The 1908-23 Washington/Franklin stamps are a challenging series to properly identify but they are also known to be widely faked and altered. Some experts place the number of faked and altered stamps at 50%-60% or higher.

The frequency or likelihood of a stamp being faked/altered is indicated by a simple five level color scale shown are right.

Click on Thumbnail to see high resolution image.
All images shown are genuine stamps.

Note: "E" = Endwise coil     "S" = Sidewise coil