Stamp Forgery

Stamp forgery is widely treated as one of the most serious crimes. As Trade Systems are crucial to the economy operations in Gand it is important that the system is reliable and wrong doing is punishable under law. Stamp forgery can only occur during registered trade; this is a form of trade which is recorded in local governments and is able to be pursued in claims court if the terms of the trade are broken. In order to commemorate the trade both parties must stamp the document in either wax or ink by using a wax stamp seal, this represents the trading parties as an individual, business or guild. Stamp forgery occurs when a party is knowingly using a seal to misrepresent their identity or that of the entity they represent.    All seals have a 'seal weight' which refers to the seals borrowing and trade power, older and more powerful entity's have a higher seal weight which allows them a strong reputation and generally better trades. As such the allure to pass a under a seal with a higher weight can be tempting for many.    Stamp forgery can occur by replicating an existing seal without going through the proper channels, common methods of forgery may revolve around creating a look-alike seal from scratch by engraving it from a design or casting a copy in molding material. This may of may not be done without the owner's knowledge and can be known as a method of attaching a seal to a bad trade- therefore bringing down the seal weight, or by engaging in trade masquerading as an entity with a higher seal weight to garner better trades.    Also known to occur is stamp theft, which is in the same vein. It's not uncommon to hear tales of noblemen being robbed for their seals on the roads or to head of a light-fingered burgler thieving it in the night. Stamp seals are common to find on the black market and is a high-ticket item traded by vagabonds and smugglers. Even the Barrel Scrapers have been known to trade the odd seal now and then.    Stamp forgery can be potentially disasterous in a society where it acts as the main of documentation identifier, it can damage business empires, interfere with important correspondence, an at worst be used in the forgery of important documents. Even entities which are innocent often have to suffer the consequences of a lower seal weight regardless of how the forgery happened. This is in part why the custom of two witnesses was introduced to legitimise some evidence but this is not without flaws, as witnesses (and even the trade guild itself can be bribed). Stamp forgery is treated very seriously and if the offender is caught they are commmonl punished by hefty fines, jail time or at a push forced servitude in the mines or performing other menial tasks. There are sections of the Traders guild and of the Kings' court which is only dedicated to investigating instances of stamp forgery.