Jamaica KG6
5s – the scarce line perf 14 – a forgery
The KG6 5s exists with line perf 14. This is rare mint and scarce used. There was no London supply for the stamp
trade, it was released in Jamaica only.
SG list it (SG132a) at £3,250 mint and £190 used. (The common comb perf 14, sg132 is
worth a lot less, (catalogued at £14 mint and £3.75 used).
We were offered the rare used one recently. It was a forgery. The item was clearly a normal stamp that had been
‘enhanced’. Below we show a genuine
line perf 5s, the forgery and a magnified version of its lower left
corner. The genuine 5s line perf was
sold in our November 2003 sale so we now only have our scan of it rather than
the real thing!
Genuine Forgery Forgery magnified
What are the tell-tale signs?
·
The shade is wrong. While Gibbons describe both as ‘slate-blue and yellow orange’,
the Murray Payne Commonwealth catalogue is more definitive. Here the common comb perf is described as
‘grey-blue and yellow-ochre’, whereas the scarce line perf is ‘grey-blue
and red-orange’. In this forgery the frame plate is in the normal yellow
orange rather than a red-orange shade.
The scans unfortunately are not exact and both show too much red,
nevertheless the relative difference is still apparent.
·
The perf gauge is wrong – while Gibbons quote
both comb and line as perf 14, the Murray Payne Commonwealth catalogue is more
precise. This specifies 14x 13¾ for the
common version but a very specific perf 14.15 for the line perf. The forgery is perf 13.7 and far too adrift
from 14.15 to be right.
·
The two stamps have been positioned in the
illustration so that the side perfs line up at the top. They drift out of alignment as you move
down. The perf gauges are obviously
different.
·
Further proof is in the magnified image where
the second and 4th perf holes at the base are not round. They have
been modified. Each shows an extra
circular portion of perf has been removed.
The stamp has been doctored to give a more ‘line perf’ appearance.
To its credit, the auction house from whence we
acquired it will take it back.