TURKMENISTAN ILLEGAL STAMPS
1998

Information and Reference of illegal stamps for Turkmenistan Dating 1998

On May 29, 2000 the postal administration for Turkmenistan by request to M.S. Raman (Assistant Director-General) 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 184. It states the following

Dear Sir/Madam

The postal administration of TURKMENISTAN asks me to inform you that sheets of postage stamps belonging to the EURO 2000 European Football Championship issue, with a face value of 120.00 TMM, are unofficial stamp issues not issued by Turkmenistan.

The above stamps were manufactured in violation of the Detailed Regulations of the UPU Convention and the legislation of Turkmenistan. Consequently, they cannot be accepted as a means of postal prepayment.

Yours faithfully,
M S RAMAN
Assistant Director-General

The circular only describes the EURO teams counterfeit illegal stamps and nothing else. Sadly, it does not complain about the massive number of counterfeit illegal stamps produced and distributed dating since 1997 in the name of Turkmenistan. Also sadly, no other circulars were produced for the later years either.The issues described are dated 2000.

Luckily the Scott Catalog notes many of the earlier illegal stamps. From earlier UPU circulars or through direct contact with the postal authorities, it is not known what the notes are based on. I will note under the titles that the issue is noted in the catalog.

Many more have been produced than on the list. The illegal stamps described in this circular and what follows 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 Turkmenistan 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 Turkmenistan. 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.

Although Turkmenistan is a member of the UPU, they have never registered any stamps on the WNS system. I have found the Colnect online catalog to be very helpful. You will see the illegal stamps differ greatly from genuine issues.

The Colnect Online Catalog for Turkmenistan

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 Illegal Stamp Section for Turkmenistan

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

The Stampworld Online Catalog for Turkmenistan

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 (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.

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 British counterfeit producer continued making illegal stamps in the name of Turkmenistan. Continued usage of the stolen canceling device described on the introduction page on the fake First Day Covers is evident but less. These counterfeit illegal stamps in the name of Turkmenistan are still to this day in 2020 being massively proliferated.

In 1998 Turkmenistan officially issued no stamps according to the Scott Catalog, Stampworld and the Colnect Online Catalogs. This means any stamp dating 1998 in the name of Turkmenistan is a counterfeit illegal stamp!

Following are images of the illegal stamps I have found offered for Turkmenistan dating 1998. There may and probably are more. All of these I found in searches on eBay, Hipstamps and Delcampe and all are illegal stamps made by a producer bent on ripping you off!

1998 Akira Kurosawa Film director Souvenir Sheet of 4

This souvenir sheet is noted as unauthorized in the Scott Catalog.



1998 Baden Powell Scouts Souvenir Sheet of 1



1998 Bats Souvenir Sheets of 9




1998 Birds Souvenir Sheet of 6



1998 Butterflies Souvenir Sheet of 6



1998 Cars Stamp Strip of 5



1998 Cats Souvenir Sheet of 6



1998 Cats of the World Souvenir Sheets of 9



1998 Cats Wild Cats Souvenir Sheet of 9



1998 Dinosaurs Souvenir Sheet of 6



1998 Dogs Souvenir Sheet of 6



1998 Dogs Souvenir Sheet of 5



1998 Dogs of the World Souvenir Sheets of 9



1998 Dogs Wild Dogs Souvenir Sheet of 9



1998 Events and People of the 20th Century Souvenir Sheet of 9



1998 Golf Players Golfers Souvenir Sheet of 6



1998 Japanese Fashion Souvenir Sheet of 4

This souvenir sheet is noted as unauthorized in the Scott Catalog.



1998 Japanese Fashion Stamp Set of 4 on Fake First Day Cover



1998 Leading Personalities of the 20th Century Souvenir Sheet of 9

This souvenir sheet is noted as unauthorized in the Scott Catalog.



1998 Leading Personalities of the 20th Century Stamps on Fake First Day Cover

Here the counterfeit producer takes the James Bond set of three and puts them on this fake FDC. All of them can be found on fake covers like this.



1998 Leading Personalities of the 20th Century Elvis Presley Souvenir Sheet of 9



1998 Minerals Souvenir Sheets of 6



1998 Orchids Souvenir Sheet of 4

This souvenir sheet is noted as unauthorized in the Scott Catalog.



1998 Orchids Souvenir Sheet of 4 on Fake First Day Cover



1998 Orchids Souvenir Sheet of 4 (Different)



1998 Pop Stars Souvenir Sheet of 8



1998 Pop Stars Souvenir Sheet of 8 on Metallic Foil



1998 Pope John Paul II visit to Cuba Souvenir Sheet of 1



1998 Pope John Paul II visit to Cuba Souvenir Sheet of 1 on Fake First Day Cover



1998 Pope John Paul II 50th Anniversary of the State of Israel Souvenir Sheet of 1

This souvenir sheet is noted as unauthorized in the Scott Catalog.



1998 Princess Diana Souvenir Sheets of 6



1998 Queen Mother Scouts and Concorde Souvenir Sheet of 1

This souvenir sheet is noted as unauthorized in the Scott Catalog.



1998 Queen Mother Scouts and Concorde Souvenir Sheet of 1 on Fake First Day Cover



1998 Steam Locomotives Souvenir Sheet of 5



1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano Japan Souvenir Sheets of 1

Both of these souvenir sheets are noted as unauthorized in the Scott Catalog.



1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano Japan Souvenir Sheet of 1 on Fake First Day Cover

Note how worn out the fake cancel is becoming....



1998 World Cup Soccer Football Souvenir Sheet of 9



1998 World Cup Soccer Football Souvenir Sheets of 2

The French and Japanese players World Cup Soccer souvenir sheets are noted as unauthorized in the Scott Catalog.



1998 World Cup Soccer Football Souvenir Sheet of 2

The Brazilian players World Cup Soccer souvenir sheet is noted separately as unauthorized in the Scott Catalog.



1998 World Cup Soccer Football Championship Souvenir Sheet of 1

This souvenir sheet is noted as unauthorized in the Scott Catalog.



1998 World Records Millennium Series Sheet of 6 Strips of 6



1998 World Records Millennium Series Strip of 6 on Fake First Day Cover



1998 Year of the Tiger Souvenir Sheets of 1

Both of these souvenir sheets are noted as unauthorized in the Scott Catalog.



1998 Year of the Tiger Souvenir Sheets of 1 on Fake First Day Cover



1998 Year of the Rabbit (1999) Souvenir Sheet of 9



1998 Year of the Rabbit (1999) Rabbits Souvenir Sheet of 1



In 1999 the production of counterfeit illegal stamps in the name of Turkmenistan continues. Numerous sales of them are happening right now!

View Next Page here!

Return to Turkmenistan Illegal Stamps Introduction Page here

References taken from:
U.P.U. Circular No. 184
Major Stamp Catalogs
Internet Research

All Content Copyright © 2020 Golowe's Collector Stamps, All Rights Reserved

Visit Illegal Stamps Introduction