The Stamp Collectors Corner

The most notorious stamp forger of all time was Jean de Sperati.  He was born in 1884 in Pisa, Italy, but spent the majority of his lifetime in France.  He came by his forgery skills honestly as his mother and brothers also chose the same dishonest lifestyle.  Although stamp forgery was what made him famous, he also had his hand in other types of forgeries.

Sperati first began making forgeries in 1910.  Most of his forgeries are so good that they must be examined with a microscope; and comparisons must be made against the details of the genuine stamp in order to find any discrepancy. 

To make his forgery seem authentic, Sperati would bleach the design of a genuine stamp and then print the design of a valuable one on the bleached stamp.  When he did this, the paper, watermark, perforation and cancel all appeared to be genuine.  Most of his forgeries even fooled the experts, who often gave certificates of authenticity for the stamps.

Although Sperati forgeries are not common, there are still some out in the public.  Most likely they are part of some unsuspecting person’s treasured collection.  The funny thing is that many of his forgeries are now worth more than the genuine stamps that he duplicated.  Anyone who finds a Sperati forgery in their collection should be thrilled!

Please check back on Monday for the conclusion.