Philip Spiro was the head of the German printing firm of ''Spiro Brothers'' of Hamburg who from 1864 to about 1880 produced around 500 different
lithographed
Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...
reproductions of postage stamps.
[ Tyler, Varro E. (1976) ''Philatelic Forgers: Their Lives and Works''. London: Robson Lowe, pp. 45-46.]
The reproductions are not believed to have been intended to deceive, but they were so well done and so numerous that they contributed to a backlash against stamp forgery that was reflected in the publication of ''The Spud Papers; Or, Notes on Philatelic Weeds'' by the
Rev. Robert Earée.
The forgeries were often produced in small sheets of 25, which are still sometimes found complete. Many old stamp collections include Spiro forgeries due to their wide distribution and a greater acceptance of forgeries as "space fillers" before 1900.
See also
*
List of stamp forgers
Soon after their introduction in 1840 postage stamps started to be forged.
The first book about the topic was written in 1862 by Jean-Baptiste Moens from Belgium ''De la falsifications des timbres-poste''. Shortly afterwards Edward Loines Pemb ...
*
Philatelic fakes and forgeries
In general, philatelic fakes and forgeries are labels that look like postage stamps but have been produced to deceive or defraud. Learning to identify these can be a challenging branch of philately.
To a large extent the definitions below are c ...
References
External links
Typical forged cancels on Spiro forgeries of Japan.These markings appear on stamps of a multitude of countries, not just Japan.
The Spud Papers online.An online repository of the Spud Papers describing the forgeries made by Spiro.
Stamp forgers
Year of birth unknown
Year of death unknown
German printers
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