SAINT THOMAS AND PRINCE ILLEGAL STAMPS
SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE ILLEGAL STAMPS
São Tomé e Príncipe Illegal Stamps

Information and Reference of illegal stamps for Saint Thomas and Prince Islands

Saint Thomas and Prince Islands (Sao Tome and Principe) is a very interesting and also very difficult country to sort out as far as illegal stamps are concerned. This little island country has been "abused" since around the mid 1990's and to this day there is a massive glut of abusive stamp issues being produced by the Stamperija stamp agency in the name of them.

What I found really interesting about this countries problems is the styles used by both the illegal stamp producers and Stamperija. They are extremely similar. The interconnection of both entities is uncanny to say the least. In recent times some of the main illegal stamp dealers who are obviously directly connected to the producer have resorted to including Stamperija stock in their sales for this country.

Although the country of Saint Thomas and Prince is a member of the UPU, they have never had any of their stamps placed and approved for placement within the UPU's WNS stamp system. This is obviously because since 2002 all of them do not meet the requirements needed to be included on the system. Most of the stamps for this country since around 1987 have been produced by non-secure stamp printers and agencies. This allows for overproduction, non-country related topic making, purposeful error production and no accurate documenting of quantities produced and reproduced according to what sells. The major portions of profits going to the agents and their printers which in the case of Stamperija, being agent and printer, thus breaking every rule set out by the UPU on stamp production best practices. So no....none are listed in the WNS system because they are abusive stamps.

The research into this countries illegal stamp problem shows there to be only one producer of them in the early 2000's. This evidence directly ties him to the major production of illegal stamps for many countries as this producer fully admits to making them, claiming he had contracts to make them. These "contracts" are now being proven to be bogus contracts. You can see this firstly because none of the major stamp catalogs list any of his productions made in the name of this country. Many are deemed illegal by many sources. This producer/dealer is the only seller out there along with his associated illegal stamp dealers selling the garbage. He being the main source of them to this day.

That persons name is Mr. Juan Marino Montero who ran the now defunct companies Marino Montero International in Argentina, and was the president of Mayfair International Printing company in France also defunct. Was also the owner of France-Philatelie which went under in 2001. He was denounced as producing the earlier illegal stamps of Niger (see the Niger section), Has been directly connected with the illegal stamps of Mali and evidence is mounting on the production of illegal stamps in the name of many Russian Republics and Provinces.

For this country, many of the following illegal stamps have the Mayfair International logo right on them!

This guy has threatened many others with "legal action" on many things. Some have virtually taken down their information because of his threats. He has threatened the UPU, the major catalogs and other stamp entities. Every one of his threats of legal action have panned out to nothing. This is because if he even tries, he will be fully exposed as a criminal selling counterfeit goods. I would love to see him in court as I would bring along numerous editors and reporters to view it and record what takes place. Yes, he has even threatened me. I am still waiting for this big legal action to occur. That threat made about 4 years ago now.

The PWMO was contacted by him in 2012 where he stated:
"STOP TO TELL RUBISH MY LAST ADVICE AND IF YOU WANT PROPER INFORMATION YOU MUST CONTACT ME"
That was after they had posted a portion of the Illegal stamps - philately’s rough trade by J. M. Chute on the site. Here is a snapshot of his little page trying to convince people his illegal stamps are legal. got it on the Wayback Machine. I am sure he hates that....



Ever see a real stamp dealer selling their stamps in this way? Something like this should send up red flags for anyone visiting the site.

So, did anyone get sued? Nope. Did any of the catalogs list them? Nope. Did the WNS system accept them? Nope. You see, anyone can make up bogus pieces of paper claiming anything. I show that over and over again with certificates of authenticity for instance. Made by criminal stamp dealers to convince unknowing collectors that they are getting something rare or real when in fact neither is the truth. Take the imaged "documents" to court in Saint Thomas and Prince Islands and most certainly they will prove them false. Either completely made up bogus pieces of paper like the illegal stamps this guy and his buddies are peddling, or signed by someone with NO authority to authorize stamps to be produced for St. Thomas and Prince Islands. Do you think for a moment that one should trust the word of a major illegal stamp dealer like this?

