Forgeries have always been a major problem for philatelists. This is perhaps even more true for early Korean materials: the simple fact that early Korean stamps weren’t much collected before the First World War made it quite easy for stamp forgers, especially from Japan, to create forgeries which could fool collectors. Even though often very crude in appearance apparently these forgeries sold well. This practice was common until approximately the Second World War and many of those fake stamps can still be found all over collections even today.
These fake stamps are very collectable as fakes and could form an intriguing specialized study collection. With a bit of detective work, a keen eye and a thorough knowledge of production practices one could probably even discover which stamps were made by whom. The names of the individuals will probably remain unknown to us, but with a bit of luck and a LOT of time spend examining these stamps one might even be able to link these Korean fakes to Japanese fakes made during the same era. Who knows?
