With stamp collecting a popular hobby and lucrative¹（赚钱的） investment, scientists are describing a comprehensive new way of verifying the authenticity² and rooting out fakes of what may be the smallest and most valuable pieces of paper on Earth. Their report appears in the ACS journal Analytical³ Chemistry.

 

Ludovico Valli and colleagues explain that museums, archives and private stamp collectors have long been searching for better ways to confirm the authenticity of rare stamps, and details like cancellation⁴ marks that increase value. But until now, those approaches have been limited to individual components⁵ of a stamp, like the ink, or have relied on expert inspections⁶. Valli's team looked for a better way.

 

They describe successful use of a lab test called infrared⁷ spectroscopy to test all of the multiple components that make up a stamp -- including paper fibers⁸, fillers, inks, adhesives⁹ and coatings -- to produce a portrait without damaging the stamp itself. Valli and colleagues tested it successfully on more than 180 Italian stamps that span almost the entire history of Italy's stamp-making, which dates back to 1850. They detected two counterfeits¹⁰, one of the rare Gronchi Rosa, which was issued in 1961 for then-president Giovanni Gronchi's trip to South America, and a 2-cent stamp from 1861. They describe the technology as "a really simple, precise, immediate¹¹, and nondestructive method" for determining the authenticity of stamps.

 

The authors acknowledge funding from the European Regional Development Fund and the National Operational Programme for Research and Competitiveness 2007-2013.

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