TAJIKISTAN TADJIKISTAN ILLEGAL STAMPS
2002 AND 2003

Information and Reference of illegal stamps for Tajikistan Tadjikistan dating 2002 AND 2003

On June 17, 2002 the postal administration for Tajikistan by request to K.J.S. McKeown (Director of Communications and Postal Markets) posted to the Universal Postal Union a circular warning of the discovery of illegal stamps created with their country name that are on the market. The circular is number 229. It states the following

Dear Sir/Madam

The postal administration of TAJIKISTAN asks me to inform you of the following:
“As a member of the Universal Postal Union, the postal administration of Tajikistan issues postage stamps in accordance with the provisions of the Universal Postal Convention and the Letter Post Regulations.
"However, a growing number of illegal issues, produced in the name of the postal administration of Tajikistan, are available on philatelic markets worldwide. The themes selected for these issues are popular with the general public: politicians, famous athletes, Hollywood stars, etc.
"All these issues produced in the name of the Republic of Tajikistan should be considered as illegal. They have nothing to do with the Post and cannot be used for prepayment.
"These forgeries are being made by private companies outside Tajikistan.
"The dissemination of these illicit issues causes serious moral and economic damage to the Republic of Tajikistan and discredits the postal service of Tajikistan in the eyes of the international philatelic community, with the result that collectors avoid buying not only illegal issues but also absolutely legal ones."
The list of illegal issues produced in the name of Tajikistan is attached.

Yours faithfully,
K J S McKEOWN
Director of Communication and Postal Markets

Annex

List of illegal issues produced in the name of Tajikistan

1 John Paul II (sheetlets of 6 stamps)
2 Bruce Lee (sheetlets of 9 stamps)
3 Queen Mother's hundredth birthday (sheetlets of 9 stamps)
4 Formula 1 (sheetlets of 9 stamps)
5 Michael Jordan, basketball player (sheetlets of 9 stamps)
6 Captain America (sheetlets of 9 stamps)
7 Fantastic Four (sheetlets of 9 stamps)
8 Harry Potter (sheetlets of 9 stamps)
9 Osama bin Laden (sheetlets of 9 stamps)
10 Motor sport (sheetlets of 9 stamps)
11 Royal Wedding in the Netherlands (sheetlets of 9 stamps)

The circular describes numerous sets that were found to be on the market in 2002. The issues described are all dated between 1999 and 2002. Many more have been produced than on the list. Most of 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 Tajikistan 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 Tajikistan. 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 find out what stamps are real and legitimate for Tajikistan visit the UPU WNS website and look at the Tajikistan section. Sadly because the system was not online until 2002, it does not help in identifying the early era illegal stamps. It does show from 2002 forward what the official stamp issues were.

The Universal Postal Union WNS website

I have found the Colnect online catalog to be very helpful but incomplete. Some issued stamps printed by Cartor not there and so forth.

The Colnect Online Catalog for Tajikistan

The Colnect online catalogs illegal stamp category has been upgraded and some illegal stamps not listed here are shown there.

The Colnect Online Catalog Illegal Stamp Section for Tajikistan

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

The Stampworld Online Catalog for Tajikistan

Here we go!

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.

2002

In 2002 the British counterfeit producer continued making illegal stamps in the name of Tajikistan but slowed down production considerably. It is probable that this happened because of the issuing of the above circular. When the circular was published it alerted many dealers and so some probably began questioning the sources these counterfeits were coming from thus it started getting to "hot" for the producer to continue without risk of full exposure. These counterfeits continue to be sold everywhere to this day. Many popular topics continued to be used as you will see.

2002 Destiny's Child Souvenir Sheet of 9



2002 Dogs Paintings with Scout logo Souvenir Sheets of 9



2002 Dutch Royal Wedding Souvenir Sheet of 9

This one is described in circular 229.



2002 Dutch Royal Wedding Souvenir Sheet of 1



2002 Elvis Presley Souvenir Sheet of 9



2002 Emmy Awards Souvenir Sheet of 9



2002 Fantasy Art by Olivia Souvenir Sheet of 3



2002 Fantasy Art by Julie Bell Souvenir Sheet of 3



2002 Film Festival in Cannes Souvenir Sheet of 9



2002 Harry Potter Souvenir Sheet of 9

It is possible this Harry Potter sheet of 9 is the one described in circular 229, and not the 2001 sheet. Either way, both are counterfeit illegal stamps.



2002 Harry Potter Souvenir Sheets of 1



2002 Jennifer Lopez Souvenir Sheet of 9



2002 Kylie Minogue Souvenir Sheet of 9



2002 Legendary Movies of the 90's Batman Returns Souvenir Sheet of 1



2002 Legendary Movies of the 90's Leon Souvenir Sheet of 1



2002 Legendary Movies of the 90's Mars Attacks! Souvenir Sheet of 1



2002 Looney Tunes Christmas Souvenir Sheet of 9

Wow. The con printer can't even spell Christmas right!



2002 Marilyn Monroe Souvenir Sheet of 9



2002 Paintings by Fernando Botero Souvenir Sheet of 9



2002 Pope John Paul II Visit to Poland Souvenir Sheets of 9



2002 Pope John Paul II Visit to Poland Souvenir Sheet of 1



2002 Queens Golden Jubilee Souvenir Sheet of 9



2002 Queens Golden Jubilee Souvenir Sheet of 9 on Fake First Day Cover



2002 Shakira Souvenir Sheet of 9



2002 Soccer World Cup Brazil Football Souvenir Sheet of 9



2002 Top Models Souvenir Sheet of 9

2003

In 2003 the British producer only made a couple counterfeit illegal stamps. Then the production stopped completely.

2003 Art and Automobiles Souvenir Sheet of 6



2003 Mickey Mouse Club Souvenir Sheet of 6



2003 Pope John Paul II Souvenir Sheet of 6



2003 Pope John Paul II Souvenir Sheet of 3



2003 Pope John Paul II Souvenir Sheet of 3 Reprint

Here we have the counterfeit souvenir sheet from 2001 being reproduced with new 2003 inscriptions. This shows how these counterfeit producers retain everything to print the same counterfeit illegal stamps over and over again depending on the sales. In this sense it proves no counterfeit illegal stamp is "rare".



2003 Walt Disney Classics Collection Souvenir Sheet of 6



I could find no more counterfeit illegal stamps in the name of Tajikistan nor Tadjikistan in searches for all years from 2004 to present time. The British producer disappears as swiftly as he appeared. He got away with it and his associates continue to proliferate the majority of the shown counterfeit illegal stamps to this day. We know this because most of the images of illegal stamps are from their sales at present time in 2020.

I hope that this reference section on the counterfeit illegal stamps in the name of Tajikistan helps present and future collectors and dealers to avoid them and avoid the people who proliferate them. Only by refusing to buy and/or sell them will this scourge caused by a small number of criminal stamp dealers be ended in the stamp market once and for all. Expose and oppose these dealers by destroying their ability to sell anything in regards to stamps because their reputation as a stamp dealer is made untrustworthy in all regards.

Return to Tajikistan Illegal Stamps Introduction Page here

References taken from:
U.P.U. Circular No. 229
Major Stamp Catalogs
Internet Research

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