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Bermuda, Scott # 4 Forgery Or Real?

 
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Valued Member
United States
107 Posts
Posted 03/30/2018   02:28 am  Show Profile Bookmark this topic Add hawkstamp to your friends list Get a Link to this Message
I really need some help here. One of my Bermuda stamps is, what I believe, the Scott #4. I have been reading up on this stamp and a lot is being said about forgeries about this stamp. Furthermore, As the picture shows, the stamp has a large margin on the left side. Is this perhaps a "winged margin" I read about? Hence my questions: Is my stamp real or a forgery, is this a winged margin, and does anybody know of the name shown on the back of this stamp?
I appreciate all the help I can get.
Pete




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Pillar Of The Community
United Kingdom
1255 Posts
Posted 03/30/2018   03:37 am  Show Profile Bookmark this reply Add Tim H to your friends list  Get a Link to this Reply
Pete, at first glance it looks genuine. Nobody bothers to forge a wing margin, and you have a stamp watermarked 'Crown CC', which is the correct watermark. Forgers only tended to use watermarked paper on high values or rarities.

The stamp looks discoloured. Am I correct? Bear in mind that there are two shades of the perf. 14 stamps, the rare dull purple (1865) and dull mauve (1874) and it's fair to asume that yours is the commoner one.
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Valued Member
United States
107 Posts
Posted 03/30/2018   11:51 am  Show Profile Bookmark this reply Add hawkstamp to your friends list  Get a Link to this Reply
Hi Tim,
Thank you very much. I think I took a bad picture, not showing the true color. If you could look at the latest pictures please and give me your opinion. Also any idea what is meant be the letters or name on the back of the stamp?
Thank you very much,
Pete
(don't know why the pictures are sideways, They are correct on my storage.

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Edited by hawkstamp - 03/30/2018 12:00 pm
Pillar Of The Community
United Kingdom
1255 Posts
Posted 03/30/2018   3:27 pm  Show Profile Bookmark this reply Add Tim H to your friends list  Get a Link to this Reply
Pete, this is a call I can't make without recourse to a colour chart or comparison with another stamp of the same colours. If you have a local stamp shop (or even a print shop which has a colour recognition facility) take it there and compare. Colours come out different on every scanner, and the human eye also processes them differently depending on person, age and environment.

The initials on the back, J.S. Leile if I can make it out, will be a dealer's mark, a common European practice in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Some people.accept these as a mark of authenticity, but these marks can also be forged so I usually accept it as a mark of ownership rather than anything else.

Hope this helps a bit. Tim
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Pillar Of The Community
Australia
3282 Posts
Posted 03/30/2018   10:55 pm  Show Profile Bookmark this reply Add Bobby De La Rue to your friends list  Get a Link to this Reply
I had a look here https://www.filatelia.fi/experts/index.html but couldn't find a reference to the dealer/expert mark. It looks like J.S.LE. and then two characters I can't make out.
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Valued Member
Denmark
445 Posts
Posted 03/31/2018   04:25 am  Show Profile Bookmark this reply Add ClassicalStamps to your friends list  Get a Link to this Reply
Forgeries of these classic Queen Victoria is rather easy to distinguish from genuine.
Compare this forgery to you own copy:

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Valued Member
168 Posts
Posted 03/31/2018   08:55 am  Show Profile Bookmark this reply Add Mount-this to your friends list  Get a Link to this Reply
Hawkstamp, It looks like a Scott #5 to me, assuming it's perf. 14. You can compare it to the #4 and #5 in my collection, which can be found here:

https://goscf.com/t/55363&SearchTerms=bermuda

I like the wing margined stamps, but if given the choice, I would rather have a stamp that didn't have foxing around the edges.
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Edited by Mount-this - 03/31/2018 09:02 am
Valued Member
United States
107 Posts
Posted 04/01/2018   1:24 pm  Show Profile Bookmark this reply Add hawkstamp to your friends list  Get a Link to this Reply
Happy Easter!
Thanks to everybody that helped me out. Seems like I can always come to this Forum and get the help I need. Again, thank you all.

Pete
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