The Forgery

Due to its high prevalence, I'm trying to put some records of the forgeries of North Borneo SG2 and Scott #5. Genuine stamp of this surcharge is very rare, and we are uncertain if the surcharge of this issue is ever sold. All perforated 14 stamps bearing this surcharge are forgeries. Genuine stamps must have a perforation 12.

In Stanley Gibbons catalogue, it says that a surcharge without a fullstop is considered a forgery but the essential aspect is actually the perforations. Most of the forgeries on this issue if not all, used the later stamp issues of 1886 which has a perf 14. This particular stamp issue appears from time to time in ebay and other online auction sites and it's very sad that buyers pay for such a high price for this piece of junks. Most sellers are also unaware of this and despite knowing the perforation inconsistencies, could not decide further what it really means. Buying this stamp without any certification of authenticity is like buying an Euromillion Jackpot ticket, your chance of winning is 1 in several hundreds millions.

In the early days of North Borneo philatelic study, there is a doubt as to the status of the vertical 8 cents surcharge altogether. Stanley Gibbons catalogue for example stated that "There is a grave doubt as to the authenticity of No. 2" but since the 1978 edition, the statement is omitted. Although a genuine sample of postally used stamp bearing this surcharge is extremely rare, several cancellations may be used: