Anthony's Fake Fraud Counterfeit 315's And 321's...

Good reason to buy imperfs as pairs or blocks

"harvardmba is a fraud enabler. He is trying to get his cut of someone's fraud while making himself appear honest."

He has clearly marked the first stamp as a fake. He claims the second stamp is genuine. Tell me what he's doing that makes him an enabler of fraud?

As for the stamps sold by Anthony's, one would be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars if real, so it's highly unlikely it's real. I imagine the buyer may know that and simply be wanting a stamp to fill the space in his album. If not, then there is a problem.

Much more helpful, though, would be some specifics about what makes any of these stamps fake other than the likelihood they're not real. Even if we can agree that they may not be legitimate, claiming fraud in a public forum is dangerous without specific evidence of fraud. So let's have those details.

Apparently you do not know much about Anthony's, nor the stamp industry
time to get an education, young man...

The initial claim in this thread by diisi123, as well as this reply are textbook examples of what not to do in a public forum -- make claims without giving evidence, insult anyone who questions you, question people's integrity and experience.

The claim of fraud about Anthony's has not been supported yet by clear evidence that I can see. In fact, some claims in this thread go even further by making accusations about another dealer that seem unwarranted. Where's some evidence to show these claims are most likely not false? I asked for that evidence. You replied with an insult. Perhaps you're right that these stamps are fraudulent. If so, good for you. But let's see the evidence so we can decide.

And, contrary to your remarks about me, I've been collecting and studying stamps for nearly 60 years, so I actually know a great deal about stamps and the stamp business. I've also purchased stamps from Anthony's many times over many years without a problem. So that gives me some experience in that area, as well. It's your thread and your accusation. Now tell us why these stamps are fraudulent and why these dealers are scam artists, as you seem to think they are.

DrewM - You passion on the topic is admirable. However, it may be a bit misplaced. If you use the search function you will find first person accounts that detail why many people, including myself, feel as they do about Anthony's. The "bad guys" are not the good people of this forum but rather they are the unscrupulous sellers that are legion on ebay. Giving those sellers the benefit of the doubt is why they are able to bilk people for such a long time without repercussions.

There is always too much focus put on the usual list of "bad guys". It is a minefield out there.

But here's few ripoffs from Anthony's.

Cleaned pen cancel!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/US-Stamps-1...AOSwAydZwcYP

Trimmed perfs!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/US-Stamps-R...AOSwFYxZwagJ

Trimmed perfs! Scott #35
http://www.ebay.com/itm/US-Stamps-1...AOSw1aVZxvxe

Scott #9 not #5A!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/US-Stamps-6...AOSwg9dZxv3V

Dealers like Anthony's and NYStamps are particularly egregious since they do such a large amount of online business; impacting so many hobbyists. Some people write off their rip-offs as doing high volume but this is a lame excuse which basically means 'they don't have control of their own business'. Additionally, we see the same misidentification 'mistakes' over and over and vast majority of the time the mistakes favors them. The other obvious rip-off trend are mis-describing listings. After a few hundred examples it is more than just a simple mistake.

Anthony's apparently is not capable or experienced enough to identify trimmed perfs; they have countless (25+) listings for #315 which even a novice can see the remaining perf holes.









They list, and sell, one of these virtually every week. Where do they get so many of these? They have been contacted and told that a genuine #315 must measure at least 21.5mm x25 mm to be considered legitimate; so ignorance is no excuse. It is intentional.

I cannot see how anyone can justify damaging the hobby repeatedly over and over every week. I would not support either Anthony's or NYStamps with a dime of my money even if I found a 'bargain'.

Every week I get emails from hobbyists or their families who have feel taken by online dealers.

But the truth is that there is an endless supply of selfish, unethical people who are more than willing to take advantage of others and damage our hobby. So I now spend the majority of my time trying to educate less experienced hobbyists so they can become better informed buyers.

