[Newspaper Stamps- Table of Contents]

The Used PR1-4 Census

PR 1   PR2   PR3   PR4 

This is the finest example of a used newspaper stamp since it's actually "on piece".  If fact it's almost too good to be true, but let's go with it!  PR4-CAN-01

The PR4s are the rarest of the used newspaper stamps and also the most faked. Fake PR1s are almost non-exsistent, but fake PR4s are common and were quite available to try to put a fake postmark onto. There also seemed to be a trend to move away from the unique blue ink of the PR1s-PR3s to a black ink which is easier to fake.

PR4-FAKE-01 and -02 are typical PR4 used fakes.  There is either some kind of black "smudges" applied to the stamp, or a non-descript postmark (Clue: Newspaper stamps were not 1st class mail).