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
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.
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.
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.
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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