TANZANIA ILLEGAL STAMPS

Information and Reference of illegal stamps for Tanzania

On November 21, 2011 the postal administration for Tanzania by request to K.J.S. McKeown (Director of Markets Development) 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 219. You can view it in the linked file below:

UPU Circular Number 219

The circular describes a couple of counterfeit sets that were made in 2011. It was a far cry from what was actually produced in 2011 by the criminals and is still being disbursed on the stamp market to this day. Tanzania was shall we say "late in the game" in reporting the illegal stamps made in their name. I have completed research into the problem and found that there were numerous counterfeits produced in the name of Tanzania starting in 1998 and carrying all the way through to present times.

Another circular was published by the UPU in 2013 in which Tanzania reports on counterfeit stamps in the name of Zanzibar being placed on the market. That will be covered in another section of the study.

Tanzania has a long history in the philatelic world and there are many beautiful stamps and sets from this country. Problems began in the mid 1980's with overproduction of stamps namely caused by IGPC who took over the contracts in 1984. It has been recommended by Mr. Bengt Bengtsson, a philatelic judge from Sweden who compiled a list of stamps to resist and/or avoid back in 2001, to avoid the stamps of Tanzania from 1985 forward. In my research on the country, I tend to agree with most. IGPC produced and distributes a ton of sets from that time forward to 2017 when it appears they have lost the contract. In 2018 to present time (2022) we see that Tanzania has once again become conservative in the practice of issuing stamps. A huge drop in the number and in the topics is noted. Where before the majority of issues produced by IGPC had nothing to do with the culture and history of Tanzania, from 2018 forward all of the stamp issues are in relation to the country.

In looking at the Tanzania Posts website, we can see in the year collections they offer which go back to 2002, that only a few of the sets produced by IGPC are offered in the year sets. This shows us that there is yet another huge problem with another privately owned stamp "agency". Just like Stamperija, this company is also considered to be an abusive stamp producer. Creating numerous sets every year not in accordance to postal needs and (as we are finding out) the majority of which are not even sent to the country but rather sold only on the "agents" private website. Again we see abuse of collectors worldwide as well as yet another example of a stamp agency ruining the philatelic reputation of vulnerable countries in the pursuit of private wealth.

I can also see a problem with the UPU WNS stamp system for this country as well. Certain sets not offered on the Tanzania Post website are included within the WNS system which I believe are sets that do not pass the rules set by the UPU in regards to abusive stamps being listed there. A good example would be the 2017 issues.
In 2017 IGPC produced around 122 different stamps in sets and souvenir sheets for Tanzania. In the Tanzania Post collection only the Animal Series 2 and king Aga Khan issues are offered. The Animals Series 2 set is listed on the WNS system but the King Aga Khan set is not. Why is the King Aga Khan issues not listed? Then look at what is listed on the WNS system and you see the Donald Trump issues and the New York City's Famous Sites and Scenes issues are listed. Both of course have nothing to do with Tanzania at all! That is all that is listed on the WNS system for Tanzania for 2017. Why when 122 different stamps were made by this agent and are all being sold to this day?

In theory it is because IGPC paid to have those two sets listed on the WNS system to validate them. Someone within the UPU who is "corrupt" went along with it even though the sets are on topics having nothing to do with Tanzania and were/are not sold or used within Tanzania and are massively overproduced by this agent. Thus breaking all the rules set forth by the UPU for stamp production best practices which are supposed to be followed by the WNS system before allowing the stamps to be listed there. We can see this "abuse" of the WNS system going backward in the year listings. As I consistently say,
Welcome to the dark side of philately.

To find out somewhat what stamps are real and legitimate for Tanzania you can visit the online catalogs linked below. One should not buy most issues later than the year 1985 unless only paying pennies for them. Issues between 1985 and 2017 should be purchased only after a thorough amount of research is done on the issue(s) of interest. The majority of stamps produced between those years are not anything but made to profit from collectors and are 99% excessive of postal needs.

First, here is a link to the Tanzania Posts Corporation "Posta Let's Go!" website where you can see the year sets they offer. You will see that the stamps offered are generally the non-abusive issues and it is a useful guide to go by in regards to weeding out all the abusive issues made by IGPC.