All of us can help our hobby by not supporting the 'ethically challenged' dealers and offering advice, support, and education of the less experienced. We have to emphasize the need to learn as much about who you are buying from as the material you are buying. We need to be careful about proclaiming our latest 'treasure/find' and qualify these posts with the understanding that this is unusual and typical takes years of effort to be able to find them.
Don

Here are a few more. Aside from the dozens of seriously overvalued and overpriced items. And this has been going on for decades, it's not close to fresh news.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/US-Stamps-R...AOSwozRZwaOS

http://www.ebay.com/itm/US-Stamps-R...AOSw1HxZwaI-

This one has been up for a couple of years, the actual cat value is under $1
http://www.ebay.com/itm/US-Stamps-R...AOSwFPRZwakc

http://www.ebay.com/itm/US-Stamps-R...AOSwG-1ZwbQM

http://www.ebay.com/itm/US-Stamps-R...AOSwhfhZwbRR

Education is the key. Studying and knowing about the stamp you want is your best protection. Understanding how alterations are done is important. In fact I consider this an important part of the education process. When a dealer has earned more than their fair share of questionable stamps then I say buyer beware.

Sometimes the excitement of a deal can cloud sound judgement. I would simple take this information as a warning when buying from these people.

We are in my mind a better community when we point out inconsistencies that warrant more discussion. A fool is easily parted from their money when they don't take the time to know what they are buying.

Sinclair and revcollctor: You posted examples of bad ebay lots, and in most cases I can see the problem, but in some cases I don't. If you have the time and inclination, can you comment on a few of them?

This one isn't something I would buy without a cert and not from this seller, but I don't see the cleaned pen cancel in the photo, even after manipulating it in photoshop. Where was the pen cancel?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/382231362180

Another one I wouldn't buy, but the wide side margins near the top make me think it's probably OK:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/382231320220

The margins on this are too narrow to be certified, but I don't see evidence that it was trimmed. A couple of notches at the left end of the bottom margin of this one don't look like remnants of perf holes to me. I'm not suggesting that anybody should buy this one or the smallish part-perf examples you pointed out. But since revenues are not my area of expertise, and certainly many genuine imperfs and part perfs started out with narrow margins, I might be tempted to fill a space in the back of my album with a narrow margin stamp if it looked good and the price was right.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/122715453214

DrewM... apparently, you haven't learned a whole lot about what goes on in this business in your 60 years... it's not a question of "think"... it's a matter of known fact...

-----

Special thanks to Don for the Anthony's postings...

Education is the key to stamp collecting. Know as much as you can about what you collect!

I really like Anthony's, as I've been able over many years to purchase many unrecognized desirable plate varieties, mostly really cheap. Of course some times I've over stepped my stamp budget.

In my opinion Anthony's isn't any better or any worst than other sellers, no matter where you find them. You need to educate yourself. If you buy something and you are happy with it, great.

Stampmaster

The first problem with the $10 charter party is the catalog value. He is using the value for a pair as the value for a single. Which is $825. It might be genuine, but the examples I showed are not.
You might not see the perforations on the second charter party example, but it has other serious problems. The shade and impression are wrong, and the cancel date is 2-3 years too late to be an imperf. NO DOUBT ABOUT IT, THIS STAMP IS A FAKE. You can spends your money any way you wish, but it's collectors like you that enable dealers like this to keep selling trash.

In my opinion supporting these kinds of dealers cannot be justified with the over-used 'buyer beware' logic. Less experienced hobbyists see these posts and others supporting them; they naturally follow suit. Additionally, every dollar that a person spends with the crap dealers is a dollar that is not spent with the good dealers. Support dealers and sellers who are doing a good job and ensure that the good dealers grow and thrive. Stop building up the bad dealers feedback scores and positive feedbacks. This CAN make a difference if the majority of us do this.

And why should some of us pour hundred of hours into trying to educate less experienced hobbyists and help the hobby when there are others who continue to support and promote buying from the bad dealers?

Leave the dark side, feel the force. Come join us in educating the less experienced and support our hobby.
Don

rev collector: I appreciate you sharing your knowledge.




The tag line came across as a bit of a personal attack. Maybe I'm just thin skinned. FWIW I've never bought a thing from Anthony's.

I respect your opinion, so... do you think there is a place for plausibly genuine imperf and part perf revenues that don't have wide margins? Should they be destroyed? There was something about the subject in one of the Opinions books, but that was about a scarce example. I'm thinking of the common ones. Sorry this is a bit off topic.