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Post by limhes on Aug 9, 2023 10:59:41 GMT
I've been collecting pre-war Estonia for a little while, and have a hard time finding information on how to recognize fake from genuine stamps. There are some websites with examples, especially on the airmail stamps. The flower design has a 15 kopek perforated version, of which I have three specimens in my collection. All very different. The left one I paid some money for (EUR 15 or so), the other two I stumbled upon.  I would love to know more about them! |
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Post by limhes on Aug 10, 2023 6:33:42 GMT
I found a picture of a supposedly genuine cover with a version of this stamp, "rouletted on three sides":  The topic starter indicates that these rough "perforations" were made by postmasters at the post office, notably at Paide. Is my middle stamp possibly an example of this? It does seem to have a Paide cancellation. |
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cursus
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Posts: 1,773 
What I collect: Catalan Cinderellas. Used Switzerland, UK, Scandinavia, Germany & Austria. Postal History of Barcelona & Estonia. Catalonia pictorial postmarks.
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Post by cursus on Aug 10, 2023 13:23:30 GMT
I, also, collect Estonian 1st Republic stamps, although I've a good Postal History collection of the two first years of the 2nd republic. I can't say nothing about your 15kop singles. But the stamp on the postcard shown is clearly a fake. Acoording my Estonian (2005) and Michel Nordeuropa (2010/11) catalogs, the 15 kop stamp was first issued on Nov. 30th 1918. So, a July 8th 1918 postmark, would be impossible.
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Post by limhes on Aug 10, 2023 15:12:42 GMT
What a good catch! That would still make my middle stamp a candidate "real" postmaster roulette job. Which reference do you use the most? So far Michel is my primary catalogue, which I sometimes supplement with this online catalogue: filateelia.ee/efur/catalogue/cat0.htmlHow does the Estonian (2005) catalogue compare with Michel? There it says that most perforated stamps sold, are in fact fakes (or postmaster roulettes). |
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cursus
Member
Posts: 1,773
What I collect: Catalan Cinderellas. Used Switzerland, UK, Scandinavia, Germany & Austria. Postal History of Barcelona & Estonia. Catalonia pictorial postmarks.
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Post by cursus on Aug 10, 2023 15:38:16 GMT
I got my "Eesti Postmargid ja Tervikasjad Katalog", 2005 about 12 years ago. It has more information than Michel, such as number or stamps issued for each print run and dates of them. In addition, it's fully bilingual, Estonian-English, which is very good for people (like me!) whose Englsh comand is better than our German one. I understand that this is not an issue for Dutch speaking people. But the information is worthy and the catalog is not expenssive at all. I've been collecting Baltics for more than 30 years. I, even, went to Estonia in 2011. A very interesting country! |
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daniel
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Post by daniel on Aug 11, 2023 2:19:09 GMT
Stamp-Collecting-World is a good site for these early Estonia stamps, see here. As far as the 15 K stamp, perforated version, is concerned, this is what it says: "Perforation trials of the 15 K. denomination stamp, shown above, were ordered by the Estonian Postal Service. The trials were made on printers-waste from the first and second printings, and they are perforated 11 1/2. The trials were not considered successful, and further testing was canceled. The exact number of stamps printed and sold is unknown. This perforated 15 K. denomination stamp is the rarest of all the stamps of Estonia. Only two or three covers with the stamp are known. Mint singles are exceedingly rare. It is estimated that 1,000 of them may exist. Many of these perforated stamps, found in collections and on the philatelic market, are forgeries or have private perforations." limhes, if you have managed to pick up a genuine perforated 15 K for 15 euros, you have done extremely well. Daniel |
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cursus
Member
Posts: 1,773
What I collect: Catalan Cinderellas. Used Switzerland, UK, Scandinavia, Germany & Austria. Postal History of Barcelona & Estonia. Catalonia pictorial postmarks.
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Post by cursus on Aug 11, 2023 7:00:25 GMT
Michel catalog, says that certification is compulsory for perforated 15 kop. With a value of 400 € (2010) in front of 1€, the reason is clear. Something I've learnt after more than 50 years of collecting is that if something is too good to be true, it generally is...
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Post by limhes on Aug 12, 2023 5:31:30 GMT
So it seems that the likelihood of having a genuine perforated one is small. Then I'll assume I have some nice forgeries on my hand! Which I honestly also consider as interesting specimens.
I have read about fake stamps that were certified as genuine. So I wonder what the value of it is, unless you really know (s)he is a specialist in these stamps.
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