However, there were cases which left him completely baffled and this is certainly true for a blue $5 stamp claimed to have been released by the Kingdom of Hawaii. He writes that the stamp depicts a statue of King Kamehameha I and that he had shown it in a book he had published in 1903. The illustration shows a stamp which has perforations on the left and right sides only in a way typical of many coil issues.
In retrospect it seems rather strange that this particular stamp was unknown to Melville as it was printed in his hometown of London. In addition to the $5 stamp, there is also a $2 value printed in red. I was recently able to add these two items to my collection of classic bogus stamps.
Let’s take a closer look at the two stamps. In size they are considerably larger than all other contemporary Hawaiian postage stamps. They measure 27 x 31 mms. As I understand it they were printed singly on small rectangular sheetlets measuring approximately 80 x 112 mms. Some of these sheetlets have later been partly or fully perforated. The forger put a lot of money into the production of these two stamps as they are recess printed.
In 1883, the then independent Kingdom of Hawaii had released a 25c stamp picturing a statue of King Kamehameha I. The statue can be seen in the Hawaiian capital of Honolulu. Basically the same design was later reused for 5c stamps issued in 1994 and 1899 respectively. As can be seen from the illustration below, the design of the bogus stamps closely resembles that of the issued genuine postage stamps.
Noted Swedish philatelist Nils Strandell took a strong interest in Hawaii’s postage stamps and he devoted a chapter to them in his book In the World of Philately (Stockholm 1948). In it he explains that it was Kamehameha I (ca 1758 -1819) who united the Hawaiian Islands into a Kingdom in 1810. Previously each island had had its own chief. According to Strandell, the king contacted the British government in 1810 requesting it to make Hawaii a British protectorate. He probably already felt the threat from the USA.
In 1883, the 16-year-old clerk George Kirke Jeffryes began his stamp forging career. Initially he added forged overprints to genuine stamps from Colombia, Ecuador, North Borneo, Sarawak, Sungei Ujong and Zululand. Some of his forgeries were found out immediately while others remained undiscovered for many years.
The forgeries were marketed to the unsuspecting collectors of the day by Benjamin & Sarpy, a stamp firm located at 1, Cullum Street in the City of London. Strandell has a lot to tell about this particular stamp business. The shop was divided into two parts. The front shop was badly lit making it difficult for customers to see exactly what they were buying. The inner room was closed to customers; it was in this room that many of the forged overprints were produced. Strandell states that some were even made while the customer was waiting in other part of the shop.
Following the success with the forged overprints, Jeffryes went on to produce complete forgeries of classic postage stamps. He was mainly interested in the following countries: Ceylon, Grenada, New South Wales, New Zealand, Tasmania and Victoria. With the exception of the Victorian stamps all were recess printed. A complete listing of his forgeries can be found in Varro E. Tyler’s book Philatelic Forgers (Perth 1976).
Benjamin & Sarpy of course helped distribute these forgeries some of which very closely resemble the originals. Today these classic forgeries are greatly appreciated by many philatelists making them quite valuable.
It seems that Jeffryes came up with the idea of printing two high-value stamps for Hawaii some time in 1886. He had apparently got hold of the previously mentioned Hawaiian 25c stamp depicting the famous king. Jeffryes commissioned Henry Thomas Pauncefort of 16, Little New Street to engrave and print the stamps.
Pauncefort was paid £3.15/- to engrave the plates and £1.9/- to print 1000 copies of each stamp. He later explained that he thought the stamps were intended for some ecclesiastical purpose.
Jeffryes and his two dealer friends were arrested in 1891 for creating and selling forged postage stamps. The trial was followed with considerable interest in the contemporary philatelic press. In 1892, Stanley Gibbons Stamp Journal had an almost complete transcript of the proceedings. The trial ended when the three culprits were sentenced to hard labour for six months. Shown nearby is a drawing of the three forgers made during the trial. It was first published in the Stanley Gibbons magazine mentioned above.
When released from prison Benjamin & Sarpy continued to deal in stamps but hopefully they restricted their business to genuine stamps.
It is my guess that the two Hawaiian bogus stamps never became a success. In common with many other classic bogus issues they are incredibly rare today and usually fetch high prices when offered at auction. This is rather strange considering the fact that they are completely bogus and only produced to con gullible stamp collectors.
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