Austria Scott P3 - Real or Fake?

Nice one CP,
I am certainly no expert, but would suggest larger scans would be helpful.
We need to know if the "G" is serrifed

All four stamps were reprinted in 1866, 1870, 1884,1886,1887,1894, and 1904
The colours for the most part are brighter and fresher than the originals.

It appears to have part of an expertisers mark on the back.
Maybe  Google for any treatise on this issue.

Our member,  Classical stamps may have Forgery information.

Using the assumption, that any possible valuable stamp discovered, is of the least value,
Stanley Gibbons offers a variety of the 6k Type 1 (not serrifed G )   "Orange" for example.  (No usable CV, catalogue is 1965)

Never jump to conclusions, rare stamps are getting discovered all the time .
Good Luck.

"He who jumps with no parachute,    jumps to conclusion"

I figured out how to get a bigger picture

There is a Rare Red type 2 on wiki,
you can judge the colours yourself.
All the type is heavily serrifed.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newspaper_stamp

Reprints unsold at $300



A deeper discussion (German)

www.philaforum.com/forum/thread.php?threadid=2529&hilight=blaue+merkure

Here we go...

Forgeries ID
www.theswedishtiger.com/forgeries/austria_stamp_forgeries.html

The "Mekure" Reprints
Apparently the reprints are valued in Michel

www.philatelicdatabase.com/stamp-designers/wipa-1933/

Reprints currently for sale   £50 pair

www.sandafayre.com/topics/stampforgeriesreprints.html

While the genuine stamp does have larger top/bottom margins, yours appear extraordinarily large -- suggesting not original.

In terms of printing, your stamp appears to meet all the criteria for Type I, but is lacking of one criteria for an original Type I printing.

All reprints of the 30kr are of Type I. My understanding is that one of the distinguishing characteristics of the reprints is the 3rd & 4th background lines near the top left corner do NOT touch each other. In the genuine 30kr, they barely touch each other (NOTE: in the Fournier forgery, they DO touch each other, so this is not a sufficient criteria to determine genuine).

It appears to be a reprint (my non-expert opinion), possibly the 1870 reprint -- you'd have to check the paper type and gum to confirm.

I am open to correction...

k

{EDIT:  Please note, the info above applies specifically to the 30kr reprint}.

If I thought I had a real one, and wanted some confirmation, this is the guy I would contact:

www.aiep-experts.net/cms/index.php?option=com_comprofiler&task=userProfile&user=123

I believe he wrote the book. Literally. His email address is available at the link.

I wrote the contact provided and the response was, "This is only a cheap REPRINT!" Oh well.

If it is the 1870 reprint, about 10000 of those were produced. Some of the reprints were done in very small quantities. I assume the expert could tell just from the picture and decided it was one of the more common reprints (such as the 1870 reprint). Did the expert mention which year reprint?

Again, as I noted in my previous post, it would appear to me that the clear distinguishing feature to show it is a reprint is the fact that it is Type I and there is a clear separation between the 3rd and 4th lines of shading in the upper left corner.

The stamp is the 6 Kr. red and not the 30 Kr.
It is most likely a reprint,but only an expert,best an austrian or german one,could tell for sure what reprint it is.
All reprints are type one.However the original 6 Kr. red is type II.So it cannot be an original.
Better reprints,like that of 1866,1884 or 1886 are rather expensive in the range of € 100.- to € 300.-.
Cheaper reprints (1870,1887,1894 and 1904) are in the range of € 10.- to € 30.- each.
As the original 6 Kr. red is the most expensive stamp of Austria,what could cost in a good condition,mint no gum,
easily € 10.000.-,with original gum triple that and used in the range of € 50.000.-,most collectors will be happy
to own a nice reprint !