Great Britain and British Commonwealth KGV Heads - CofA Watermark
Sale No: 3
Lot No: 2158
Symbol: **
2d red Postal Forgery Perf 11 on unwatermarked paper ACSC 103cc, well centred, very minor corner bend, single pen-line cancel, full unmounted o.g., Cat $1500. Manuscript-cancelled examples originate from stamps seized in association with the official investigation.
The forgeries were created in Sydney as part of an elaborate fraud involving the mailing of a faked prospectus for the Irish Sweepstakes, and for forwarding tickets to unwitting subscribers. An Adelaide doctor who received a copy in his mail, noticed differences from the normal stamps, and contacted the Postmaster-General's Department requesting details of the "new issue". The subsequent official investigation resulted in the arrest of two persons, one the process engraver who had created the printing plates for the forgeries. Both men were sentenced to a year in jail.
