Confederate Stamps. Real? Fake?

Hello again,

I'm sure I'm the millionth person on here to request help with this but with the scans below, is anyone able to give me an educated guess on what I have here? I bought a 5 pound box of loose stamps inherited from someone's grandfather. I've gone through maybe 6 ounces of it so far and have already found some good stuff so far as well as these 8 Confederate stamps scattered within the clutter.


Thank you!

Not an expert, but these look fake to me

What you have is "Springfield" facsimiles, which were produced by Tatham Stamp Co. back (I think) about the 1940s/50s era. Some of them have the word "Facsimile" printed on the back, some don't. They are reasonably well done and can fool lots of people. You can probably find full sets + original envelope on sale either on ebay (search "Springfield Facsimiles" in the Confederate section or try Eric Jackson's website, where he has a seperate offering of most all of the Tatham productions. Some are quite pricey. Hope this helps.**

Spelling errors corrected.....sorry.

Interesting, thanks. So these could possibly be valuable fake versions of the originals?

In short, yes.

I would like to point out one thing though. Collectors are careful to use the correct terminology. The use of the word "fake" is used to describe items that are meant to fool people into believing they are the real things. Facsimiles, reprints, et al, are usually intended to create inexpensive versions of uncommon/rare stamps, or to use as advertising gimicks.

As Bill pointed out, these facsimiles are collectable and sometimes become valuable. He is not saying the stamps pictured here are valuable, just that they merit investigation.

Brian

You could pick up a complete set of 12 on stampwants right now for $16. Just to give some perspective on pricing. (They are not mine, and I'm not related to the seller.)

"Stampwants" = bidStart, for those in Rio Linda.

Only a fellow-listener would understand the reference ...

Yup, wondered if I'd smoke 'em out. Been listening for 24 years, not quite from the beginning. Glad to know you are one!