Cape Of Hope Triangle Woodblock 1d?

Hi everyone! I'm new at this and I have been searching the internet for answers, unfortunaty I have not been able to find any on this particular stamp because of its color, being blue and most one penny stamps are red in color. So maybe some one can help me?

Sorry, looks like a forgery/reproduction.

Thanks for being honest! how could you tell?

Genuine stamp was printed in pale milky blue colour.

This is from Medina Collection and was auctioned in London 6 months ago

Hi palominogold,

This is all I found in my notes on these. Maybe others here can expand on them.

Cape of Good Hope 'woodblocks' were the second printing of these stamps, produced in 1861 by Solomons. Engraved on steel plates by C. J. Roberts they got their name from their crude appearance. Printed by typography on laid paper which has the appearance of impressed crossed parallel lines in the wove of the paper. No watermark. There were several printings of the penny blue and four penny vermillion and numerous shades. Famously forged by the Spiro brothers on their litho presses, often with the addition of forged postmarks. The 'Woodblock' issue included the error when one penny blue and the four penny vermillion engravings were inserted into the wrong plates producing penny vermillion and four penny blue errors.

Terry

Thanks!

Hi palominogold,

Found a bit more. Apparently the Spiro brothers added forged postmarks to their forged Cape Triangular stamps so as to avoid being charged with defrauding the Post Office by faking mint stamps which could be used for postage.. Seems they were ok with defrauding collectors. I still might seek one of their forgeries out. Just one other aspect of postal history really.

Terry

Its on thick paper, and the end of course are uneven, the back has what looks like it had glue on it..Just baffles me why people would want a forged stamp in their collection?

I checked to see if there was any relevant info in Greg Allan's Cape of Good Hope 1853-1864 Triangle Stamps: How to tell if yours is real. I think he does illustrate your forgery on page 34, but the image is only labeled "Courtesy of Bob Lane (USA)" with no other information.

To me, two big differences from the real woodblocks are the lack of a horizontal line above the country name and the comparatively large space on either side of "ONE PENNY" and the corner ornaments.

Hi Palomino Gold: you pondered why people would want a forged stamp in their collections. My main specialty the past 20 years has been Portugal and Colonies. The early Crown issues of the colonies were extensively forged, by Fournier especially. Part of being a "specialist" is having the knowledge to recognize these and then once identified, they become part of the collection. In my mind, having forgeries sort of expands a collection and adds to the fun of collecting. I also know; although can't give you a specific name off the top of my head; that some forged issues are more rare than the originals. Really depends on the country.

Do a google for Varro Tyler, who passed away in 2001. He was a long time professor of pharmacology at Purdue and possibly the foremost U.S. expert of the 20th century on forged postage stamps. I think Amos Press/Linn's Stamp News still publishes one of his books. When his collection was auctioned off in the mid-2000s, the various countries brought top dollar.

I concur that the Tyler book is a must for worldwide collectors. But look for the 2nd (2000?) edition. I believe it is out of print so no longer available from Linns/Amos, but you can find it on ebay, et al for a reasonable price, if you are patient.

Thanks 1840. Should also do a "plug" for the Serrane guide on forgeries, which is available through the APS. I suspect also can be found via ebay, Amazon, etc.