Many Faces of the Die 10 Forgeries
By Bill Lehr
© MAR, 2005; Die
10FGT1-2.3rb added SEP, 2010
Die 10 (Scott type U12) is the six cent bust of George Washington,
star die, from the 1860 Nesbitt printings.
Die 10 is printed in red on white laid paper and in red on buff laid
paper. Reprints of Die 10 exist on
vertically laid white and buff papers only.
A genuine Die 10 measures 20 X 24 mm. and exhibits six rayed stars. Both of the stars appear to touch the inner
frame line. There is no dot of color in
either star. The bust of George Washington
faces left.
62/U30 63/U31
6¢ red on white 6¢ red on buff
Both U30 and U31 are scarce as entires and only slightly
less scarce as cut squares. Mint entires
of U30 and U31 were featured in the Shreeves
Philatelic Galleries sale of the Floyd collection,
There are two major types of Die 10 forgeries. Type 1 depicts a bust of “George Washington” and six pointed stars. Type 2 depicts a bust of Benjamin Franklin and five pointed stars. Similarities in the busts depicted on Type 1 forgeries of Dies 9, 10, and 11 seem to indicate a common source for these forgeries.
Type 1 forgeries:
Common characteristics
Bust of “George Washington” has a grotesque head (long nose, heavy eyebrows).
Back of the head bulges as if swollen.
Neither star touches the inner oval.
Left star is close to the outer frame line.
Measures 21 X 26 mm. approximately.
Printed in red on wove paper.
There are two classes of Type 1 forgeries. Class 1 features
The Die 9FGT1 (3¢
Die 10FGT1-1 (short neck)
Common characteristics of Die 10FGT1-1
The neck measures approximately 1 ½ mm. long.
There is no dot of color in either star.
There is a large bow around the queue.
Front of the bust exhibits an upward hook.
Back of the bust points at the “E” of “POSTAGE”
Sub varieties of the Die 10FGT1-1 can be differentiated by
the shape of “
Die
10FGT1-1.1
Die 10FGT1-1.1 Hooked nose. Observed on buff wove paper.
Die
10FGT1-1.2
Die 10FGT1-1.2 Big nose. Observed on buff wove paper.
Die
10FGT1-1.3
Die 10FGT1-1.3 Very big nose. Observed on white and on buff wove paper.
Die
10FGT1-1.4
Die 10FGT1-1.4 Very big hooked nose. Observed on white and on buff wove paper.
Die 10FGT1-2 (long neck)
Common characteristics of Die 10FGT1-2
The neck measures approximately 2 mm.
Front of the bust exhibits a minor upward hook.
Top rear of the head is concave.
Nose is arched.
Base of the bust differs from the genuine.
The stars, especially the right star, often have a dot of color inside of the star(s).
Neither star touches the inner oval.
Back of the bust points to the “E” of “POSTAGE”
Die 10FGT1-2.1 There is no dot of color in either star. Not observed. Number reserved.
Die 10FGT1-2.2 There is a dot of color in the right star only. Not observed. Number reserved.
Die
10FGT1-2.3rw Die 10FGT1-2.3rb
Early Late
Die 10FGT1-2.3 There is a dot of color in both stars. Observed on white; examined on buff.
What appear to be early (E) and late (L) states of this forgery are depicted.
Type 2 forgeries:
Common characteristics of the Die 10FGT2:
Bust of Benjamin Franklin facing the wrong way (right).
Bottom front of the bust points at the “G” of “POSTAGE”.
Head is poorly embossed.
Bottom of the bust is close to the inner frame line at both front and rear.
Five pointed stars not touching either frame line; right star is inverted.
“C” of “CENTS” is small.
“G” of “POSTAGE” is almost closed.
“TA” of “POSTAGE” extremely close at the bottom.
Period
after the “S” of “
Frame lines are irregular, especially the inner frame line.
Printed on wove paper.
Known both with and without fake cancels.
George B. Sloane suggests, in the
Only one class of the Die 10, Type 2 forgeries has been observed.
Die 10FGT2-1.1 Not observed. Number reserved for printings in red.
Die
10FGT2-1.2
Die 10FGT2-1.2 Printed in dark red. Observed on (amber) buff.
Die
10FGT2-1.3
Die 10FGT2-1.3 Printed in magenta. Observed on white and on buff.
NOMENCLATURE
Nomenclature for Die 10 forgery identification follows this format:
Die # F(or)G(ery)-Type-Class-Sub-variety
SUMMARY
Properly speaking, forgeries should be referenced to the genuine Die number. Design, ink color and paper color may make it possible to ascribe Scott/UPSS catalog numbers to forgeries. All Die 10 forgeries printed on white paper correspond to UPSS 62/ Scott U30. All Die 10 forgeries printed on buff paper correspond to UPSS 63/ Scott U31.
Additional varieties or paper colors may be waiting to be discovered. The author is interested in examining any additions to the forgeries presented above.
Acknowledgement
My thanks to collector Steve Dawson for the loan of his
collection of
Bibliography
In addition to the usual catalogs, the following articles have been of assistance:
Bartels, JM
Stamps
Vol. 28, No. 4, Whole # 359, p 116
Collin, Henry and Calman, Henry L.
A Catalog for Advanced Collectors
American Journal of Philately
Second series, Vol. XII,
Die Making and Notes on 1860 Second Nesbitt Issue
American Philatelist
Vol. 71, No. 6, pps 423-25
Envelope Counterfeits
(reprint from Stamp Journal, Dec. 1909)
Weekly Philatelic Gossip
XXV: 250 1937-38
Haeseler, Rob
Cut Square Forgery Collection Helps Research
Linn's Stamp News
Vol. 73, No. 3732, p 8 2
Hotchner, John M
Who Made Such Crude Fakes of Cut Squares?
Linn's Stamp News
Vol. 74, No. 3779, p 6 2
Kinabrew, J.M., Jr.
Correspondence to Varro Tyler
Re: German? Forgeries of the star dies.
1860 Types/Forgeries
Pat Paragraphs
No. 39, OCT 1939
Sloane, George B.
Forged
Stamps
Tyler, Varro E.
Focus On Forgeries # 337, Scott U26
Linn’s Stamp News, 2000
Undersander, Dan
Counterfeits of the Star Dies
Postal Stationery
Vol. 42, No. 1, Whole # 310, pps 13-14
Undersander, Dan
Postal Stationery
Vol. 43, No. 2, Whole # 317, pps 29-31
Undersander, Dan & Starkey, Gary
Postal Stationery
Vol. 44, No. 1, Whole # 322, pps 4-6
Youngblood, Wayne L
Fake Stamps Not Always What They Seem
Linn's Stamp News
Vol. 63, No. 3241, p 44
