Forgeries of the VR official Penny Black, are generally shown under the corner check letters to allow comparrison with genuine stamps. Over the years many forgeries have been made using genuine Penny Black postage stamps. These have the stars from the top corners removed and the letters V and R inserted in their place to produce the rare variation.
Those shown on this page are those which are impossible variations, and as such we are unable to list them under the check letters. They are illustrated here for reference.
Many of the more modern forgeries have the letters in the top corners drawn in by hand, however, in the issue of stamp collecting fortnightly for the 23rd February 1895, (page 94) there is a reference made to these stamps. In this article by Harry Hilckes it states the following under the heading ....
It will be in the rememberance of every philatalist that some years ago a number of most clevery executed forgeries were thrown on the market in such rapid succession, and such vast quantities, that nearly every dealer and collector of note was in some way victimised. Having made these forgeries a special study, and possessing nearly a complette set of same, I now propose in a series of articles to fully illustrate everyone as far as lies in my power.
Great Britain Penny Black "V.R."
Although I do not consider this stamp a properly issued postal stamp, still, as it fetches very high prices in auction I commence the series with the same, illustrating that well known forgery, from which Dr Assmus some three years ago obtained free board and lodging at her majesty's pleasure. Of course I am not allowed to put genuine and forged stamps side by side, and I have therefore put them on top of each other, showing sufficient design to illustrate the diffrence. To manufacture this stamp, the maltese crosses of an ordinary penny black were erased and the V and R inserted by means of ordinary letter type. These very closely resemble the genuine article the only diffrence being that both letters are to wide and somewhat shorter. It may also be observed that they do not stand exactly in the center of the letter square, but nearly touch the upper line. Dr Assmus supplied these stamps at 60/- per dozen, used, and considering the labour and excelant workmanship, I should say the price was reasonable.
We have as yet been unable to confirm these forgeries (with the letter type V and R), but thought it worth reproducing the above article for the reference of other collectors.
A forgery made from a Penny Black but with stars in the bottom corners
A forgery by Spiro with impossible check letters