Counterfeit R358 Discovered

I don't know if anyone has found counterfeit Reds or Greens, but it appears they exist.

Below is an image of a copy of R727 with a counterfeit Series 1942 overprint. As you can see, the overprint is smudged, it's crooked and the most telling sign is the serial number does not match the known numerical sequence.



Does anyone know if a listing of serial numbers on the Reds and Greens has been done? I have a listing, but it's incomplete. Maybe someday I'll get around to spending time on it (with my numerous other projects).

It does match. 85 would be the top stamp of the pane of four. The overprint looks funny, but it would have to be seen in person to know that it is counterfeit.

There is certainly a possibility that it is an unoverprinted stamp that has a fake series 1942 overprint.

Yes a published listing of the serial numbers used for the reds and greens exist. It appears in the Cunnlife 20th century sale by Kelleher from the early nineties, if I recall it was also published in Linns stamp news. Stamp is definitely with a counterfeit year series. I am away so I don't have all the data.

A serial number list exists for the various "SERIES 1940" handstamps, and the style of the serial numbers did change (this is the wrong style for 1942, so it is almost certainly fake). There might be a list of the KNOWN serial numbers of the scarce reds and greens, but that does not preclude them from having numbers well out of range, since they had to be delivered to various IRS offices around the country.

Yes, of course, it's a counterfeit "Series 1942" overprint. On the illustrated example, this style font of the serial numbers was not introduced until Series 1950, when the serial numbers were reset to begin at 1. The serial numbers on the $100 Series 1942 range from 44,761 to 52,720. So not only is the serial number the wrong font, but it is outside the required range by a mere 630,965.

For anyone who wishes the entire list of serial numbers on the reds and greens, message me privately.

Ron Lesher

Where is that info, I have never seen it.

Gregg Nelson has been offering as the genuine article forged overprints on the Silver Tax. When I messaged him that they were forgeries, he did not respond. When I filed a complaint with ebay, he banned me from sending him messages and from purchasing from him. So he has "blocked" me. No loss.

When I get the chance to scan one of the Silver Tax forgeries, I will post here. Based on the misalignment and the smudged appearance, I would guess that the forger is the same who produced the $100 documentary in this thread. I further speculate that these are recently produced forgeries.

Any ideas who may be doing these forgeries?

The first image is a genuine RG13. Take note of the yellow green color of the underlying documentary stamp. Take note of the placement of the letter T of TAX.



The second image is the modern forgery. Note the green color of the underlying stamp. Also the placement of the letter T of TAX. Also take note of the slightly slope to the overprint with relation to the stamp. The slope reminds me very much of the Series 1942 overprint that initiated this thread. I know, it doesn't help that my stamp is also slightly atilt!



This latter stamp was sold by Gregg Nelson as the genuine article.

Look in Kellher sale 596A from November 10, 1994, the Stock Transfer numbers are also in Richard Friedberg's book.

Close examination will show other noticeable differences in the overprints in the thickness and shape of the letters. The cancel is also wrong on the fake.

The venerable George B. Sloane wrote in 1948 in The American Revenuer about the fake cancel on the forged silver tax stamps. Actually half a cancel in imitation of the internal revenue cancel that we see in so many genuine used silver tax stamps. The forger made quite an effort to supply a not very expensive silver tax stamp. Somewhere I have such a forgery in which the cancel was applied in such a way that it did not make it to the edge of the stamp. The cancel simply stops cold short of the edge.

All the genuine cancel examples I can remember are violet or purple, not black.

Bart,

I think you are correct that all the genuine cancels are in the violet family. And the forged cancels I have encountered are all black.

Ron,

Gregg Nelson is a member of APS. Wouldn't what he's doing constitute ethical violations per APS rules?