Fake Covers by David Miller

Here we go again, yet another attempt to deceive the SA philatelist. This one is so blatant I just cannot believe that it would deceive anyone! It appears, yet again, to emanate from Australia and has probably never even seen the UK, let alone a post office. There are a number of these covers around, differing only by which General is depicted, ranging from William Booth to John Larsson. I found them all on Ebay being sold as genuine commemorative covers. Let’s look at the different elements of the cover.

The cachet

Printing quality is very poor suggesting that it was probably printed on a cheap inkjet printer or something similar. The way the elements of the cachet are overlapped causing fade out and blur says little for the graphic ability of the producer.

The “stamp”

Should really read label. This was not authorized by the Royal Mail, and it is illegal to produce privately stamps which purport to be for postage. This label definitely falls into that category as it is inscribed ”LOCAL POST”. Printing quality is again poor.

The “postmark”

The postmark was not produced or authorized by Royal Mail. It was probably copied from another cover with the date etc. being changed by the use of PC software. I also have severe doubts that the postmark was even applied by normal means as it appears to have been printed on an inkjet printer. Royal Mail will not postmark commemorative covers that do not bear the correct postage rate; therefore the postmark on this cover is most definitely a fake.

I can only assume that covers such as these are produced by those who will try anything for a buck! Let me tell them that this is dishonest at best and a crime at worst. For goodness sake, stop producing this rubbish, and above all stop deceiving honest collectors. To my fellow collectors, please do not buy this trash. The more that these producers sell the more they will produce. There are plenty of good genuine covers and stamps available on the open market without sullying your collection with rubbish from these scammers.