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 to the stamp trade, it was released only in Jamaica. SG list it (SG132a) at £7000 mint and £250 used. By contrast, the common comb perf 14, sg132 is worth a lot less, (£20 mint and £3.75 used).
In another auction, we bought a rare used one, but determined it was a forgery. The item was 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!
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 are not exact for colour 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 14x13¾ 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 took it back.
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