The Challenge of Determining the Fraudulent Use of Postage Stamps

The policing of the worldwide use of postage stamps and items sent through the mail provides many challenges. Not only are millions of stamps used every day, the potential for fraud may take many forms. This technical paper considers primarily historically important philatelic material rather than assessing current counterfeit postage, although the methodology of analysis is similar.
Around the world, there are individuals who will provide certificates that will provide an opinion on whether philatelic items are deemed ‘good’ or ‘bad’. To address this challenge, The Royal Philatelic Society formed an Expert Committee (RPSL) http://www.rpsl.limited/Home.aspx that seeks to establish a concluding opinion based on the evidence obtained at that time. This process will follow a series of analytical steps.
The RPSL has extensive museum facilities and over 225,000 records of worldwide significance. Analytical techniques will be used extensively to aid opinions, whether from comparison of reference material, accessing material from other collections such as the British Library or undertaking tests using the Video Spectral Comparator, VSC6000 manufactured by Foster Freeman http://www.fosterfreeman.com/questioned-document-examination/vsc6000-hs-col-180-comprehensive-examination-system. html. This equipment has enabled comparison with previously published information and assessment of whether there are printing differences of philatelic material. Future work is likely to include international collaboration with other scientists, comparing analytical techniques on a weight of evidence approach to conclude with an opinion. Specifically on whether items are fakes, for example where a philatelic item has been manufactured to deceive the purchaser, forgeries where part of a stamp or envelope has been changed or in all aspects is considered genuine.