COMORO ISLANDS ILLEGAL STAMPS
COMOROS ILLEGAL STAMPS
COMORES ILLEGAL STAMPS
1999 and 2000

Information and Reference of illegal stamps dating 1999 and 2000 for the Comoro Islands according to U.P.U. Circulars 201, 514 and 140

The Universal Postal Union published the following Circular on May 7, 2001 denouncing illegal stamps at the request of the Postal Administration for Comoros. This Circular was validated by K. J. S. McKeown, Director of Communications and Postal Markets of the UPU Secretariat. The circular is number 201. Here is what was stated in the circular.

The administration of the COMOROS asks me to inform you of the following:

"Our administration has been informed of the existence on the philatelic market of several different sets of postage stamps with various designs, some bearing the inscription "REPUBLIQUE ISLAMIQUE DES COMORES", and others the inscription "REPUBLIQUE FEDERALE ISLAMIQUE DES COMORES" (see annex). Some of these sets have even been found on various Internet sites in Europe and the United States of America.

"We wish to point out that these postage stamps are illegal and are being issued without our knowledge. The circulation of these stamps is causing moral and economic harm not only to the Comorian postal services, but also to collectors. Their circulation also discredits the Comorian postal services in the eyes of philatelists worldwide and forces collectors to distinguish between fake and authentic postage stamps.

"These fake postage stamps have been issued in violation of the provisions of the Universal Postal Convention and its Letter Post Regulations and of the laws of the Federal Islamic Republic of the Comoros.

"These stamps and any similar stamp are to be regarded as illegal and may not be used as a means of postal prepayment. Nor do they have any value for purposes of collection on behalf of our country.

"Consequently, we would ask all postal administrations not to accept correspondence bearing these forged stamps. Legal action has already been initiated to trace the forgers and bring them to justice."

Yours faithfully,

K J S McKEOWN
Director of Communications and Postal Markets

Annex

Description of the illegal postage stamps with various designs, some bearing the inscription

REPUBLIQUE FEDERALE DES COMORES, and others the inscription REPUBLIQUE FEDERALE ISLAMIQUE DES COMORES

One souvenir sheet "OCEAN LIFE" with values of 100, 150, 250, 300, 350, 400, 450 and 500 Comorian francs (CF).
One souvenir sheet "HORSES" with values of 100, 150, 200, 250, 300, 350, 400, 450 and 500 CF.
One souvenir sheet "PANDAS" with values of 100, 150, 200, 250, 300, 350, 400, 450 and 500 CF.
One miniature sheet featuring boxer Muhammad Ali, with a value of 1125 CF.
Two miniature sheets featuring the American baseball player Babe Ruth, with a value of 1125 CF.
Eleven miniature sheets featuring various personalities: airplane pilots, a scientist, a racing car driver, Pope John Paul II, a man walking on the moon, various explorers, the man behind the Zeppelin airships.

Fauna and flora set:

Harpe Costata, 25 CF
Volute Lapponica Line, 50 CF
Ylan ylang, 150 CF
Tortue Ghetonia Mydas, 100 CF
Poulpe Octopus Vulgaris, 125 CF
Coelacanthe, 300 CF
Tellina Variegata Linné, 300 CF
Hibiscus, 25 CF
Tournesol des Comores, 50 CF

The illegal stamps described in the annex were all made in 1998. The descriptions must have confused some people because in December of the same year another circular was published clarifying and adding to two of the sets. Those being the Muhammad Ali set and the Babe Ruth sets. Also an additional set was added, that being, the Titanic.

The Universal Postal Union published the following Circular on December 17, 2001 denouncing illegal stamps at the request of the Postal Administration for Comoros. This Circular was also validated by K. J. S. McKeown, Director of Communications and Postal Markets of the UPU Secretariat. The circular is number 514. Here is what was stated in the circular.

