DECEPTIVE ALTERATION OF RARE STAMPS SOLD ON EBAY

News: Welcome to the Canadian Paper Money Forum.

All members who purchase paper money online should carefully read the following fascinating article. It deals with certain fraudulent activities that have occurred on eBay and other Internet auction sites in connection with the deceptive alteration of rare postage stamps in which "the perpetrator uses a variety of techniques to make a stamp appear to be more valuable than it really is, including removing ink “cancels,” clipping or adding perforations and painting on design elements."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17171372

It seems to me that we should be aware that this type of deceptive activity could similarly occur in the paper money area as well.  

Coin collectors generally examine their purchases through a magnifying glass whereas paper money collectors do not. I think it may be a good idea to start examining our notes using a magnifying glass, especially since so many notes these days are being entombed in third-party graded plastic holders which tend to make defects (such as pressing and repairs) much more difficult to see.

I have said several times including on this site, that notes can be altered.
Use a 10 power glass and examine the notes carfully, look for wear in the corners and off-colour areas. Banknotes are only paper, and there are many people with expertise to changing them to appear better and or nicer than they are.

Notes are sometimes repaired as well.

Rick

Here's an even more detailed article illustrating the types of "improvement" that can be achieved.

http://www.sheryll.net/Forgeries/AlteredUS/Forgeries_article_AlteredUS.htm

I would imagine that these enhancements are carried out while viewing the items under a binocular microscope as postage stamps are so small compared with bank notes. A very high level of expertise is obviously required.

The problems with stamp forgeries bring to mind some problems that could invade paper money.  With third-party grading, employing the new "60-63-65" grading system, the differences between MS grades are very subtle.  The smaller the differences between a note worth $100 and one worth $1,000, the greater the chances become that an unscrupulous individual will exploit those differences in an attempt to "raise" a note.  Greed is invoked to point the finger of blame at the seller, but greed on the buyer's part is equally to blame.  If some people did not insist of paying several times more money for an MS-64 than an MS-62, the shysters wouldn't be able to make much profit from their practices.

Compromise is the key to keeping the hobby from crumbling like a house made of matchsticks.

Rachelsprivates has hit the nail on the proverbial head with his comments. Greed (aka "investment potential") is just as prevalent amongst buyers as it is amongst sellers. If buyers would be more content with a choice AU/UNC note with beautiful wide even margins than with an UNC note with one or two margins trimmed to the bone then we probably wouldn't have reached the current fiasco in which an UNC-65 note with one counting crease is "worth" twice as much as an UNC-64 note with two counting creases.

Third-party grading has never caught on in the centuries-old European coin markets and it probably never will. High-grade coins over there are still bought and sold using the three basic grades of EF (our AU), Good EF (our AU/UNC), and FDC (our Gem UNC). Collectors in Europe pay much more attention to a coin's overall attributes (toning, lack of stains, etc.) than to the coin's technical grade based on wear and contact marks. I've seen so many UNC-65 coins (especially red Canadian Large Cents) in third-party certified holders that are so damn ugly because of carbon spots or stains that I wouldn't even want to pay the AU price.

I just hope that third-party paper money grading doesn't go in the same direction as coins. I hope we will never see a "Paper Money Trends" in which notes are priced according to the numerical grade on the holder rather than on the overall attributes of the note.

I just hope that third-party paper money grading doesn't go in the same direction as coins. I hope we will never see a "Paper Money Trends" in which notes are priced according to the numerical grade on the holder rather than on the overall attributes of the note.

I write the paper money trends in Canadian Coin News. It has just been re-written to show some price changes. I dropped Unc/choice Unc a couple of years ago as I could not find proper definitions for choice Uncirculated that can be easily explained to the readers of trends. I only cover 1935 to 1967 in the notes, it is far too vaste to include it to date.

Lots of notes being traded these days, most have been increasing in price for some time.

Several people have told me they don't like the slabbed notes, mainly because it hides thing for normal viewing. Several others have told me they like slabbed notes as the holder is secure, it stops the ever popular fondling of notes by many collectors.

Rick

I write the paper money trends in Canadian Coin News. It has just been re-written to show some price changes. I dropped Unc/choice Unc a couple of years ago as I could not find proper definitions for choice Uncirculated that can be easily explained to the readers of trends. I only cover 1935 to 1967 in the notes, it is far too vast to include it to date. Rick

The coin and paper money trends in Canadian Coin News are very useful indeed. It's always easy to criticize such information but few if any of us could do a better job, especially year after year after year. I particularly like the "Trends Commentary" blurbs that now accompany the price trends in each issue. In particular, the summary of current wholesale buying/selling prices of Canadian bullion coins is very useful. Keep up the great work, Rick!

The lengthy commentary has been added to trends at the request of the managing editor. He wanted some insight into collectors and how they may feel about certain items produced, and some comments on modern coins. Tokens are much more difficult than paper, although the information is well catalogued, it is understood by few. Paper is understood by more collectors, but the noise about grading continues.

I appreciate any comments on the material in trends.

Rick

 Paper Dollars

The first paper dollars issued by the then new Bank of Canada was dated 1935., it was intended to replace a hodge podge of Dominion of Canada notes and Chartered Banks notes, and they were the current size as notes of today. They choose to have English text notes and French text notes. 1935 was also the 25th  anniversary of the reign of King George V (the Queen’s grandfather), and for this anniversary, the Bank of Canada introduced the new Twenty-five dollar note. These have remained most difficult to find in any condition and the French text $25 in particular, is very elusive in most grades. This was also the year of the one of a kind obverse silver dollar

Collecting of Bank notes has been very popular in the last few years, with the 1935 issue being among the most popular. George the fifth’s reign ended in 1935, and due to some controversy over the next king gaining acceptance, the first year of issue of George VI, tended to have much larger issue than preciously, although signature changes and minor variations of notes make some of these combinations highly prized and valuable. The notes were issued in bi-lingual format. The $25, and $500 notes were retired permanently, and as it turned out, the $1000 note was finally retired during the reign of Elizabeth II.
When the new queen first appeared on our notes in 1954, there was controversy over the appearance in her hair of an image which resembled a devil. This image was modified within a couple of years, to the “modified image”. Devil’s face notes are all fairly common except for replacement notes. Replacement notes have an asterisk * preceding the serial number, and Devil’s face replacement notes are all rare and always in demand.


This was the commentary written for trends, already published.

Rick