Product Review

"Stamp Counterfeiting" looks into an intriguing crime that originated in Chicago in the 1890s - the so-called Gilded Age, when charlatans and crooks flocked to the cities to make their fortune by nefarious means. Covering the period from 1894 to 1940, author H.K. Petschel delves into the true crime cases that flourished as criminals of all stripes began to try their hand at counterfeiting stamps, ranging from the lone operator running a printing press in his living room to the organized crime syndicates. A former postal inspector who investigated many of the postal counterfeits in the 1970s, Petschel examines the evolution of the U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Postal Inspection Service as they attack stamp and currency counterfeiting. His book is an enthusiastic look at the historical record on the fakery of these "fascinating little bits of paper."