K..now I Need Super Help

Both are fake?
guess they can go into the bin..
Thanks for all the help !

Rod my comment is...I'll trade ya...lol

I am confused.. if the left one of rod's is real. it has the broken link? I thought a broken link meant a fake.

Sorry for the confusion.

1. The broken link at the bottom near the right corner indicates a fake. Therefore both of Gord's stamps are fakes. It is a conclusive test. However, you must be sure the break is not due to other printing issues...

2. The reason I wanted a blow-up is because sometimes it appears that there is a broken link, but it may be due to ink drop-out, smudge, or worn plate. The blow-up clearly shows the exact break consistent with the known fake.

3. As an example of what appears to be a genuine stamp that has what appears to be broken links, I pointed out the left stamp in Rod's picture. You will see there is NO broken link at the bottom right. However, you will see many broken links elsewhere. Those broken links are due to inking issues and plate wear -- not a design difference.

Hopefully I didn't add to the confusion or cause any new confusion!

Gord, I keep all my fakes. They make for interesting conversation, and they are pieces of philatelic history.

For instance, consider Gord's 2 stamps. The originals were issued in 1906. Gord's 2 fakes were produced in Paris around 1929.

There are also other types of fakes for this set. So just because you don't see the break in the lower right corner doesn't mean it is genuine.

Kim,
Rod's "real" stamp
right above the bottom right hand corner.. the vertical links.. there is a broken one there... that does not count?
or does it just have to be broken on the bottom set of links.

Only at the bottom frame, and right next to the bottom right corner. It is always the same link and the exact same appearance, as the printing on the fakes is consistently clear (although you have to have sufficient magnification/resolution to be certain). There are no other broken links in the forgery, therefore, when it comes to the "broken link" test, that is the only one that should be examined.

All the other broken links that you may see on genuine stamps are always useful studies, but they will not be associated with fakes. That's why I mentioned some of the other broken links on the leftmost stamp in Rod's pic. All those broken links are associated with other factors, such as inking, plate wear, smudging... and not associated with fakes.

I also want to clarify, I'm not saying the stamp at left in Rod's pic in genuine, although it looks pretty good.

It is definitely not any of the 2 most common types of forgeries. I don't know enough about the cancels of that time period to tell you if the cancel is genuine or perhaps favor-cancelled after the fact. Somebody else will need to chime in on that.

Most of the genuine cancels I've seen aren't so well placed in the corner and don't look like that cancel in the upper left. The cancel toward the lower right, can't really tell. However, I certainly don't claim to have seen all the legitimate cancels of that time period. Ironically, the non-circular cancels are more likely to be non-CTOs!

In Gord's blow-up below, I have used a red line to mark the specific missing link of interest, and that is how it should appear in this type of fake (which is the most common).

Other countries with a lot of fakes / reprints are the later Transvaal stamps (c 1885 on). After the defeat of the Transvaal (Zuid Afrikaanshe Republiek) in the Anglo Boer War of 1899-1902, the original plates of these stamps were used in Europe for making reprints. Some of these were also overprinted with the "V. R. I." and "E. R. I." overprints as used in the English occupation of the Transvaal. The false overprints are easy to spot (they are too regular), but some of the other reprints are less obvious. Brief notes on this in the Stanley Gibbons British specialised catalogues. If you come across a "valuable" Transvaal stamp of this period, the odds are that it will be a fake.

Another country with lots of fakes is the Transvaal. After the defeat of the Transvaal (Zuid Afrikaansche Republiek) in the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902, the original plates of many of the stamps issued from 1885 - 1899 were used in Europe to make reprints which can sometimes be a bit hard to distinguish. Most are unused, but there are some with (very clean) cancellations. These plates were also used with fake British occupation overprints (V.R.I. and E.R.I), but these are easy to spot as they are too regular. There seem to be vast numbers around - chances are, if it seems a valuable Transvaal stamp and looks clean and in good condition, it's almost certainly a fake.

Sorry, my first posting seemed to get lost in e-space and then reappeared. I'm not trying to cheat to get to my 50!

As for fakes, hell, I collect them if they are interesting - but put a note in the album. There are some lovely fake early German Cinderellas - Hamburg boat company etc. And after all a hundred year old fake is still a hundred years old!

Agreed, collecting Z.A.R. can be very tedious. Another one of those in my "sort later" glassines.

Ok, so silicon / silica person here (I thought that a spock thread)... but, yes, rice works, just don't leave it in something which isn't "really sealed" to begin with because you'll attract "more critters, bugs, what have you" which can and will do just as much, if not more, damage in the first place. Back to silicone.... er...saliva... errrr silica...

Now, if you want to keep the brown sugar soft, or flour dense cookies moist... add a slice of apple to their storage container. :)

Spock... thy thread runneth over. ;0