THE CHAD (TCHAD) ILLEGAL STAMPS

Information and Reference of illegal stamps for Chad

On January 2, 2001 the postal administration for Chad by request to C. Gheorghiev (Assistant Director General) posted to the Universal Postal Union a circular warning of the discovery of a number of illegal stamps created with their country name that are on the market. The circular is number 8. You can view the circular in its entirety in the PDF file I have linked here.

UPU Circular Number 8

The circular describes a number of sets that were found to be on the market in 2001. It describes the existence of the Cats and Elephants shown below. It also states there are three "companies" producing them. Actually they are the distributors at that time. It is stated they are located in Belgium, Lithuania and the United States. Nothing about the UK? That is quite funny to me as that is where the source really lies. Many more have and are being produced since that time. The illegal stamps described in this circular are still on the market today. They are available through private stamp dealers and their websites. They are available on eBay and Delcampe. They are everywhere! These illegal issues are fabrication of stamps that have never had any postal validity in Chad and have been denounced as fraudulent. They were and are created by certain greedy, unethical and immoral stamp dealers. Any stamp seller out there that offers these "stamps" either does not know they are illegal stamps or is deceitful and they should be avoided at all costs. The deceitful ones prey upon unknowing collectors new and old. They prey upon topical collectors mostly because the majority do not have the knowledge that they are worthless in the stamp market. Some are quite obvious because they have hundreds of lots available on eBay and other public auction venues.

For years now there has been arguments as to whether these issues should be imaged for public viewing. The against argument being that collectors that see images of them will want them for their collections. We can see by the availability on the market and the sales generated that this argument has not worked. By only relying on descriptions of the illegal stamps through the UPU circulars the majority of collectors don't even know what they are.

I am a firm advocate against illegal stamps and the creators of them and the sellers of them. Perspective buyers of them need more than UPU circulars to be alerted to the problem. They need to see them and be able to recognize them when they are searching for stamps to buy on the internet or at stamp shows or buying from local dealers.

Because I am independent and run a site that is very public for collectors, I have decided that it is time for someone to display images of these illegal issues, some being reported to the UPU, most are not. The countries that are being victimized by these fraudulent printers need help and the UPU is not enough. It is up to you and me to get the word out and to let everyone know and understand about them since auction venues, stamp societies and catalogs seem to want to ignore the problem. Some who sell these fakes are large volume stamp dealers with supposed impeccable reputations. Some are in high positions in the stamp societies and in the auction venues. They in turn are avoiding the very problem by allowing these kind of sellers to peddle this junk because they also sell legitimate stamps on a large scale. The only way to stop the flow is to hit them where it hurts.

If they are selling this junk then avoid them!
Even if they have legitimate stamps for sale. Buy from sellers that do not have these in their offerings. If you are buying legitimate stamps from them you are still supporting the illegal stamp trade because they are supporting it. Tell them that you do not want to buy from them because they sell illegal stamps. There is no excuse to make them available to anyone. Counterfeit goods are illegal to sell in any country and these are counterfeit goods.

The following images are of illegal stamps produced for Chad. Please remember that the producers of these illegals are not only greedy, they are crude and sometimes disgusting which is the nature of these people.

To verify what stamps are real and legitimate for Chad from 2003 forward, visit the UPU WNS website and look at the Chad section.

The Universal Postal Union WNS website

I have found the Colnect online catalog to be helpful although there are "conflicts" between what is listed there and what is listed on the Stampworld catalog.

The Colnect Online Catalog for Chad

Check out their Illegal Stamp section as well. It is upgraded as of 2023 and shows counterfeits that may be missing here.

The Colnect Online Catalog for Chad Illegal Stamps

I have found the Stampworld.com Catalog to be helpful as well although as stated above there are "conflicts" between what is listed there and what is on the Colnect catalog. Namely listing certain years of the abusive Impressor S.A. issues. I have given more details on this on certain pages.