The Tanzania Posts Catalog of Year Sets

Although extremely incomplete and in my opinion for the Tanzania issues, "corrupted", here is the link to the WNS System search page.

The Universal Postal Union WNS website

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

The Colnect Online Catalog for Tanzania

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 1976 Railway imperforate souvenir sheet is not a Cinderella as it is simply a "proof" of the issued souvenir sheet Scott Number 65a.

The Colnect Online Catalog Illegal Stamp Section for Tanzania

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

The Stampworld Online Catalog for Tanzania

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 (2022) 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.

1998

In 1998 the first major production of counterfeit illegal stamps in the name of Tanzania were produced. It is the British producer who made them just like he did with all the other early counterfeits in the name of numerous other countries. To understand who this person is along with his misfit crew of dealers please visit the introduction page for Niger Illegal stamps.

The first clue I got for the 1998 counterfeits were the issues shown in the 1998 section in the Cinderella section of the Colnect catalog. Whoever posted them there was apparently trying to "soften the blow" so to speak in placing their emissions title as "Cinderella". Sorry to say, because they use the country name (Tanzania) and use denominations used by Tanzania post, they cannot be classified as a Cinderella and are most assured to be
Counterfeit Illegal Stamps!

They show a number of them in the section, but nothing compared to what is actually out there. Thanks to one of our now known counterfeit illegal stamp peddling cons on eBay by the user name johan-martijn located (you guessed it) in the Netherlands, I was able to obtain images of many more of these counterfeits than what are shown in the 1998 section of the Colnect Tanzania Cinderella section. This guy as of the end of 2021 is basically the exclusive seller of these 1998 counterfeits showing us he has probably obtained the whole stock of them and is relentless in offers and sales of them. This is the case with this user for many illegal and counterfeit stamps. A dealer who tries to portray he doesn't know or his stock is "too big" to weed them out and so forth, when in reality he is a con who has made his place selling illicit stamps for many years and is not to be a trusted seller of anything!

Here are a couple snapshots of his current sales on eBay as of January 2, 2022.





As is usual with these clowns there is nothing even stating that they are illegal, Cinderella or anything else. He is selling them as if they are real postage stamps and is therefore ripping you off! Already a user on the illegal stamp sellers list placed there long ago. I would avoid this clown and boycott his sales as he is a unscrupulous dealer with no morals except for one. Get your money through deceit. Thanks for the images dude!

Some of the following imaged counterfeit stamps may and probably do have either sets of single stamps or the single stamp souvenir sheet missing from the images. I state this because many are sets that include strips of 4 single stamps and a matching souvenir sheet. It is now 2022 which is 24 years after these counterfeits were made. As is the case for many counterfeit illegal stamps, they have now been scattered across the world and many have been separated, lost, stored, or simply ran out in these criminal dealers stocks.

Noting one more thing. Cinderella stamps are not cancelled with fake and bogus cancels again using the name of a real postal service.

In researching these counterfeits made in 1998 we also find that the same producer of these counterfeits is the same producer of the 1998 Democratic Republic of Congo counterfeit illegal stamps! They are exactly the same! Here is one more point on the Colnect listings. Why are the two counterfeit souvenir sheets listed in the Cinderella section for 1998 Democratic Republic of Congo entitled in the "emissions" as "illegal" whereas the exact same are listed as "cinderella" in the Cinderella section for 1998 Tanzania?

1998 Animals Camels Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Souvenir Sheet of 1

Is there a set of four counterfeit stamps that go with this?



