cjoprey
Member 
Scanning stamps for my website...
Posts: 1,504
What I collect: Belgium (predominantly), British Commonwealth (older ones), WW (whatever comes my way...)
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Post by cjoprey on Jan 26, 2023 23:50:31 GMT
I got these recently in a set of early Albanian stamps, and Scott tells me these are often forged. I can't seem to find anything that tells me what to look for to see if these are genuine or forged however. So I wondered if you good people would be able to advise me on these. And to be honest, even of they are forgeries, I like them simply for the history I learned from them!  These are all issues from 1917. Scott #54  Scott #56  Scott #57  Scott #59  Scott #60  Scott #61  Scott #66  Scott #67  Scott #68  |
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cjoprey
Member
Scanning stamps for my website...
Posts: 1,504
What I collect: Belgium (predominantly), British Commonwealth (older ones), WW (whatever comes my way...)
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Post by cjoprey on Jan 27, 2023 0:09:18 GMT
And to answer my own question, I did find the following information on another site (paraphrased and condensed). I believe ALL of the above are forgeries in that case. Ah well.  Focus on Forgeries by Varro Tyler states the following: - More than 50 forgeries exist - Counterfeits are clearly printed - real stamps have ink dots around the eagle. - Counterfeits have unbroken wing tips - real stamps have broken wing tips. - Counterfeits always have 6 thin lines between the thick ones in top and bottom borders - real can have 5, 6 or 7. - "1 CTS" is always counterfeit - the real stamp has "1 CTM". |
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Post by dgdecker on Jan 27, 2023 0:15:49 GMT
It is great to answer your own question.
i would keep them as well even though fake.
David
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Post by classicalstamps on Jan 27, 2023 7:42:46 GMT
These have an unnecessary bad reputation. It's actually fairly simple. There are 12 stamps per sheet: If you can plate it, it's genuine. If you cannot, it's a forgery. I've attached a page from my Albania album:  |
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cjoprey
Member
Scanning stamps for my website...
Posts: 1,504
What I collect: Belgium (predominantly), British Commonwealth (older ones), WW (whatever comes my way...)
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Post by cjoprey on Jan 27, 2023 11:23:05 GMT
Thanks classicalstamps! That is by the far the clearest description of authenticating those I've seen! |
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Post by classicalstamps on Jan 27, 2023 14:33:10 GMT
You're welcome! Interestingly, as almost everyone think all of these are forgeries, you can find genuine ones cheaply. Not very many were issued... I've attached the pages from my Albania album, so you can grasp a bit of the postal history. Happy hunting!   |
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