TURKMENISTAN ILLEGAL STAMPS
1999

Information and Reference of illegal stamps for Turkmenistan Dating 1999

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.

1999

In 1999 the British counterfeit producer continued making illegal stamps in the name of Turkmenistan. Usage of the stolen canceling device described on the introduction page on the fake First Day Covers appears to have ended. Guess they wore it out! These counterfeit illegal stamps in the name of Turkmenistan are still to this day in 2020 being massively proliferated.

In 1999 Turkmenistan officially issued one set of stamps according to the Scott Catalog, Stampworld and the Colnect Online Catalogs.

Turkmenistan 1999 Women's Traditional Clothing
Scott Catalog No. 65-69
Issued July 5, 1999 Printer is probably House of Questa (I could find no proof...yet.)


The stamp agency in control of Turkmenistan stamps in 1999 was not Impressor S.A. nor this Mayfair International as they printed their own stamps which I might add, is against every UPU rule for stamp production. Therefore should either "claim" they had contracts, their "contracts" are bogus and nothing more than a piece of paper made up by a fraudulent illegal stamp producing criminal. The circular, the noted stamps in Scott catalog, the Turkmenistan postal authorities and IGPC the stamp agency are all that are needed to destroy any such claim. IGPC was the controlling stamp agent from 1992 through 2002 for Turkmenistan.

This means any stamp dating 1999 in the name of Turkmenistan other than the above set is a counterfeit illegal stamp!

Following are images of the illegal stamps I have found offered for Turkmenistan dating 1999. 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!

1999 20th Century Dreams Souvenir Sheets of 9





1999 Baseball Stars of the 20th Century Souvenir Sheet of 9



1999 Bikers Diner Souvenir Sheet of 9



1999 Birds of Prey Souvenir Sheet of 9



1999 Bob Hope International Year of Older Persons Souvenir Sheet of 1

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



1999 Brad Pitt Souvenir Sheet of 9

This souvenir sheet is noted as unauthorized in the Scott Catalog. It states sheets of 6 though which is in error.



1999 Cactus of the World Souvenir Sheet of 9

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



1999 Cats in Art Souvenir Sheet of 8 Plus China Stamp Exhibition Label



In 1999 the counterfeit stamp producer went to victimize the Chess stamp topical collectors as much as possible.

1999 Chess Souvenir Sheet of 6



1999 Chess Souvenir Sheet of 6 Overprinted "HASTINGS 1999"



1999 Chess Souvenir Sheet of 6 Overprinted "XXX CHESS OLYMPIAD ELISTA 1998"



1999 Chess Souvenir Sheet of 6 on Fake First Day Cover

Noting the use of the same stationary as previous years but with a different fake cancel.



1999 Chess Boards Souvenir Sheet of 6



1999 Chess Boards Souvenir Sheet of 6 on Fake First Day Cover



1999 Chess Classic Souvenir Sheet of 9



1999 Chess Classic Souvenir Sheet of 9 Pieces on Fake First Day Covers

Here to increase profits the counterfeit producer breaks the souvenir sheet into three separate sections creating three fake FDC's.



Breaking them even further, he creates these fake postcards. Please remember this clown has access to advanced printing equipment.

1999 Chess Classic Fake Postcards



1999 Chess Pieces Women's Chess Championship Souvenir Sheets of 6





1999 Chess Pieces Women's Chess Championship Souvenir Sheets of 6 on Fake First Day Covers



1999 Chess Pieces Women's Chess Championship Fake Postcards

The counterfeit inscribed "stamp" on the postcards could never be used nor ever will be used to pay postage in Turkmenistan.



1999 Dinosaurs Souvenir Sheet of 6



1999 Dogs Souvenir Sheet of 12



1999 Dogs Dalmatian Puppies Souvenir Sheet of 9



1999 Dogs Souvenir Sheet of 6



1999 Dogs Gambling Playing Craps Souvenir Sheet of 9



1999 Elvis Presley Souvenir Sheet of 6



1999 Elvis Presley Souvenir Sheet of 4



1999 Endangered Wildlife Souvenir Sheet of 9



1999 Ferrari Souvenir Sheet of 9



1999 Fire Engines Souvenir Sheet of 6



1999 Formula I Cars and Drivers Souvenir Sheet of 12



1999 Formula I Cars and Drivers Souvenir Sheet of 9



1999 Golf Through the Ages Souvenir Sheet of 9



1999 Icons of the 20th Century Souvenir Sheets of 8 Plus 20th Century Label

These two souvenir sheets are noted as unauthorized in the Scott Catalog. The note claims there are three in error.




1999 Icons of the 20th Century Elvis Presley Souvenir Sheet of 1



1999 Icons of the 20th Century Princess Diana Souvenir Sheet of 1



These next two souvenir sheets with topics of Japanese Armor and Japanese Art are noted as unauthorized in the Scott Catalog. A third called Japanese Paper Dolls was made in 2000.

1999 Japanese Armor Spelled "Armour" Souvenir Sheet of 9



1999 Japanese Art Souvenir Sheet of 9



1999 John Kennedy Jr. Souvenir Sheets of 9




1999 John Kennedy Jr. Tragedy Souvenir Sheet of 6



1999 Kim Basinger Souvenir Sheet of 9

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



1999 Mahatma Gandhi Souvenir Sheet of 5



1999 Marilyn Monroe Souvenir Sheet of 9



1999 Matt Damon Souvenir Sheet of 9

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

MILLENNIUM SERIES

In 1999 the counterfeit producer made this huge production of Millennium related illegal stamp souvenir sheets. These are noted in the Scott catalog but the count is wrong. The note states "8 different sheets". You can see there is much more.

