Stamp Story—No. 84 Tobacconist's Trick Made Him Rich

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29910, 25 August 1962, Page 8

Stamp Story—No. 84 Tobacconist's Trick Made Him Rich

(Specially written for “The Press" by KENNETH ANTHONY]

MANY ingenious means have been used by postal authorities to prevent themselves from being defrauded. One reason why a Queen's head was adopted for the design of the very first postage stamp was because a portrait was particularly difficult to forge.

One of the most interesting and effective devices to prevent fraud was used by Austria in the early years of the, present century. Bars of shiny varnish were applied diagonally to make the stamps harder to clean. It was thus easy to tell if any had been tampered with, for the varnish would be disturbed. One of the stamps treated in this way is shown here. Perhaps Austria was specially on its guard against

sharp practice at that time, because a few years previously the Post Office had fallen victim to one of the most successful tricks ever practised. Then, as now, in many European countries some retailers, especially tobacconists, held licences to sell stamps for a small commission. Small as the commission was, one Viennese tobacconist found a method of making quick money out of it. He began buying stamps at an astonishing rate. Every day his purchases grew—until finally he was sending a messenger to buy substantial quantities three times a day. The Post Office became suspicious. And it was discovered that the crafty tobacconist had been transferring the stamps straight into 10 different accounts in the Post Office Savings Bank, where they were accepted as deposits at full face value. In a short time he had made a big profit at Post Office expense—and moreover he could not be prosecuted for what he had been doing was perfectly legal! All the Post Office could do—as it did—was to threaten to withdraw his licence unless he cut down his purchases to reasonable trading requirements. And so another lucrative racket came to an end. — (Central Press Features, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.)