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Sigmund Friedl (1851, Lipník nad Bečvou, Moravia – 1914, Vienna) was one of the most famous Austrian philatelists. Toward the end of his life he defrauded 
To Austrian philatelists, Sigmund Friedl is known mainly for his Friedl perforations and the disreputable Friedl forgeries. The Friedl perforations are private perforations of Austrian
The 1881 and 1890 Vienna Philatelic Expositions
1851 births 1914 deaths People from Lipník nad Bečvou Moravian-German people Austrian philatelists Stamp forgers Austrian people of Moravian-German descent Austro-Hungarian people Philately of Austria {{Austria-bio-stub
Sigmund Friedl (1851, Lipník nad Bečvou, Moravia – 1914, Vienna) was one of the most famous Austrian philatelists. Toward the end of his life he defrauded stamp collectors
Stamp collecting is the collecting of postage stamps and related objects. It is an area of philately, which is the study (or combined study and collection) of stamps. It has been one of the world's most popular hobbies since the late nineteenth ...
by selling them forgeries.
Sigmund Friedl's interest in postage stamps started already at the age of 13. Only two years later, he started trading them. In 1872, he opened his own stamp shop in Vienna. Soon he became a stamp expert and started working as an examiner. He had great success with his shop, for example, he sold the unique Tre Skilling Banco for a sum of 4,000 florins to the famous collector, Philipp von Ferrary. Through his good relationship with the post, he was able to cheaply obtain the remaining stocks of several postage stamps and resell them.
At the same time, he wrote the first Austrian stamp catalogues and enhanced the stamp album
Stamp albums are books used to house a collection of postage stamps.
Overview
Albums are a popular means of storing and displaying stamp collections for both beginners as well as accomplished collectors. They range from simple bound volumes int ...
s. Finally, Sigmund Friedl established his own stamp museum in his villa in Unterdöbling. In 1881 and 1890, he organised the first major Austrian stamp exhibitions, which also attracted international attention.
To Austrian philatelists, Sigmund Friedl is known mainly for his Friedl perforations and the disreputable Friedl forgeries. The Friedl perforations are private perforations of Austrian definitive stamp
A definitive stamp is a postage stamp that is part of the regular issue of a country's stamps, available for sale by the post office for an extended period of time and designed to serve the everyday postal needs of the country. The term is used in ...
s, which were tolerated by the post. The Friedl perforations always had a different number of perfs than the original perforation of the definitive stamp series made by the post. The forged stamps were mainly forgeries of the Mercury
Mercury commonly refers to:
* Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun
* Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg
* Mercury (mythology), a Roman god
Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to:
Companies
* Merc ...
series issued in 1851, which were sold to collectors with fraudulent intent. After the deception was exposed, Friedl had to buy back some of these stamps.
See also
* List of stamp forgersExternal links
The 1881 and 1890 Vienna Philatelic Expositions
1851 births 1914 deaths People from Lipník nad Bečvou Moravian-German people Austrian philatelists Stamp forgers Austrian people of Moravian-German descent Austro-Hungarian people Philately of Austria {{Austria-bio-stub