2nd Class Forgery

After reading Larry,s last post on the arrival of security backing paper it dawned on me that all of the first issues to date with of this new type of backing paper were booklets printed by Walsall.

De La Rue issues will surely follow later in the year. Perhaps the first we will see will be a counter sheet and it may be a new M16L Machin to cover the £1.05 rate.


It was no real surprise that booklets were introduced first as new booklet forgeries have appeared during the last few months. Clever reproductions at that.They have come a long way since the early Questa reproduction booklets which we all thought were also quite good.

The main one has been given the name " The Mount Pleasant Blue " this is being talked  about a lot at the moment. It is of course the 2nd class blue which mimics the Walsall booklet stamps.

This has now been referred to on the web by several collectors and they note that it is easy to spot from the genuine thing with a careful eye. The main things to look out for are described below.

1:
  Look out for back ground iridescent code which is MT1L / M12L (they are actually in booklets of 12.) So it looks like the retailers are selling old stock (which after all this time is unlikely) or they are selling these forged stamps. 

When I referred these as clever reproductions you can see what I mean when you look at the iridescent codes below.

2:

The stamps have been identified as having a dark blue thin  line around the Queens head (see image above) and have perforations which are pointed, rather like a zig zag.

3:

No quite a give away but they may also show the portrait to be slightly off centre, but I do believe booklets with good centered stamps have also been found. 

(Thanks go to Mack and G. Small for the images.)

 For more information of these and other Machin forgeries I recommend you visit Macks ( Phos 45 ) website. 

Here you can obtain lots of up to date information on many types of forgeries including the striking 1st class "Manchester Red" shown in all its glory below.

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