Dear Sir/Madam

The administration of the COMOROS asks me to inform you that the MWEZINET Association, which is its representative for the promotion and sale of Comoros stamps, has discovered stamps bearing the inscription "Islamic Federal Republic of the Comoros" on an Internet website.

The themes identified feature:

- The film "Titanic"
- Babe Ruth
- Muhammad Ali

The Comorian administration confirms that it has not issued or authorized these series of stamps and miniature sheets, which it regards as illegal products.

Faced with this worrying situation, and since the National PTT Company (SNPT) of Comoros, is unable to identify the printer that produced these products, it is appealing for UPU member countries' invaluable cooperation to effectively combat the illegal stamp issues with which its administration is often confronted.

A complete description of these stamps is given in the Annex.

Yours faithfully,

K J S McKEOWN
Director of Communications and Markets

Annex

Description of the illegal stamps bearing the inscription "Islamic Federal Republic of the Comoros" denounced and declared null and void by the National PTT Company (SNPT) of Comoros

- One sheetlet of 9 stamps featuring the American baseball player Babe Ruth, with a face value of 375 CF, issued in 1998.
- One sheetlet of 9 stamps featuring a scene from the film "Titanic", with a face value of 375 CF, issued in 1998.
- One miniature sheet of 9 stamps featuring characters from the film "Titanic", with a face value of 1175 CF, issued in 1998.
- One sheetlet of 9 stamps featuring the boxer Muhammad Ali, with a face value of 300 CF, issued in 1998.

The Universal Postal Union published another Circular on April 30, 2007 denouncing illegal stamps at the request of the Postal Administration for Comoros. This Circular was also validated by K. J. S. McKeown, now called the Director of Markets Development of the UPU Secretariat. The circular is number 140. You can view it in the linked file below:

UPU Circular Number 140

In this circular it describes another mass of counterfeit illegal stamps made in the name of the Comoros Islands namely created in 2004 through 2006.

Although there are many discrepancies within all of the following sites, for the most part, to find out what stamps are real and legitimate for the Comoros Islands you can first go to this website and view their catalog of stamps which shows you what was issued from beginning to present time according to a representative for them.

The comores-online.com Catalog of Stamps

The site only shows issues up to 2007 (probably because the abusive stamp agent Stamperija gained contracts in 2008 forward) and has not been updated since 2010.

You can visit the UPU WNS website and look at the Comoros section. Sadly, we see a huge gap between 2007 to 2019 caused by the damage caused by Stamperija.

The Universal Postal Union WNS website

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

The Colnect Online Catalog for Comoros

Some of the illegal stamps are shown in their Cinderella section and noted as such. Nothing compared to what follows on my site.

The Colnect Online Catalog Illegal Stamp Section for Comoros

I have also found the Stampworld online catalog to be very useful as well.

The Stampworld Online Catalog for Comoro Islands

Or use a respectable catalog like Scott or Stanley Gibbons. Do not listen to these dealers trying to convince you they are something other than counterfeit illegal stamps.

Here we go!

1999

There is only one set described in circular 201 as being illegal for 1999. The description is vague reading:
Eleven miniature sheets featuring various personalities: airplane pilots, a scientist, a racing car driver, Pope John Paul II, a man walking on the moon, various explorers, the man behind the Zeppelin airships.

Once again the set was made by Impressor S.A.. This agent/printer has caused a lot of chaos in the stamp market in regards to continuing to print stamp issues after their contract was over and/or possibly revoked for breach of contract. The company again being abusive in numbers of issues and quantities produced, obviously made to profit from collectors. The following set was never authorized to print according to the circular and was therefore illegally produced and distributed.

Famous People

The set of 11 stamps were produced in souvenir sheets of four and on souvenir sheets of one. They were massively produced and are everywhere now. Sellers are selling them individually and broken from the panes. Of course most of the sellers are known illegal stamp sellers.

