Dropy.
Messrs De La Rue & Co. to Crown Agents.
110 Bunhill Row, E.C.
7th January 1901.
Hong Kong - Stamps - Regn 1/1901.
99
:
Papers returned herewith.
It will be within your recollection that in 1895 we reported that stamps embossed on gummed paper do not afford proper security to the Revenue.
We now beg to say that the objection to such stamps is that it is an easy matter to forge them. All that has to be done is to pour plaster of Paris on the back of any embossed stamp, which it is desired to reproduce. By this means a solid block is obtained, and by rendering the face of the stamp metallic with black lead, an electrotype can be grown from it. The electrotype is, of course, an exact counterpart of the stamp, and any number of impressions can be taken from it. In several instances forgeries have been perpetrated by even more simple means i.e. by taking a mould in shellac, or other suitable material, from the stamp backed up as described with plaster of Paris. In one instance even common sealing wax was employed with most successful results. Impressions were obtained from the sealing wax mould, by employing a soft pad under the paper. The forgery in question was on an extensive scale, as is proved by the fact that
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