Saturday, August 8, 2015

148 - Forgeries

For 148 Bundaberg numerals on stamps see here

For 148 Thursday Island numerals on stamps see here


Forgeries of the Bundaberg numeral 148 Duplex canceller are known, usually on high value Chalons, large Chalons or revenue stamps, where the original fiscal cancellations were removed and replaced with the forged numeral  component of the 148 duplex cancel to increase the value of the stamp. There are several different kinds of forgeries. These can be easily be distinguished from the genuine example by either having the wrong number of rays and / or by omitting the date stamp portion of the duplex. 

The genuine numeral portion of the 148 duplex cancel has 35 rays, while most forgeries have either 33 or 37 rays.

As well, the original genuine canceller with 35 rays was subsequently separated from the framed circular datestamp and used by a dealer (William Hooper) in Dunedin, New Zealand. This bogus use can be detected by the numeral not being connected to the datestamp and is found on Chalons and sideface issues as well as fiscal stamps (if you look carefully you can often see the faint remains of a bleached fiscal cancellation).  For more information see Hugh Wynn, "Fake postal cancels on Queensland's postal-fiscal stamps," The Informer, winter 1994-95, pp. 12-14

In summary, most if not all examples of the numeral portion of the 148 duplex cancel are forgeries! Also, in the case of Chalons, the genuine 148 duplex came into use in 1891, long after Chalons had been replaced by 1st and 2nd sideface issues

Thursday Island 148 ray forgeries are also known and are discussed lower down the page

Bundaberg forgeries

Bundaberg Duplex canceller forgery. 33 Rays instead of 35. Seen at Phoenix Auctions no 12


Bundaberg Duplex canceller forgery. 33 Rays instead of 35


Bundaberg Duplex canceller forgery. 33 Rays instead of 35. Seen at a stamp fair


Bundaberg Duplex canceller forgery. 37 Rays instead of 35. Seen at Phoenix Auctions no 18


Bundaberg Duplex canceller forgery. 37 Rays instead of 35. Seen at a stamp fair


Bundaberg Duplex canceller forgery. It is not possible to have multiple duplex cancellations without also having the framed circular datestamp. It has also been bleached to try and remove the original fiscal cancellation


Bundaberg Duplex canceller forgery with a duplex cancellation without the corresponding framed circular datestamp. Seen on Ebay

Bundaberg Duplex canceller forgery with multiple duplex cancellations without the corresponding framed circular datestamp


Bundaberg Duplex canceller forgery on a fiscal 1d mauve (SG F 16) with the duplex cancellation without the corresponding framed circular datestamp. It also has a double lined fiscal cancellation


Bundaberg Duplex canceller forgery on a fiscal 1d mauve (SG F 16) with the duplex cancellation without the corresponding framed circular datestamp. It also has a double lined fiscal cancellation


Bundaberg Duplex canceller forgery. Seen at Sandafayre auctions


Bundaberg Duplex canceller forgery. Seen on Ebay


Then there is this one, 43 rays! Seen at the Stamp Auction Network

Courtesy of Dave Elsmore, Queensland Stamp Collecting Facebook group 

Looks like 37 rays. Seen on Ebay

Courtesy of Dave Elsmore, Queensland Stamp Collecting Facebook group  

Bundaberg Duplex canceller forgery. Seen on Ebay 

33 Rays. Seen on Ebay 

 33 Rays. Seen on Ebay 

Bundaberg Duplex canceller forgery. Seen on Ebay  

Bundaberg Duplex canceller forgery in violet. Seen at Phoenix auction no 44


37 rays. Courtesy of Dave Elsmore

37 rays. Seen at Spink auction no 18047 lot no 106

Thursday Island
Modern forgeries exist of the Thursday Island 148 ray type 1 e on Hong Kong issues. These have 23 rays while the originals have 24. The odds of a genuine Thursday Island 148 ray cancel appearing on a Hong Kong stamp would be close to zero as ships did not sail direct from Hong Hong to Thursday Island at this time, so any items posted on board at Hong Kong would almost certainly have been cancelled earlier in the voyage unless destined for Australia. Certainly I am not aware of any genuine examples, but would love to be proved wrong!

Seen on Ebay

Seen on Ebay with a framed datestamp. Thursday Island datestamps during this period were unframed, with the first Thursday Island framed datestamp being introduced into service in 1910

Seen on Ebay


Seen on Stampboards


Appears to have 26 rays. Seen at an auction

This example appears to have the right number of rays (24). Could it be genuine? 

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