Harold Treherne
Encyclopedia
Harold Treherne of Brighton, England, was a stamp forger notable for his forgeries of the stamps of India and Australia who was known as The Brighton forger and his works as Brighton forgeries.
Treherne at first produced only fake overprints and surcharges, or imperforate whole stamps as he lacked perforating or rouletting equipment and the overprints and surcharges only required simple printing in black ink. Later he moved on to more sophisticated forgeries.
The Excelsior Traders' Supply Company in London supplied Treherne with a large number of zinc cliches and printing plates including overprints, surcharge
s and complete stamps.
Treherne also had a contact in India, a Mr Thomas Hill in Bombay, who supplied him with genuine used Indian stamps to which fake overprints were applied and which were returned in lots of 1000 of a kind for sale in India.
which he produced in whole sheets showing all of the varieties of type on the originals.
and in 1904 Charles Nissen
wrote more generally in The Stamp Collectors' Annual about the wide variety of forgeries for sale in Brighton.
In 1907 a member of the Stamp Trade Protection Association became concerned about the volume of orders for common stamps received from Treherne that could be easily manipulated by the application of fake surcharges or overprints. After a member received an order for a large number of Great Britain penny reds
, the association set a trap for Treherne by marking some with a pin prick. When the stamps were eventually sold, they had acquired a CYPRUS overprint not present originally, thus greatly increasing their value.
Treherne was arrested on 2 August 1907 and was found to have 447 dies or plates in his possession. He pleaded guilty at his trial and sentence was deferred. In the meantime, the Commissioners of Inland Revenue brought additional charges against Treherne of being in possession of dies, plates and instruments for making fictitious stamps and he was found guilty of these charges and fined £15 and costs. In January 1908 the earlier case on which sentence had been deferred was reopened and he was sentenced to four months hard labour plus an additional month for failure to pay the earlier fine.
First forgeries
Treherne appears to have entered the forgery business about 1902 or slightly earlier when he was working as a clerk in Brighton. He would have been aged about 18 in 1902.Treherne at first produced only fake overprints and surcharges, or imperforate whole stamps as he lacked perforating or rouletting equipment and the overprints and surcharges only required simple printing in black ink. Later he moved on to more sophisticated forgeries.
The Excelsior Traders' Supply Company in London supplied Treherne with a large number of zinc cliches and printing plates including overprints, surcharge
Surcharge
A surcharge may mean:*an extra fee added onto another fee or charge** Fuel surcharge, sky freight charges which represents additions due to jet fuel prices.** Bunker adjustment factor, sea freight charges which represents additions due to oil prices....
s and complete stamps.
Treherne also had a contact in India, a Mr Thomas Hill in Bombay, who supplied him with genuine used Indian stamps to which fake overprints were applied and which were returned in lots of 1000 of a kind for sale in India.
Later forgeries
Some of Treherene's best work is thought to be forgeries of the stamps of Jammu and KashmirJammu and Kashmir
Jammu and Kashmir is the northernmost state of India. It is situated mostly in the Himalayan mountains. Jammu and Kashmir shares a border with the states of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab to the south and internationally with the People's Republic of China to the north and east and the...
which he produced in whole sheets showing all of the varieties of type on the originals.
Aliases
Treherne used the aliases G. Arnold, H. Curtis, H. Hordern, M. Melville, J. or T. Morton, R. Newman, A. West and possibly others.Trapped
Treherne's work started to be noticed in 1903 and 1904 but it was not at first attributed to him. In 1903 A.B. Kay wrote about forged stamps of Kashmir in Stanley Gibbons' Monthly JournalGibbons Stamp Monthly
Gibbons Stamp Monthly is a leading British philatelic magazine which can trace its roots back to 1890. GSM is published by the famous stamps and collectables firm of Stanley Gibbons and each issue includes updates to their various catalogues....
and in 1904 Charles Nissen
Charles Nissen
Charles Nissen was a philatelist, and stamp dealer 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:...
wrote more generally in The Stamp Collectors' Annual about the wide variety of forgeries for sale in Brighton.
In 1907 a member of the Stamp Trade Protection Association became concerned about the volume of orders for common stamps received from Treherne that could be easily manipulated by the application of fake surcharges or overprints. After a member received an order for a large number of Great Britain penny reds
Penny Red
The Penny Red was a British postage stamp, issued in 1841. It succeeded the Penny Black and continued as the main type of postage stamp in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until 1879, with only minor changes to the design during that time...
, the association set a trap for Treherne by marking some with a pin prick. When the stamps were eventually sold, they had acquired a CYPRUS overprint not present originally, thus greatly increasing their value.
Treherne was arrested on 2 August 1907 and was found to have 447 dies or plates in his possession. He pleaded guilty at his trial and sentence was deferred. In the meantime, the Commissioners of Inland Revenue brought additional charges against Treherne of being in possession of dies, plates and instruments for making fictitious stamps and he was found guilty of these charges and fined £15 and costs. In January 1908 the earlier case on which sentence had been deferred was reopened and he was sentenced to four months hard labour plus an additional month for failure to pay the earlier fine.