THE IVORY COAST ILLEGAL STAMPS
Cote d'Ivoire

Information and Reference of illegal stamps for the Ivory Coast according to U.P.U. Circular 63

On February 23, 2004 the postal administration for the Ivory Coast by request to K.J.S. McKeown (Director of Markets) posted to the Universal Postal Union a circular warning of the discovery of a massive amount of illegal stamps created with their country name that are on the market. The circular is number 63. You can view the circular in its entirety in the PDF file I have linked here.

UPU Circular Number 63

The circular describes numerous sets that were found to be on the market in 2004. the issues described are all dated in 2002 and 2003. 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 the Ivory Coast 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 that have and are being reported to the UPU. 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.

The following images are of illegal stamps produced for the Ivory Coast. 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. One section of the circular I will not publish because they are offensive to many. Any "stamp" with imagery of what is described in that section is obviously fake and the country would never approve of or promote such trash. If you like that stuff, buy a magazine and cut out the pictures. Both are worth the same.

To find out what stamps are real and legitimate for the Ivory Coast visit the UPU WNS website and look at the Ivory coast section.

The Universal Postal Union WNS website

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

The Colnect Online Catalog for Ivory Coast

Check out their Illegal Stamp section as well. It is far from complete but will help you verify many as well.

The Colnect Online Catalog for Ivory Coast Illegal Stamps

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

The Stampworld Online Catalog for Ivory Coast

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 illegal stamps.

UPDATE 2018!

I have completed more research on the Ivory Coast illegal stamps and can tell you the problem is much bigger than these first three original pages have portrayed. There are many more illegal stamps that have been produced and are being offered everywhere. For the Ivory Coast the problem started in 2002 and progressed to massive heights throughout 2018. Now in 2018 the production continues without hinder. We are going to change that.
I am adding new pages listed by the year of "issue" for the illegal stamps. Like the Djibouti section I will show the genuine stamp issues at the top and then the illegal stamps for that year. All the images I have collected from sellers on eBay and Delcampe. Those sellers have been recorded along with the original images they so kindly donated with their user names boldly placed right with the images on the frame or "watermarked" on the images themselves.

It is a huge project and will take some time to get all the pages added and online. Once complete this will be the definitive source for collectors and dealers worldwide to use to detect the illegal stamps for the Ivory Coast.

END UPDATE

Here we go!

All imaged illegals are in the order listed in UPU Circular 63 page 3 through 5.

Many of the following illegal stamps can be found as imperforates and as color proof sets as well. Some exist on fake First Day Covers too.
Most times now (2016) 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.

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.

FAIRY TALES, FANTASY TALES AND CARTOONS

2003 Fairy Tales Stamp Sheetlet of Three

Noting on eBay I could only find this one searching for "Cote d'Ivoire 2003". The seller titles it Dieren/Animals/Tiere. Basically this avoids illegal stamp detection via titles. This seller is selling tons of this junk.


2003 Fairy Tales Snow White Souvenir Sheet



2003 Fantasy Tales Stamp Sheetlet of Three



2003 Disney Cartoons Souvenir Sheet Set with Scout Logo

Exist perforated and imperforate and are also on fake First Day Covers.


2003 Spirited Away Stamp Sheetlet of Six

FAUNA

African animals, animals and wildcats, Dogs, Dinosaurs, wild birds, owls, marine life

2003 Animals Nature Conservancy Sheetlet of Six



2003 Animals Nature Conservancy Sheetlet of Three



2003 Animals Nature Conservancy Souvenir Sheetlet of Three



2003 Animals Nature Conservancy Souvenir Sheetlet of Two

Note the fake cancels. This and all of the stamps imaged never saw postal use. They are denounced by the Ivory coast. Yet easy to find for sale by the unreputable dealers. Oh...that's right...some of those dealers are "reputable".



2003 Wild Cats Nature Conservancy Sheetlet of Eight



2003 Leopard Nature Conservancy Imperforate Souvenir Sheet



2003 Dogs "Les Chiens" with Scouts Emblem Sheetlet of Six

The UPU Circular does not describe the "Les Chiens" title.



2003 Dinosaurs Souvenir Sheet



2003 Dinosaurs Souvenir Sheetlet of Three



2003 Dolphins and Fish Souvenir Sheet



Birds (Various birds, owls)

2003 Owls and Birds "Oiseaux" with Scouts and Rotary Emblems Sheetlet of Ten



2003 Owls "Oiseaux" with Scouts Emblem Souvenir Sheet

The UPU circular describes only this one souvenir sheet. At the time they did not know that all the stamps from the above sheetlet of ten were made into similar fashioned souvenir sheets. All are illegal stamps...



Owls and Birds Illegal Stamp Souvenir Sheet Set


2003 Owls Sheetlet of Six and Eight

Owls Sheetlet of Six


Owls Sheetlet of Eight


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References taken from:
U.P.U. Circular No. 63
Major Stamp Catalogs
Internet Research

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