Great Britain 1929 PUC advertising pane op cancelled SG436var

British 1936 KEVIII 1½d stamp booklet advertising pane

Charles Nissen (c.1880Profile at Who Was Who in British Philately.Archive here
Retrieved 11 August 2010. – 13 March 1944) was a British

philatelist Philately (; ) is the study of postage stamps and postal history. It also refers to the collection and appreciation of stamps and other philatelic products. Philately involves more than just stamp collecting or the study of postage; it is possi ...

, and

stamp dealer A stamp dealer is a company or an individual who deals in stamps and philatelic products. It also includes individuals who sell postage stamps for day to day use or revenue stamps for use on court documents. Stamp dealers who sell to stamp collect ...

who discovered the famous stock exchange forgery and wrote, with Bertram McGowan, the definitive book on the plating of the Penny Black.

The Royal Philatelic Collection

He was instrumental in building the

Royal Philatelic Collection The Royal Philatelic Collection is the postage stamp collection of the British royal family. It is the most comprehensive collection of items related to the philately of the United Kingdom and the British Commonwealth, with many unique pieces. ...

and often acted as auction agent for

King George V of the United Kingdom George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...

by whom he was awarded a Royal Warrant.

The Perkins Bacon records

With Harry Nissen and

Thomas Allen Thomas Allen may refer to: Clergy *Thomas Allen (nonconformist) (1608–1673), Anglican/nonconformist priest in England and New England *Thomas Allen (dean of Chester) (died 1732) *Thomas Allen (scholar) (1681–1755), Anglican priest in England * ...

, Nissen purchased the

Perkins Bacon Messrs. Perkins, Bacon & Co was a printer of books, bank notes and postage stamps, most notable for printing the Penny Black, the world's first adhesive postage stamps, in 1840. {{Infobox , above = Details on the mode of preventing the forgery o ...

records which were then acquired by The

Royal Philatelic Society London The Royal Philatelic Society London (RPSL) is the oldest philatelic society in the world. It was founded on 10 April 1869 as ''The Philatelic Society, London''. The society runs a postal museum, the Spear Museum of Philatelic History, at its he ...

The Stock Exchange forgery

Nissen discovered the Stock Exchange Forgery of 1872-73 in 1898 when examining used stamps from

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

forms. The stamps were found to be forged due to the absence of a

watermark A watermark is an identifying image or pattern in paper that appears as various shades of lightness/darkness when viewed by transmitted light (or when viewed by reflected light, atop a dark background), caused by thickness or density variations ...

and because they had impossible corner lettering. It is believed that a clerk in the

Stock Exchange A stock exchange, securities exchange, or bourse is an exchange where stockbrokers and traders can buy and sell securities, such as shares of stock, bonds and other financial instruments. Stock exchanges may also provide facilities for th ...

Post Office, London, had been supplementing his income by taking the one shilling telegram fees and using forged stamps instead.

Organised philately

Nissen was an early member of the Fiscal Philatelic Society, and was appointed to the

Roll of Distinguished Philatelists The Roll of Distinguished Philatelists (RDP) is a Philately, philatelic award of international scale, created by the Philatelic Congress of Great Britain in 1921. The Roll consists of five pieces of parchment to which the signatories add their n ...

in 1923.

Writings

In 1922 Nissen wrote, with Bertram McGowan, his masterwork ''The Plating of the Penny Black Postage Stamp of Great Britain, 1840'' for which he received The

Crawford Medal :::''See also'' Crawford Award for fantasy novels. :::''See also'' Max Crawford Medal Australian academic award. The Crawford Medal is a vermeil medal awarded by the Royal Philatelic Society London for the most valuable and original contribution ...

for philatelic literature from The Royal Philatelic Society London. His firm, Chas. Nissen & Co. Limited continued after his death and enjoyed a Royal Warrant from

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

as stamp dealers. Nissen also worked with McGowan on the plating of the Queen Victoria Penny Red and his work was eventually completed by J.B.M. Stanton and published after Nissen's death by his own firm.J.B.M. Stanton, ''Great Britain: The Varieties and Characteristics of the 1d. Red Line-Engraved Stamps 1841-1864'', Chas. Nissen & Co. Ltd., London, 1958.

Publications

*''The Plating of the Penny Black Postage Stamp of Great Britain, 1840'', London 1922. (With Bertram McGowan) *''Official Stamps of Great Britain'', London 1906. (With I.J. Bernstein)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nissen, Charles British stamp dealers British philatelists 1880 births 1944 deaths Signatories to the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists 20th-century British businesspeople