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| Preview of Stamps Catalogue: VOLUME 1 |
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| Preview of Stamps Catalogue: VOLUME 1 |
Note: on my website many of the
pictures can not be seen! They are of course present in the catalogue;
contact me if you want to purchase it.
Portrait and signature of Upham.
Samuel C. Upham was a forger from Philadelphia (USA). He only made quite crude forgeries of the Confederate issues of the USA and some of the confederate locals. His forgeries are supposed to have been made in 1862 (so only shortly after the appearance of the genuine stamps). He also made forgeries of the banknotes of the confederate states. See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_C._Upham.
Examples of his Confederate States forgeries:
In the above forgeries made by S.C.Upham, the background consists of square dots. On early prints, the cheek has some shading on it (see first image above). They were produced in sheets of six (see below) and I've seen the colours light green, dark green, blue, orange and red.
(Upham sheet, reduced size)
It seems that mostly his forgeries were printed in sheets of six. Some of these sheets had the text 'Fac-Simile Rebel Stamp.-Sold Wholesale and Retail, by S. C. Upham, 403 Chestnut St. Philadelphia.' printed on it. Upham did write after the war to Lee Haper Author of 'The Currency of the Confederate States of America' printed in 1875 and others 'I printed in all 28 varieties of facsimile rebel notes, shinplasters, and fifteen different postage stamps.'and '…I printed from the 12 of March, 1862 to the 1st of August, 1863.' (information obtained thanks to Justin Poklis).
(Upham forgery)
In the above Upham forgery, the face is very crudely made, the background consists of horizontal lines and there is a small dash to the right of 'OF'. I have also seen this stamp in red.
(Upham forgery?)
The above stamp is another very crude forgery. Some sources say that it was made by Upham, however there is serious doubt about this (information obtained thanks to Justin Poklis).
I'm not aware of Upham producing any other values than 5 and 10 c of the Confederate States.
Upham forgeries of the locals of the Confederate States:
He is believed to have made forgeries of Memphis (2 c 'Mc Callaway' and 5 c), Mobile (5 c), Nashville (5 c) and New Orleans (2 c blue, 2 c red, 5 c brown).
Probably an Upham forgery
2 c:
A picture of the 2 c 'Mc Callaway' of Memphis can be found in 'Philatelic Forgers, Their Lives and Works' by Varro E. Tyler.
5 c:
(Upham forgery, with zoom-in)
This Upham forgery has the following distinghuishing characteristics (obtained from Kevin Baker's site): There is no partial diamond between the 'M' and 'P' of 'MEMPHIS'. The '5' cuts off the top part of two diamonds. There are two complete diamonds below the 'H' and 'I' of 'MEMPHIS'.
Reduced size (image obtained thanks to Justin L.Poklis)
Upham forgery of Nashville, apparently differing in the upper
left and lower left scrolls from the genuine stamps. There is
also a double crossbar in the 'A' of 'NASHVILLE' in this forgery.
I've also seen a red Upham forgery.
(Upham forgeries)
The above stamps are Upham counterfeits, there is a big space between the 'O' and the 'S' of 'POST' (see the red arrows in the picture on the right hand side). The 'S' leans too far to the right. The left upper ornament is touching the label with 'J.L. Riddell', in the genuine stamp it doesn't. The ornament in the lower left corner looks like a hand, it's therefore called the 'waving hand forgery'. The thin leaf at the bottom doesn't touch the circle above it. The ornament at the right upper corner had four small leaves pointing upwards. Finally, there is no thin arched line between the circle and the word 'PAID'.
If my information is correct, the above forgery of Baton Rouge was also made by Upham.
Some authors say that Upham is also believed to be responsable for the 'Blockade' issues made in 1864 (see Varro Tyler in 'Philatelic Forgers, their Lives and Works'). However, several forgeries of this fantasy issue exist and it is not even clear if he was the original 'source' of these stamps. I don't know if the stamps shown below are made by him or another forger. According to Justin Poklis, the origin of these forgeries is more likely to be Europe. Later other forgers, such as Tayler copied this design. Four different types exist (made by different forgers); the last type being made in the 1950's in Switzerland (information obtained from Justin Poklis).
(Fantasy blockade stamps possibly made by Upham)
This particular copy was made by the forger Taylor
Literature: 'Philatelic Forgers, Their Lives and Works' by Varro E. Tyler.
http://members.home.com/kr.baker/csa/fakes/ (Kevin Baker)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_C._Upham