The Stampworld Online Catalog for Chad

Or use a respectable catalog like Scott or Stanley Gibbons. I have found that Michel and Yvert list many of the Impressor S.A. issues whereas Scott and SG do not. Namely because of no evidence of postal usage. You can obviously see the similarity of the Impressor S.A. issues using the same topics as the illegal stamps. They have been massively produced in all kinds of forms from souvenir sheets, deluxe sheets to gold foil stamps. Certain recent years are being almost exclusively sold by a German dealer who consistently puts in his titles "OFFICIAL ISSUE" as if there is something wrong with them.
Which there is.....
THEY ARE ABUSIVE STAMPS made only to sell to collectors produced in excess of postal needs and as stated above, showing no evidence of postal usage.

Here we go!

In the research to find out what stamps are genuine and which are not I found that Chad is quite challenging. The country has been in chaos for many years all the way up to present time (2020). It is recommended not to go into the country because of terrorism, crime and genocide. Hundreds of thousands of refugees from neighboring countries have moved there and poverty is extreme. The postal system within the country has no website nor any basic means to gain information from. We therefore have had to use other methods to present this reference for you.

Through the years 1997 (which is when the first counterfeit illegal stamps were produced in the name of Tchad) to present time in 2020, the country has changed stamp agents many times. The stamps that exist and that are available on the market show us a pattern of abuse by certain agencies, namely Impressor S.A. and Stamperija (only contracted in 2017), and more conservative usage by rare printings made by Cartor and Tunisie Post. I will go into further details as the following year pages progress.

You will learn from this reference section that all of the illegal stamps in the name of Chad were produced mainly by one producer. The one I call the British producer. In comparison with many of the other reference sections for other victimized countries you can see the obvious styles used are the same as the styles used by this one producer. This same producer (actually the son of that producer) carries on the production of illegal stamps in the name of Chad to this day. I am sorry to say that in more recent years this producer has become much worse than the father in producing hundreds of new illegal stamps ranging in hundreds of topics from Elvis to mushrooms. Millions of collectors worldwide have been scammed by this one producer and his distributors over two decades now. From the topical stamp collector to the memorabilia collector, the majority believing these "stamps" originated in Chad and are valid for postage. The distributors are complete liars and sell them as if they are real. I have noticed recently because of my work that some are trying different methods to try to continue to sell them by noting they "may be" illegal to as described above stating they are cinderella stamps or privately produced.

All of them avoiding the truth.

They are counterfeit stamps produced by a stamp dealer bent on ripping off anyone they can for profits.

The following pages will show you how the producer worked in unison with the abusive stamp agent Impressor S.A., slowing down during the years the agent was authorized to print stamps by Chad, and ramping up again during the years they were not. The evidence is the stamps and the illegal stamps themselves.

Many of the following illegal stamps can be found as imperforates and as color proof sets as well. Many fake First Day Covers exist as well.
Most times now (2020) 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 UPU circular descriptions and experts like myself.

Sellers that call these "private", "locals", "cinderellas", "unauthorized" are deceiving you. They are counterfeit 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.

1997

PRINCESS DIANA

In 1997 Impressor S.A. was running rampant in producing massive numbers of sheets and souvenir sheets with topics ranging from Marilyn Monroe to History of Space. They had gained their first major contract with Chad in 1996. Before that year Chad was a mainly conservative stamp issuing entity. That all changed in 1997.

In 1997 a set of three sheets and two souvenir sheets depicting images of Princess Diana were produced by Impressor S.A. for Chad.
The Scott catalog lists them in two areas. Why is unknown. Both only show 1997 as the issue date with no day of issue. I do not know why they do not show it when a First Day Cover exists for one stamp from one of the sheets that easily tells you that date. But then, if you look in the catalog, the many different sets produced by Impressor during those years are very confusingly listed. The years between 1996 through 1999 scattered about as if the editors were completely confused where to place the years. Going from 1996 to 1997, then back to 1996, then back to 1997, then to 1998, then back to 1996, and so forth. Therefore some 1996 numbers are higher than some 1998 numbers! Corrections are needed!