1999 Millenium Series Souvenir Sheets of 6

11th Century


12th Century


13th Century


14th Century


15th Century


16th Century


17th Century


18th Century


19th Century


20th Century (Sheet 1)


20th Century (Sheet 2)


20th Century (Sheet 3)


Then the counterfeit producer made the Millennium "2000" set.

1999 Millenium 2000 Series Souvenir Sheets of 9

Sheet 1


Sheet 2


Sheet 3


Then the ghouls took pieces of the images from those sheets and superimposed them onto single stamp souvenir sheets. See if you can see from what parts.

1999 Millenium 2000 Series Souvenir Sheets of 1




1999 Minerals Souvenir Sheet of 9

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



Here is an example of why the illegal stamps are worthless not only because they are counterfeit and denounced, but because they are massively produced.
This lot sold recently in 2020 for about $16.00. This is 20 years after they first appeared on the market. Another dealer is offering 50 sheets at 99c start bids. Then you have the criminal dealers trying to get $20.00 for one! The "smart" ones dropping to around $3.00 a sheet and still making high profits. This is why they are worthless. The picture says it all.....

1999 Minerals Souvenir Sheets of 9 Bulk Sale



1999 Mushrooms of Asia with IBRA logo Souvenir Sheets of 9

These souvenir sheets are noted as unauthorized in the Scott Catalog.
IBRA stands for Internationale Briefmarken Weltausstellung which is a major stamp exhibition. How many people were ripped off at that exhibition in 1999? Mushroom topical collectors are still being ripped off by sellers of them to this day.




1999 Mushrooms of Asia with IBRA logo Souvenir Sheets of 1



Then this same producer made these counterfeit postcards. See what happens if you try to use them in Turkmenistan. You will be lucky to get out of there with your head!

1999 Mushrooms Fake Postcards



1999 Paintings by Picasso Souvenir Sheets of 9




1999 Paintings by Picasso Souvenir Sheets of 1



1999 Paintings Mona Lisa Souvenir Sheet of 9



1999 People of the 20th Century Souvenir Sheet of 9

Personalities

This next little group is quite confusing apparently even to the main illegal stamp distributors themselves. Then again, because of all the deceptive doings by these people it is probably been made to confuse....on purpose. The reason for the confusion being again because no year date is inscribed on them. The evidence as to when they were made is quite obvious. The original distributor of them was Stampdile owned by Clive Feigenbaum. He made the database for the Stampdile, Avion and JustWendy websites back when these counterfeit illegal stamps were being produced. The only site up and running the database fully now is the Avion Stamps website. In studying these on that site it is quite obvious that they were made in 1999 because the single stamp souvenir sheets taken from them are all defined as made in 1999 on that database. Yet the same database says these souvenir sheets of 6 were made in 2000. This is probably due to "tampering" with the database which a lot of that has been happening in recent times. Bottom line is the single stamp souvenir sheets prove the illegal stamps on the following souvenir sheets of 6 and so forth were made in 1999 and not in 2000. Should they try to change the database to conflict with this finding, it does not matter now. Because snapshots of everything have been retained as proof.

1999 Personalities Souvenir Sheets of 6 and 4

The personalities are Louis Armstrong, Albert Einstein, Lyndon Johnson, Pope John Paul II and Walt Disney.



1999 Personalities Souvenir Sheets on Press Sheet

Even if this press sheet is "rare" as the dealer states which I doubt highly, it is worthless because they are counterfeit illegal stamps.



1999 Personalities Pope John Paul II and Castro Souvenir Sheet of 1

This and the rest of the single stamp souvenir sheets are all dated on the site as made in 1999.



1999 Personalities Pope John Paul II Souvenir Sheets of 1



1999 Personalities Pope John Paul II Souvenir Sheet of 1 on Fake First Day Cover



1999 Personalities Walt Disney Souvenir Sheets of 1

All of these type souvenir sheets were made in 9 different positions. Still worthless in any position....avoid!



1999 PHILEX France Stamp Exhibition Souvenir Sheets of 9



1999 PHILEX France Stamp Exhibition Souvenir Sheet of 9 on Fake First Day Cover



1999 Pope John Paul II Souvenir Sheet of 9

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



1999 Pope John Paul II Souvenir Sheet of 6



1999 Queen Freddie Mercury Souvenir Sheet of 9



1999 Rabbits Souvenir Sheet of 8 Plus China Stamp Exhibition Label



1999 Red Cross Souvenir Sheet of 6



1999 Royal Weddings Souvenir Sheet of 9



1999 Scouts Scouting Souvenir Sheet of 6



1999 Scouts Day Souvenir Sheet of 6



1999 Snakes Souvenir Sheet of 6



1999 Space Shuttle Souvenir Sheet of 6



1999 Space UFO Flying Saucers Souvenir Sheet of 6



1999 Spicegirls Souvenir Sheet of 9



1999 Star Wars Episode I Souvenir Sheet of 9



1999 Stars of Baywatch Souvenir Sheets of 9



1999 Steam Locomotives Trains Souvenir Sheet of 9

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



1999 The Beatles Souvenir Sheet of 9



1999 The Rat Pack Souvenir Sheet of 9



1999 Trains Souvenir Sheet of 4



1999 Tribute to Katsushika Hokusai Souvenir Sheets of 1

These souvenir sheets are noted as unauthorized in the Scott Catalog. Why a Nissan 1932 Datsun is on one is odd.



1999 Women's Soccer Football Souvenir Sheet of 9



In 2000 the production of counterfeit illegal stamps in the name of Turkmenistan gets even worse. The British producer is relentless!

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Return to Turkmenistan Illegal Stamps Introduction Page here

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

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