Scott 1694 - Bear Stamp - Hidden Forgery Counter Measures.

Hi guys

Take a look at this block of Scott 1694 and see what measures were taken to try to prevent forgeries made.

It is the biggest stamp Canada has put out.Measures 64 mm x 48.9 mm

Robert

Here is the block of Scott 1694




Take a look at the right back leg..If you look really close you can see the "number 8" on the inside of the bears leg.



The two lines in the upper right corner under the word Canada, is actually 14 words "MAILPOSTE"



The sky is made up of "blue bears"



The grass is made up from "green bears".



The copy right is small and hidden in he grass under the right paw of the bear.



The number "one" in the bear that is avoid of colour indicates it came from the first printing.

wow!

Two things. First it is not the largest stamp Canada has issued. the $10 blue whale is twice the size. Second, did CPC really imagine that forgers would not see that 8 inscribed in the bear's leg?!

Checked my single copy (MNH-VF), wert....very nice observations

René

Ya Rene...Never noticed the number 8 before.
BTW.Just got the book...thanks.

Robert

And at that time, it WAS the biggest stamp.


I dont know..ask them.

wert:



I left my father's notes with it....take good care of it !!!

René

None of the security measures noted are hard to see under magnification but they would make things more troublesome for photographing a genuine to copy and make into forgeries. Some of the current US postal forgeries are kind of sloppy -- the forgers aren't going for perfection. So perhaps their idea is more to fake out postage buyers who think they're getting a huge deal on postage.

Are such anti-forgery measures common nowadays? How about in U.S. stamps?

StamperMA, US stamps nowadays use microprint somewhere in the design. That is supposed to make forgery a bit more complicated

Peter

That's a beautiful series - one of my favourites. Just got a bunch in a recent accumulation purchase.

from: CanadaStamp



Another beautiful specimen

The first US stamps to use microprinting was the 1992 American Wildflower Series. Here is a backgrounder...
http://postalmuseumblog.si.edu/2011...-part-1.html


Don

Here is Part 2 of the article Don referenced: http://postalmuseumblog.si.edu/2011...-part-2.html

It doesn't have much more information than Part 1, however a Google search on "postage stamp microprinting" brings up a number of more comprehensive articles.

Dennis

This is US data.....does not touch Canada stamps - Rene

Stay tuned for the Bighorn sheep $3 definitive this year. Should be in this same series.