Chad 1997 Princess Diana
Scott 713-714
Issued December 10, 1997


Chad 1997 Princess Diana
Scott 715
Issued December 10, 1997


Chad 1997 Princess Diana
Scott 749
Issued December 10, 1997


Chad 1997 Princess Diana
Scott 749J
Issued December 10, 1997


So, you are now asking, what does this one set of issues have to do with the illegal stamps?

The first counterfeit illegal stamps in the name of Chad were produced in 1998 under the guise of being produced in 1997 by the producer. What is fascinating is that the producer had to get the original plates from the above shown stamps to do it. This show collaboration between the British illegal stamp producer and Impressor S.A..

The following image shows examples of the first counterfeit illegal stamps made in the name of Chad. The distributor has made the following statement on many similar Diana related counterfeits of which the evidence has been retained.

"Note this item is privately produced and is offered purely on its thematic appeal"

The distributor has only recently added this noting to the offers where he has been selling this junk for over two decades. A little late. The same sales are archived showing the exact same offer without this new noting. How many people have unknowingly purchased these counterfeits in the past which this "dealer" never said anything?

1997 Princess Diana Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Deluxe Sheets



Fake color proof sets of these also exist. Just about every stamp from the sheets of 9 have been reproduced in this way.

1997 Princess Diana Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Deluxe Sheet Color Proof Set



In 1998 the producer does it again. Then adds more.

1998

PRINCESS DIANA

In 1998 the same producer created another group of counterfeit illegal stamp deluxe sheets made from the Impressor S.A. Princess Diana sheets made in 1998. Again this shows collaboration between the two.

Again we have conflict or error with the Scott catalog listings. In the catalog the sheet is listed as issued in 1999 with no day of issue listed. It is not so easy to tell this time because of conflicts with the stamps themselves. Aside from the fact that the year inscribed on the stamps is 1998, the precancel sheets also date 1998. The day being on the cancels 13/11/98. A conflict has been made though as to the year of issue by First Day covers which have a cancel dating 10/1/99.
This shows us that the stamp sheets were indeed made in 1998 but were not "officially" issued until 1999. Noting the sheets are numbered. Note the high number which shows they were produced way in excess of postal needs for the country. Again, try to find commercial usage of them.

Chad 1999 Princess Diana
Scott 774
Issued January 10, 1999


The following image shows examples of the second counterfeit illegal stamps made in the name of Chad by the British producer. The distributor has made the statement quoted above directly on these. I note that the distributor is very "erratic" in posting this new note. He posts it on some and not on many others that are obviously counterfeit. I also note that these images are taken from the distributors website which was originally created by the producer himself over two decades ago, thus the lousy images.

1998 Princess Diana Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Deluxe Sheets



The British counterfeit producer began his own productions outside of the Impressor S.A. collaborated productions of counterfeit illegal stamps in the name of Chad in this year. Here are the first.

1998 Butterflies Counterfeit Illegal Stamps in Block of 6



1998 Cats Counterfeit Illegal Stamps in Strip of 5



1998 Elephants Counterfeit Illegal Stamps in Strip of 5



1998 Horses Counterfeit Illegal Stamps in Strip of 5



The above counterfeit illegal stamps in the name of Chad are being sold still by many sellers. Many have either removed the selvage like the Elephants strip shown or they have broken the strips into the individual fake stamps. Avoid buying them and avoid sellers of them!

Because Impressor S.A. retained contracts with Chad throughout these years through 2005, the British counterfeit producer remained "conservative" in producing illegal stamps in the name of Chad (Tchad). Still, obviously through agreement, he produced limited numbers through those years. The next three reference pages will be in groups of two year references.

View Next Page here!

References taken from:
U.P.U. Circular No. 8
Major Stamp Catalogs
Internet Research

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