VSC8000 Cutting-Edge Technology Ensures Quality

The state-of-the-art system combines sophisticated digital image capture with multi-wavelength LED technology for the examination of questioned documents. The VSC 8000 is used worldwide by forensic examiners, government agencies, and immigration authorities — and is also employed by German state criminal investigation offices. At the Heinrich Köhler auction house, it serves to ensure the quality of valuable stamps and postal history items.

Multispectral Light Waves Reveal Details Invisible to the Human Eye

Working with cutting-edge technology for the examination and authentication of stamps has a long tradition at the Heinrich Köhler auction house. As early as 1926, the company’s founder used one of the new and modern quartz lamps, which at the time were not only very large but also extremely expensive. Today, the VSC 8000 by Foster & Freeman represents the technological pinnacle in document analysis. Its multispectral light sources — from UV to the visible spectrum and into infrared — reveal details that are invisible to the human eye.

Quality Verification and Assurance of Valuable Stamps and Covers

But that is far from all. The Video Spectral Comparator also creates a reference file that allows items of the same type to be compared precisely by visually overlaying them. This congruence check reveals whether, for example, surcharges or overprints match exactly. Another powerful analytical capability of the VSC 8000 is 3D analysis. The 3D software uses a photometric stereo technique based on the capture of images illuminated from three different angles.

The analysis of these three images uncovers topographical details of the surface. A kind of height map of the stamp is displayed in a 3D model image. This is particularly advantageous for embossed postal issues, as fraudulent re-embossing can be detected with certainty. In the examinations carried out by the experts at Heinrich Köhler using the VSC 8000, the primary focus is on the verification and assurance of the quality of valuable stamps and covers.