How Do You Tell A Fake Maltese Cross?

There are some MC cancellations that look outright fake, but I believe there are some out there that are hard to tell. The composition of a MC cancellation is no rocket science:
-1 lb of printers red ink
-1 pint of linseed oil
-1/2 pint of the droppings of sweet oil
-All to be well mixed.

I get especially suspicious when MC cancellations come with really fresh red ink having been around for 170 odd years.

This cover is available for sale at £225. I suspect that the original stamp was affixed at the top right with traces of red ink at the top right and the PB and cancellation at the bottom right were doctored into the cover. The ink looks rather fresh as well. Of course I could be wrong...

One of my suspicions is also based on the fact that the quality of the red ink stain around the cover is different from the neat MC cancellation. If anyone differs in opinion, please feel free to share.

This is the back of the cover which I did not post earlier...

Have you used the "search" function on this forum? Look on any page here on the top right hand side and you can find the button - your question has been asked before and you might find some great answers

Peter

With all of your suspicions on this cancel and that stain, I'd pass.

Rod222 posted on the ink composition on the MC but my question in this post is specific to the cover I posted due to the observations I mentioned earlier.

Sweet oil = Olive oil?

Sweet oil is a derivative of olive oil and is a softening agent that is used in many skincare products. Not sure if it is being used because of its softening properties.

Firstly, I could live with the toned strip on the left, but not with the strong central stain. Just on that basis, I think you can do better with another cover.

This needs more thorough examination and research. That tone strip should probably affect the stamp though that's hard to tell even with the enlarged view. One would want to see, if the left side of the stamp is not stuck down hard, that the tone strip isn't under the stamp.

One would want to check out what other Sudbury MC cancels look like (color used and overall appearance), particularly around the date of use here. Though the ink recipe is supposedly fixed, it doesn't mean it was strictly adhered to, it doesn't say to remix every day or week, it doesn't say which brand of ink to use. Otherwise it would hard to explain the variety of reds used other than oxidation (at time of use or over the years), or some of the tremendously oily strikes of MCs.

On the front, we see an offset (from another letter), including smudges, of the red London receiver that is on the back. Whether that's also what is at the upper right corner is hard to tell from the scan.

Then one would like to put a black light on the MC. If it glows, it's approximately 1960s or later ink. Using a black light on the upper right corner might show if there was a stamp removed.

I agree that the mix differs in the proportion for each ingredient, hard to maintain consistency and impractical to do so 100% of the time. With no chance of examining the cover using back light, online buyers are always facing the risk. I think if there are more questions than answers, probably best to skip the item.

Looks fine to me.
However, you really would be better served waiting and buying one of the best rather than two mediocre items.

Creases, stains, lack of margins, etc. might make something reasonably priced today, but it will also make it hard to sell or trade later.

C.

Penny black covers n penny blacks in general are so rare in my country that almost none of the stamp shops are selling. I only find the occasional penny black put up for sale by collectors here. SG used to have a branch in Singapore, but they have pulled out, probably bleeding from rent.

You have stamp shops? I have not bought from a stamp shop in decades. Even if I could find one it would be too limited. Penny Blacks can be easily had all over the world, just not in stamp shops.

The stamp shops in Singapore were thriving in the late eighties to the early nineties due to the China stamp boom and they carried some decent GB stamps in their collections bank then. Today, perhaps due to the dying interest in stamps in Singapore, many of these stamp dealers have switched to bank notes and coins. Really sad to see the plight of stamp collecting in Singapore these days. Perhaps people are just too consumed in chasing after cars and condos here.

The internet changed the hobby in every country.
Don

Miss the good old days of visiting a stamp shop and browsing through pages of the albums with stamps neatly lined up and prices meticulously tucked beside each stamp.