There is a serious problem with the Scott catalog. At least in mine. They list them in the 2005 edition. The Scott catalog lists them as Scott numbers 952-962. Was this corrected? It is obviously one that should have been removed at the same time the 1998 Muhammad Ali (Scott No. 934-935) counterfeit set was removed. Because the description was a bit vague, it was probably missed or misunderstood. Or, because they presumed that since they were issues made by Impressor who did have a contract in that year, that the circular was wrong. Rather than investigate deeper apparently the catalog ignored it at least back in 2005. Yet another example of problems with the stamp catalogs as a reliable source.

Neither the Colnect nor Stampworld online catalogs list them so the Scott catalog must have changed the status as the whole set is verified on the Comores-online.com website as illegal.

Some of the counterfeit souvenir sheets I could not find anywhere on the internet at the time of writing this. I did find the single stamps though and show those.

1999 Comoro Islands Willy Messerschmitt Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Souvenir Sheet of 1

The vague reference to this sheet is the description "airplane pilots".



1999 Comoro Islands Louis Pasteur Counterfeit Illegal Stamp

The vague reference to this stamp is the description "a scientist".



1999 Comoro Islands Albert Schweitzer Counterfeit Illegal Stamp

The vague reference to this stamp is also the description "a scientist".



1999 Comoro Islands Ferdinand von Zeppelin Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Souvenir Sheet of 1

The vague reference to this sheet is the description "the man behind the Zeppelin airships".



1999 Comoro Islands Henri Dunant Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Souvenir Sheet of 1

The vague reference to this sheet is the description "various explorers".



1999 Comoro Islands Albert Einstein Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Souvenir Sheet of 1

The vague reference to this sheet is again the description "a scientist".



1999 Comoro Islands Ayrton Senna Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Souvenir Sheet of 1

The vague reference to this sheet is the description "a racing car driver".



1999 Comoro Islands Pope John Paul II Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Souvenir Sheet of 1

The vague reference to this sheet is the description "Pope John Paul II".



1999 Comoro Islands Pope John Paul II Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Souvenir Sheet of 1

The vague reference to this sheet is also the description "Pope John Paul II".



1999 Comoro Islands Crew of Apollo 11 Counterfeit Illegal Stamp

I could only find this image on the comoro-online.com website.

The vague reference to this stamp is the description "a man walking on the moon".



1999 Comoro Islands Charles Lindbergh Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Souvenir Sheet of 1

The vague reference to this sheet is also the description "airplane pilots".



You can see how confusing the circular description of this set is. The bottom line is that this set is illegal and therefore counterfeit. so avoid it and anyone selling it.

2000

In 2000 the British producer and his distributors created four large souvenir sheets of 9 counterfeit stamps. In theory this was a "test" to see what repercussions might happen. Of course this is what caused the circulars to be published in 2001. These same counterfeit souvenir sheets are being sold to this day in 2021. Some of the sellers of course are the ones involved from the very beginning and continue to profit from them even now.

Compare them with the 1998 issues and compare them with the tons of illegal stamps produced in the name of the many countries shown on this site and you will see they are exactly the same and therefore again shown to be made by the same people. That being the British producer and his little group of misfits who to this day continue to plague the stamp market with counterfeit goods.

2000 Comoro Islands Exotic Fish Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Souvenir Sheet of 9

This one was missed in circular 201.



2000 Comoro Islands Horses Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Souvenir Sheet of 9



2000 Comoro Islands Ocean Life Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Souvenir Sheet of 9



2000 Comoro Islands Pandas Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Souvenir Sheet of 9



The 2001 circulars were published and as usual the British producer runs and hides again. As is the usual case with this ghoul he sits in the dark waiting until things cool down and will then start again. He waited until 2004 when he attacks the market again, producing another glut of counterfeits in the name of the Comoro Islands. This time changing the styles and concentrating on his usual selling topics of art, Disney, actors and musicians.

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References taken from:
U.P.U. Circular No. 201, 514 and 140
Major Stamp Catalogs
Internet Research

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