CEYLON 1885 SG181 Forgery

Stock Code: P212012556

1885 Wmk CA 5c on 24c GREEN, type 21 surcharge, the famous Sperati photo-litho FORGERY, which from the 1920s until its final exposure in the 1980s was accepted as a genuine stamp, achieving catalogue status as SG 181, and long regarded as one of the greatest Ceylon rarities. The surcharge (pos. 11 from the row of 12), wmk, postmark ("4" numeral) and perfs are indeed all genuine, but the stamp impression is forged. [It was eventually established that there was never any printing of the 24c value in green on CA paper, only in brown-purple]. By some distance the most successful of all Sperati's creations, and a particularly fine example, with RPS cert (1959) as the now delisted "SG 181, used, ... is genuine". A fascinating and desirable item, the first we have been able to offer for over 20 years. [See Part I footnote after SG 186, which obliquely explains why the number "181" is no longer used.]

$894.34*

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CEYLON 1885 SG181 Forgery - $894.34*

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