1998 Animals Koala Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Strip of 4



1998 Animals Koala Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Souvenir Sheet of 1



1998 Birds Ducks and Fowl Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Strip of 4



1998 Birds Ducks and Fowl Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Souvenir Sheet of 1



1998 Birds Parrots Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Strip of 4



1998 Birds Parrots Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Souvenir Sheet of 1



1998 Butterflies (Set 1) Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Strip of 4



1998 Butterflies (Set 1) Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Souvenir Sheet of 1



1998 Butterflies (Set 2) Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Strip of 4



1998 Butterflies (Set 2) Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Souvenir Sheet of 1



1998 Cats Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Block of 4

This one is interesting because it is in a block form rather than a strip form. Sellers trying to peddle these may try to argue the point. A simple way to tell this block belongs with the souvenir sheet of 1 is to look at the "background" cats on the souvenir sheet. As you can see they are the exact same cat images as are used on this counterfeit block. This counterfeit along with others is being sold by the illegal stamp peddling bum user jauniuss on Delcampe who is located in none other than Lithuania. To me from what I have seen, a country with numerous counterfeit peddling no good dealers. Here yet another one shaming the honest dealers there. This one has been on the illegal stamp sellers list for a long time! Should be removed from selling on Delcampe...permanently.



1998 Cats Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Souvenir Sheet of 1



1998 Crocodiles Alligators Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Strip of 4

Is there a counterfeit souvenir sheet of 1 that go with this?



1998 Crustaceans Crabs Lobsters Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Strip of 4



1998 Crustaceans Crabs Lobsters Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Souvenir Sheet of 1



1998 Dinosaurs Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Strip of 4

Is there a counterfeit souvenir sheet of 1 that go with this?



1998 Elephants Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Strip of 4

Is there a counterfeit souvenir sheet of 1 that go with this?



1998 Fish Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Strip of 4



1998 Fish Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Souvenir Sheet of 1



1998 Fish Prehistoric Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Strip of 4

Is there a counterfeit souvenir sheet of 1 that go with this?



1998 Horse Carriages Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Strip of 4



1998 Horse Carriages Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Souvenir Sheet of 1



1998 Insects Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Strip of 4

Is there a counterfeit souvenir sheet of 1 that go with this?



1998 Jellyfish Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Strip of 4



1998 Jellyfish Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Souvenir Sheet of 1



1998 Livestock Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Strip of 4

Is there a counterfeit souvenir sheet of 1 that go with this?



1998 Mollusks Shells Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Strip of 4



1998 Mollusks Shells Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Souvenir Sheet of 1



1998 Monkeys Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Strip of 4

Is there a counterfeit souvenir sheet of 1 that go with this?



1998 Mushrooms Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Strip of 4



1998 Mushrooms Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Souvenir Sheet of 1



1998 Olympic Games in Atlanta in 1996 Boxing Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Strip of 4

Is there a counterfeit souvenir sheet of 1 that go with this?



1998 Olympic Games in Atlanta in 1996 Cycling Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Strip of 4

Is there a counterfeit souvenir sheet of 1 that go with this?



1998 Olympic Games in Atlanta in 1996 Horse Racing Equestrian Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Strip of 4



1998 Olympic Games in Atlanta in 1996 Horse Racing Equestrian Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Souvenir Sheet of 1



1998 Olympic Games in Atlanta in 1996 Volleyball Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Strip of 4

Is there a counterfeit souvenir sheet of 1 that go with this?



1998 Pandas Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Strip of 4



1998 Pandas Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Souvenir Sheet of 1



1998 Race Cars Formula I Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Strip of 4



1998 Race Cars Formula I Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Souvenir Sheet of 1



1998 Seals Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Souvenir Sheet of 1

Is there a set of four counterfeit stamps that go with this?



1998 Snakes Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Strip of 4



1998 Snakes Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Souvenir Sheet of 1



1998 Spacecraft Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Strip of 4



1998 Spacecraft Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Souvenir Sheet of 1



1998 Spiders Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Strip of 4

Is there a counterfeit souvenir sheet of 1 that go with this?



1998 Turtles Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Strip of 4



1998 Turtles Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Souvenir Sheet of 1



1998 Wild Cats Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Strip of 4

One counterfeit stamp depicts a woodpecker.



1998 Wild Cats Lion Counterfeit Illegal Stamp Souvenir Sheet of 1



You can see that the production of these counterfeits was much larger than anyone has ever portrayed until now. It is guaranteed that they are infesting collections and stocks around the world now. All due to one person and his little stamp mafia friends greed.

In 1999 the ghouls virtually stop production of counterfeit illegal stamps in the name of Tanzania. Probably because of the massive wave of counterfeits they were producing in the name of many other countries. They do not stop completely though.

To be continued....

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References taken from:
UPU Circular Number 219
Major Stamp Catalogs
Internet Research

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