Bluenose Man On The Mast Forgeries?

Just wondering, short of getting a CoA, are there any known things to watch for when buying this variety to help ensure you are getting the real thing?

Hello JR1960

We recently had a "man in the mast" submitted to the Greene Foundation for a certificate. The stamp looked really good until it was examined in the VSC 6000 under spot fluorescence with a 645 nm infrared filter at which time the "man in the mast" disappeared! Further examination also showed that the "man" was added using an ink that was absorbed into the paper rather than sitting on the surface as is typical of stamps produced by the intaglio process. Obviously, the originator of this fraud did good work but did not get the correct ink. We subjected the stamp to several other forensic processes but only the above two tests disclosed the fake.

My recommendation is that a certificate be obtained for expensive varieties.

GJP

Oh man, the owner of that stamp must have been CRUSHED :(

I double what GJP stated... no COA, stay away unless he's fine with going escrow until the stamp is expertized. Unfortunately PayPal only covers you for 45 days, expertization can take a couple of months.

Dan

Yeah ok thx guys. I just watched a F copy go for $150 on ebay after a flurry of last second bidding. It was not particularly attractive due to a smudge cancel, but reasonably sound except for a couple of short perfs. No certificate, so I restrained myself...

gportch, that's fascinating. You must have some great stories!

A related story to this I thought I would share.

A number of years back when I started buying stamps off ebay, there was a "lot" of mint stamps up for sale. Since I was just beginning my collection, I often looked for lots that I could buy for a good price.

Anyway, the seller had scanned pretty well every stamp in this lot (which is somewhat unusual, but OK). Going through the scans, I noted two Seaway inverts. Yes, two, mixed in with this somewhat ordinary lot. Each was in it's own card (as were many other ordinary stamps).

Now, OK, I think to myself, it's possible, but really? After all these years, no one noticed two copies of Canada's most famous stamp variety?

Well, I thought, I'll keep an eye on it, and bid based on the normal value (assuming these are fakes - not hard to create really, glue an inverted center on).

Well, the price stayed around the same for a typical lot, so I am thinking, wouldn't it be cool to get this and find out they were genuine. Maybe no one else bothered to go through the pictures. The inverts were mixed in and were not overtly obvious.

So I wait and guess what, the lot price jumps from about $100 to $5000 in the last few seconds. Obviously at least two others saw them and bid hoping for a bonanza.

Were they real? I truly doubt it, but I will never know for sure. The seller either lost out, or was a really good scam artist. In those days, getting your money back was not so easy and I wouldn't have risked it. Besides the seller never said there were inverts included, so the buyer would have some trouble in a court case if it went that far.

Wow, that would be something huh? Great story, thx for sharing