Who Deals In Japanese Stamps

On the contrary, that's important stuff to put out there, Dave.

Everyone needs to keep in mind that Fournier, reviled by many today as the preeminent 'dirty rotten forger', was a stamp dealer who produced copies of stamps, and sold copies of stamps made by others, too.

If it was the 1910s, and you had missed out on any number of early stamp issues (which might have sold out before you even heard of them), the 'forgers' were there to produce copies for your album, so that you could fill spaces. Fournier might charge x for a rough copy, and 3x for a really nice copy. This was all understood as part of the game.

Literature also grew up to help out the collectors who wanted to make sure they were getting the real thing. Just like today, not everyone wanted spacefillers.

Thanks, Cjd, both for the encouragement and especially for filling in some of the details. I am hoping to not only get better about identifying the Japanese forgeries (some are easier than others), but to also learn more of the backstory. I have some of the key references; just need to find the time to make it a priority.

Cheers!

-- Dave

Thanks Cid!