Modern collectors of Machins may not recall Alan Wilson, and I admit I had forgotten about him until I found his price list in one of my boxes.
Wilson was 'a leading dealer' and his catalogue was advertised in the January 1990 edition of the British Philatelic Bulletin.
This is not a work for the faint-hearted, it is very detailed indeed - ideal for those who take their Machin collection to great depths - shades, phosphor screens, different perforator and head types, value positions,
variations in phosphor coated paper, etc,
But all was not what it seemed, as this report from The Independent shows.
In 1995, the cloistered world of philately was shaken by the confession by a leading dealer that he had been forging rare stamps for more than a decade. Alan Wilson, a bookish 36-year-old bachelor who lives with his mother in Luton, walked into his local police station and told officers he had tampered with ordinary stamps to make them appear rarer and more valuable.
The sophisticated fraud brought him about £100,000, but his sense of guilt eventually led him to confess.
He was given an 18-month suspended sentence and fined £30,000.
Ironically, the fakes he manufactured were of such a high standard they
have since become sought after by collectors.
So if anyone would like this price list - it has a few notes and highlights - please let me know in the comments and then email your address if I don't already have it.
Please check the comments before emailing in case it has already been claimed.
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