The E-Sylum:  Volume 10, Number 15, April 15, 2007, Article 19

COIN WORLD'S 1969 FAKE LETTER AND BOOK ON ENCASED POSTAGE

April Fools articles aren't the only made-up items in numismatic
periodicals (and no, I'm not talking about ad copy).  Fred Reed
in his 'Shades of the Blue & Grey' column in the April 2007 Bank
Note Reporter discusses a bogus item inserted into a Coin World
column that appeared in the paper in February 1969.  Reed's article
discusses the "Romain" copies of U.S. Encased Postage Stamps that
appeared in the 1960s and have vexed collectors ever since.

"Alerted to the fakes by John J. Ford, Coin World Editor Margo
Russell, working with U.S. postal authorities, used the fake item
to help identify and alert collectors who may have been taken in
by the scam.

"In Jim Johnson's 'Collector's Clearinghouse' column, Russell
inserted a fake letter asking for collectors to contribute to a
census of encased postage for an upcoming book.  The purported
author and letter writer was a "Margaret Wallace Graham" of New
York.  The name was invented by Russell using "a contrived combination
of my mother's maiden name and mine..."

"The article noted "Encased Postage has a history but not too much
has been published numismatically, and we have a request for assistance
from a reader who is hoping to remedy that."

"Unfortunately, there was apparently little response to the request
and ultimately the trail grew cold.  Reed is interested in learning
if any of our readers has further information on the copies or their
mysterious maker."

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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