The site was taken down soon after just like his little stamp-scandal.com was in 2008 which accused everyone under the sun of being illegal stamp producers and/or sellers and how squeaky clean he was.

What is really interesting is the timing of the production of the illegal stamps in the name of this country. You see, in 2003 Stamperija got the contract to print stamps for this country. Algirdas Satas was and is according to everything Montero has stated, one of the most evil people in the world. Then again, this could be some kind of "front" as the same thing happened with Clive Feigenbaum. Montero stating he was evil and so forth, only to find out later that they are the best of friends and were completely associated just as the son Jonathan Feigenbaum is to this day. Yes, what I call the British group. all associated, all selling the same goods.

In 2003 a mass of abusive issues by Stamperija were made. A year later a mass of illegal stamps made by this Montero were made. Stamperija remained the agent. Two contracts are not allowed in the stamp business. Stipulations within the contracts read that into the rules with stamp agencies. When a country takes an agent to represent them, they are not allowed to hire a competing stamp agent until that contract end date is reached. Get it? This is why the Montero stamps are illegal. The Stamperija issues are being listed in the catalogs (unfortunately) whereas the Montero (Mayfair International) stamps are not. Quite simple to see yes?
The webpage above shows you how he tried to manipulate the catalogs and even the UPU into legitimizing the junk through idol threats. It did not work.

In 2005 Stamperija apparently lost the contract as they offer no stamps for that year. The Montero "barrage" continues in that year. In 2006 Stamperija must have renewed the contract as again a massive number of the abusive stamps were made and listed by the major catalogs. Montero kept going as well but with a definite "slowdown". In 2007.....no more Montero illegal stamps in the name of St. Thomas and Prince Islands. Interesting yes? Since then Stamperija has been running the show for this country except apparently in 2012. In 2015 the Russian counterfeit producer Topnimarka.com appears and is producing counterfeit illegal stamps in mass in the name of St. Thomas and Prince to this day in 2021. We can thus see that there is a huge problem on all fronts with the stamps of St. Thomas and Prince Islands. Namely.... from the 90's onward, stamps to avoid.

To find out what stamps are real and legitimate for St. Thomas and Prince Islands you can visit the online catalogs linked below. One should not buy any issues later than the year 2000 unless only paying pennies for them. Issues between 1977 and 2000 should be purchased only after a thorough amount of research is done on the issue(s) of interest. Again, sadly, the country like some others has gone "rouge" against all UPU guidelines for philatelic best practices in regards to stamp production and issuing. I for one would kick them out of the UPU if they continue on this path. The stamps produced to this day are not anything but made to profit from collectors and are 99% excessive of postal needs.

I have found the Colnect online catalog to be very helpful.

The Colnect Online Catalog for São Tomé e Príncipe

Some of the illegal stamps are shown in their Cinderella section and noted as such. Still nothing close to what is out there as you will see. The 1992 Sea turtle issue is listed in some catalogs and when compared to other issues of the year the cancelled versions match so I believe it to be placed in error as an illegal stamp.

The Colnect Online Catalog Illegal Stamp Section for São Tomé e Príncipe

I have found the Stampworld.com Catalog to be very helpful as well.

The Stampworld Online Catalog for Sao Tome and Principe

Here we go!

Many of the following illegal stamps can be found as imperforates and as color proof sets as well. Many exist on fake First Day Covers too.
Most times now (2021) the souvenir sheet sets and sheetlet sets are sold individually. Many times the stamps have been removed from the sheetlets and souvenir sheets. All of these "tactics" are used to avoid detection by experts and savvy collectors.

Sellers that call these "private", "locals", "Cinderella's", "unauthorized" are deceiving you. They are illegal stamps produced by a stamp dealer that is bent on ripping you off! Some sellers state "we offer them because they are on the market". Well how about you use a different dealer because that seller is "on the market"? If the stamp societies, auction sites and all other venues kicked these sellers off of their sites then they would have to comply or lose their ability to sell anything.

