Many of the items listed as freaks are off-center perforations, where the perforation is so far off center as to cut right through the center of the stamp or, in many cases, cut off one portion of the stamp, placing that portion of the stamp above or below it, or perhaps to the side. Sometimes, in multiple-color printings, one color is shifted to a degree that it makes a strange design on the stamp instead of the intended impression.
Sometimes the perforations are so far off center that the name or the value of the stamp, normally say, on the bottom, is cut off entirely from its proper location and appears instead at the top of the stamp below. This means, of course, that all the stamps in that sheet will be the same, except the first row which will be lacking the name of value entirely, having a wide margin instead. It would appear that this row would be of greater value than all the other stamps.
Color variation is another category that is in great favor among specializing collectors. These people will make a collection of dozens, or even hundreds of specimens of the same stamp, separating them into infinite minute shades of color. Another way of collecting is position collecting. This is done more with the stamps of Great Britain than with other countries, since the older British stamps had a letter or symbol in one or more corners of each stamp, designating its position in the printed sheet. The idea behind position collecting is to obtain every stamp in a sheet, mounting them in the original positions they occupied until an entire sheet is reconstructed.
Counterfeiting is big business, especially in stamps of countries that are no longer in existence, and whose legal stamps are very high priced. Many of the old European states issuing their own postage actually have very little traffic in postal duty. Their stamps are worth a couple of Pounds unused, but several hundred Pounds, perhaps, if canceled. Hence, counterfeit cancellations are very plentiful. If you buy such stamps, it is best to buy from a large dealer who will authenticate the stamp and the cancellation, and issue a guarantee certificate attesting to its genuineness. You will pay for this service, naturally, but the alternative is the possibility of ending up with a worthless piece of ornamental paper.
And then, of course, there are the out and out counterfeits. Almost every valuable stamp of the world has been counterfeited at one time or another. Some of the rarer items are as plentiful as counterfeits that it a nearly impossible to find a genuine copy. Of course, the fact that it was nearly impossible to find a genuine copy in the first place is what made the stamp valuable to begin with.
It would seem very easy to counterfeit some of the older rarities, since they were so crudely made by their governments. They were wood-block prints on soft, spongy paper, the dyes imperfect and imperfectly applied to the printing die. The impressions were often off-center and sometimes almost illegible. All these things make it easier for the counterfeiter, and for this reason you should be very sure, when you buy such a rarity, that you know for certain that the stamp is genuine. Authentication by a reputable and knowledgeable dealer is the best way.
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