ABSTRACT
It was no accident that the first postage stamps, introduced in 1840, bore the features of Queen Victoria. This facial pattern was chosen in preference to others, partly at least, in order to reduce the risk of forgery: small changes in detail to a familiar face, it was assumed, would be readily noticed and thereby the counterfeiter would be foiled (Rose, 1980). Benjamin Che verton, whose design was accepted wrote, "Now it so happens that the eye being used to the perception of differences in the features of the face, the detection of any deviation in the forgery would be more easy … although (the observer) may be unable to point out where the differences lie."
