Philatelists face the challenge of assessing whether an item they wish to purchase or own is an item that matches the description in reference books. Such publications may include details of rarer items that, for example, may only be found as a ‘flaw’, the result of the printing process. Thus, only one stamp may have this difference compared with all the other stamps on that sheet, creating a potential premium.

This article, published in The London Philatelist in April 2015, provides an example of fraudulent manipulation, demonstrated by forensic philately.