Took a closer look at this stamp, Mi #12. I was surprised to see two different names on the back. J.W.STOLOW and Richter. Any further information, I can't make out. My question is, what are the chances of this stamp and expertisers names to be real and not a forgery. I have read a little about the Stolow history, but don't not what to make of it.I would love to hear what others know about this. Thank you very much. Pete
Hi. It seems like your stamp has been expertized at least three times : by Stolow,Richter and W.O.G. You may find information about those experts here : https://www.filatelia.fi/experts/namesm.html Regarding Richter's mark they write "usually considered to be of little value as it is frequently found on forged stamps".
There are two signatures that are common and completely meaningless. Stolow is not an expert mark. It just meant something passed through their hands and may have been originally meant to be a guarantee mark, i.e. if you bought it from Stolow AND had the receipt and it turned out to be a fake, you got a refund. Richter as mentioned is an unreliable expert mark as it appears on forged stamp often, so much so it is considered a joke. It is thought that his handstamp was frequently out of his hands. W.O.G. is probably someone's owner's mark.
If the stamp is engraved, it is genuine. Color is impossible to tell with the blue light used. There looks to be be a tiny corner margin crease where STOLOW is. If there are any other faults, I have no idea.
There are 7 color varieties in my Michel, catalog price 70 to 1000 Euro. Unless someone has claimed a variety, I would consider this the cheapest variety. Nobody is going to forge a stamp unless they forge it to make it the most expensive.
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