The Facsimiles
Newspaper Stamps were illegal to own during the time they were in use. This resulted in many facsimiles and counterfeits. I use the term "Facsimile" to refer to reproductions that were not intentionally meant to deceive, and the term "Counterfeit" for the items specifically altered or printed to be sold as originals.
Beginning in 1884, Gebruder Senf of Liebzig, Germany, begin producing facsimiles of stamps that were normally too difficult for collectors to obtain. The Senf brothers produced the best facsimiles. There were others. For the facsimiles, I have adopted and expanded the classification system developed by William Mooz and published in The American Philatelist, June 1984.
United States Newspaper Stamps: 1875-1885- The Facsimiles
This work is a study of the small newspaper stamp facsimiles. With 100 illustrations, it types and illustrates all the small newspaper stamp facsimiles and the forgers who produced them. Invaluable reference work.
Price: $12 (including shipping) for manual printed on color printer and bound.
Doc M. Pepper
Some of the different types of facsimiles are as follows. More can be found in my reference work.
FA: " FALSCH" is present in the design (look at base of pedestal), but there is no overprint. This edition can easily deceive collectors. There was no 1¢ value of this issue printed, but a Senf advertisement stamp included in the set (image on right)..
Will Buy: All
FB: Overprinted "Facsimile" in upper and lower case letters in black 9 x 1mm.
FCa: 11 x 1 1/2 mm "FACSIMILE" overprint in black with serifs.
Will Buy: 3¢, 4¢, 6¢, 8¢, 9¢, 12¢, 24¢, $12
FCb: 11 x 1 1/2 mm "FACSIMILE" overprint same as FCa but overprint in blue with serifs (Careful, the blue is very dark and hard to tell from black).
FDa: 15 x 1-1/2 mm "FACSIMILE" overprint high on stamps.
Will Buy: 2¢-8¢, 10¢, 36¢, $6, $24, $48
FDb: 15 x 1 mm "FACSIMILE" same as FDa, but overprint low on stamps.
FE: 17 1/2 mm x 2 mm "FACSIMILE" overprint in purple handstamp. 1st set that has a 1¢ in issue.
Will Buy: 2¢, 3¢, 4¢, 6¢, 8¢, 9¢, 10¢, 12¢, 24¢, 36¢, 48¢, 72¢, 84¢, 96¢, $1.92, $3, $24, $36
FF: 21x2 mm "FACSIMILIE" overprint in color of stamp.
FG: Overprinted "Facsimile" in upper and lowercase letters in black, 14 x 2 mm, letters without serifs except for "a".
Will Buy: All
FH: Overprinted "FACSIMILE" in upper-case letters in black 19 x 1-1/2 mm. Notice this is not the same overprint as FBb.
Will Buy: 1¢, 2¢, 3¢, 4¢, 6¢, 8¢, 9¢, 10¢, 36¢, 48¢, 60¢, 72¢, $1.92, $3, $6, $9, $24, $36, $48, $60.
FI: Circular cancellation reading "Lichtdruck Kuhl & Co".
FJ: Circular cancellation reading "Photographie".
Will Buy: All but 12¢ and 60¢
FK: Circular cancellation reading "Phototypie."
Will Buy: All
FL: Black stamps 2¢ --10¢ with red overprint reading "Imit. Photoypie"
FM: 14x2 mm "Phototypie" overprint.
FN: Poorly printed on cheap paper with "FALSCH" and "FACSIMILE" worked into design. I am now of the opinon the dollar values of this set do not exist.
Will Buy: $1.92, $3, $6, $9, $12, $24, $36, $48, $60
FO: Poorly printed with "Faux" worked into the design and "Facsimile" overprint 10 x 3/4 mm (very hard to see). My blacks are overprinted in red, my higher values overprinted in black. William Mooz does not mention an overprint on his blacks at all. Is there a set out there with no overprints and a set with overprints? Contact me if you have information.
Reference works available:
United States Newspaper Stamps: 1875-1885- The Facsimiles
This work is a study of the small newspaper stamp facsimiles.
With 100 illustrations, it types and illustrates all the small newspaper stamp
facsimiles and the forgers who produced them. Invaluable reference work.
Price: $12 (including shipping)
for manual printed on color printer and bound.
United States Newspaper Stamps: 1865-1869- The Forgeries
With over 100 illustrations, it types all the large
newspaper stamp forgeries and explains how to tell them apart from each other and from the
regular issues. This is invaluable for the dealer or collector trying to identify the real
ones, and for the specialist trying to organize material.
Price: $20 (including shipping)
for manual printed on color printer and bound.
Contact me at the below eMail for purchasing instructions.
In my own album I have grouped the "counterfeits" and "facsimiles" under the general heading of "forgeries." It is obvious that the same forger in some instances made it clear his items were forgeries (by, as an example, adding a facsimile overprint), while at the same time created items with no overprint that appear to be to truly deceive. A Type II and Type VI forgery are illustrated below.