The following images are free for the use of all to use to alert the public to them. If anyone wants to make a public list of users on eBay, Delcampe and elsewhere who are selling these issues....fine by me since the UPU, PWMO and others appear to have given up or have not been updated in years.

If you have purchased any of these stamps from a dealer or if that dealer offers them, you should avoid that dealer! You will only be supporting illegal stamp makers who are only ripping you off.

1996

I found this one souvenir sheet that is not listed in the catalogs. It is of similar style to many of the Russian counterfeit illegal stamps. First Day covers and registered covers are meaningless in regards to illegal stamps. This is the first clue that the British counterfeit producer had his eyes set on St. Thomas and Prince Islands. There are many illegal stamps that were put on registered covers and fooled postal employees into mailing them to their destination in this time era of early to mid 1990's. All being attempts to "legitimize" them as real stamps. It stopped when the threat of legal action and investigations began happening which would have exposed the criminals and ended the illegal stamp industry right then and there. Note the low number on the register and where it was going. It has been verified as "privately produced" by one major illegal stamp dealer.

1996 Chinese Lunar Year of the Rat Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Souvenir Sheet of 9 on Bogus Registered Cover

1997

During this year many stamps have had controversy within the major catalogs. Yvert and Michel listing them whereas Scott and Stanley Gibbons are not. We can see by the styles that the same producers of legitimized issues at the time like the Diana issue were also producing issues that are exactly the same styles as the tons of illegal stamps of that same time. Companies like Impressor S.A. and Montero's Mayfair International in association with Clive Feigenbaum were ramping up productions for many countries. The objective for all of them of course was to legitimize them so they would sell. It has already been proven in numerous cases that editors within Michel and Yvert were being influenced to list stamps by dealers and agents either by false documents or inside "payoffs". At the time the Scott and Stanley Gibbons side was much more firm on what was to be listed. Thus....conflict.

These following two sets are listed in Michel and Yvert and are thus presented on the Colnect and Stampworld online catalogs. A deep research into the origins of them should be made as to why they are not listed in the Scott and SG catalogs. Because of the listing I will not mark them with the "dreaded" illegal stamp watermark. I do advise thinking twice before purchasing them.

1997 Locomotives Souvenir Sheets of 9 and 1



1997 Soccer Stadiums FRANCA 98 Souvenir Sheets of 9 and 1

1998

Things seem to get even more confusing in this year. The Mushrooms set appears to only be listed in Michel. The Olympic Games in Nagano does not even seem to be listed yet the Stampworld online catalog lists it but not Colnect. The Frank Sinatra is listed only in Michel and not shown on Colnect. The Orchids are are also only listed in Michel supposedly according to a couple shady dealers but neither Colnect nor Stampworld show it. You can see they all have the same styles. This is why strict rules must be enforced including the printer placing a logo on every stamp they print. So they can be tracked.
The Stampworld catalog is a bit of a "mess" in this year listing some issues like one of the Diana sheets that were all made in 1997 and the Goya issue which was issued in 2000 as issued in 1998.

Again, the advice is to think twice before purchasing them and definitely do not spend a lot on them! Here are images.

1998 Frank Sinatra Souvenir Sheet of 1



1998 Mushrooms Souvenir Sheets of 9 and 1



1998 Olympic Games in Nagano Souvenir Sheet of 1



1998 Orchids Souvenir Sheet of 9



All of these being sold mainly by shady dealers. I would avoid them.

All appears to be calm until the year 2000. Then Stamperija started making a move to gain control. They issued several sets between 2000 and 2002. It was in 2003 that they gained complete control and issued a mass of abusive issues. This must have really irritated this Montero as in 2004 is when the illegal stamp nightmare really started for Saint Thomas and Prince Islands. It is the Impressor S.A. and Mayfair International styles that are quite easy to recognize. The simplistic Sheets of 9 show their involvement throughout the late 80's and the 90's. The next page will shock you....

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References taken from:
Major Stamp Catalogs
Internet Research

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