful to be here.