MODERN FAKE STAMP FORGERIES CREATED FROM STAMP ISSUES PRODUCED BY THE FORMAT INTERNATIONAL SECURITY PRINTERS!
Moderne Fake Timbres
Moderne Fake Frimærker
Moderne Fälschung Briefmarken
Современные поддельные марки
Sellos falsificados modernos
现代假邮票
モダソフェィクスタソプ
현대 가짜 우표
طوابع وهمية الحديثة
In late 2014 I discovered large quantities of fake and forged stamps and souvenir sheets of issues that were printed in the 1970's and 1980's
by the Format International Security Printers are being flooded onto the market via online auction sites like eBay, Delcampe, Bonanza
and Amazon.
They originally were being sold in large lots at Gaertner Auctions in Germany and in the U.S. branch of H.R. Harmers. These were sold to large
volume sellers on eBay and elsewhere where they have been moving now for five years with no end in sight. In 2016 I acquired
more sets of LOTW issues for St. Lucia and other countries not known to be forged. I have created pages for them but now the problem is so bad that knowing if you have
genuine copies of stamps that were produced by the Format Printers is a question for many that you will not have an answer to. This is because it is unknown as to
what issues the forger has access to in regards to the materials retained after the liquidation of the printing company used to reproduce the stamps.
UPDATE 2018 WARNING!!!!
It has come to my attention that the Michel Catalog editors were fooled into adding notes in the latest edition of their catalogs that inverts
exist of many of these issues. It started with the forger or one of his associates fooling Christian Calves into issuing False Expertising certificates
on fake inverts. Here is an example.
I contacted the expert directly and this is his reply.
In english it reads.
Dear Sir,
I am interested in the e-mail you sent us on May 25 about the stamps printed by Format International Security Printers.
I have browsed your site carefully and have been very favorably impressed by the breadth of your research that demonstrates a thorough knowledge of the subject.
They allowed me to read information that I did not have in my possession. Rest assured that I will take them into account, when I will have to appraise stamps printed by this company.
With thanks,
Best regards,
Christian Calves
With this you can see we now have a very huge problem with stamp expertising services. The forger and his cronies will go to great lengths
to try to get their fake junk authenticated as if genuine to fool you into buying them. What other experts have been fooled in this way for any number of stamps
not related to this problem?
THEY THEN TOOK IT FARTHER!
I was notified by other experts that the most recently published Michel Catalogs have new notes added that inverts exist of these issues! I immediately
contacted the editors of Michel catalog. Here is the response.
If you cannot read the image, this is what it says.
Dear Mr. Lowe,
I am answering only today because your mail reached me after workend of the day before the German day of reunification, our national holiday.
Thank you very much for your information, which was not totally new to us, as we got another warning some months ago. At that time I deleted the footnotes concerning the inverts from our database.
Yours sincerely
ppa Oskar Klan
So if there is any doubt remaining that the expertising certificates and/or the notes in Michel Catalog are false in all regards then contact them yourself to get the answer.
Sadly these false certificates and newly published catalogs are now on the market causing havoc to dealers and collectors worldwide. Thanks to one person....
The forger who is a wholesale stamp dealer and his cronies are professional cons that will go to the most extreme lengths to get fake material like this to appear genuine. They are a network of dealers
around the world and are very powerful entities in the philatelic community. You can see this just by what has happened here.
YOU MUST BE ALERT AND DO EXTENSIVE RESEARCH BEFORE BUYING ANYTHING LIKE THIS!!
END UPDATE 2018 WARNING
UPDATE 2019
I finally got a major article published in the American Philatelic Magazine. I have preserved it on the internet archive. Here is a link to view
it.
Modern Stamp Forgeries The American Philatelist September 2018
Now if we can get the major catalogs to note the existence of the forgeries in the ways I have suggested, my job will be done on this problem.
At this point for the most part they still have not even acknowledged my emails. This is an extremely difficult task to accomplish. Collector and dealer
demand that this be done is the only real way to "force" the catalogs to comply. Without your help this may never get done in which case the forger will win.
Do you want that?
END 2019 UPDATE
UPDATE 2021
Well two years later and we can see a massive movement of these forgeries all over the internet. Huge numbers of the St. Vincent Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley
forgeries are circulating. I have been told by sources that a large piece of the Feigenbaum stock has been moved onto the market and that within that stock, tons
of these forgeries have been mixed into it. The invert forgeries, forged color proofs on and on are now everywhere. You must use extreme caution when buying any
of the Format printed issues of the era.
An update on the Michel problem
It is now known that Michel Catalog in 2017 has produced a "special" catalog listing these forgeries as if they are authentic. The catalog is called "Michel Sonderedition
Karibische Inseln". Translated to English it is "Michel Special Edition Caribbean Islands". I cannot find this catalog being sold anywhere.
Contrary to the title the catalogue just contains British Virgin Islands, Montserrat, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. There is no large logo
on the front cover as is usual with all other Michel Catalogs. The catalog was produced in 2017. No date of issue is stated on the front cover of the catalog,
which otherwise is customary. Here is an image of the actual Caribbean Islands Michel Catalog which was made in 1995.
Here is an image of the genuine 2019-2020 Caribbean Islands catalogs. You will find that there are no bogus "notes" on inverts in them as shown below on the imaged page.
You can see there are a lot more Islands listed in the genuine catalogs. Here is an image of the back of the bogus catalog.
Inside the front cover is mentioned in German, "Zusätzliche Informationen über kopfstehende Drucke". In English this is "Additional information about inverted prints".
The foreword only states "Vor ihnen liegt ein Auszug aus dem Michel Übersee-Bänden Karibische Inseln". No reference of stamps inverted or why this is an "Auszug". In English
this is "In front of them is an excerpt from the Michel Overseas-volumes Caribbean Islands", auszug meaning excerpt.
Here is an image of one of the bogus pages. This one is for the Nevis (first issue) 1985 Audubon Birds.
"sind auch mit kopfstehenden mittelstucken bekannt." in English is "are also known with inverted central pieces.". "Marken mit kopfstehenden mittelstucken sind auch
ungezahnt bekannt." in English is "Brands with inverted central pieces are also known to be without teeth." meaning imperforate. These statements with bogus extreme pricing
are found on all the listings of the forgeries I document for these countries.
My contact who was kind enough to send me the images (there are more) stated:
"The catalog of the Feigenbaum Islands must have been joyful success for the forgers, yippy! Combined with the certifies. And with everything paid by forgeries
it must have been a cause for quite a party."
This is the dark side of philately. So who was it in Michel that was involved in making this bogus catalog. Why was it not offered on their website? Those are
questions that will never be answered because their reputation as a reliable source once again is in jeopardy caused by the greed of certain individuals within
and outside of the company.
Again, I must state in 2021 that so far the major catalogs are doing nothing to alert people and protect the genuine issues of these stamps. I have contacted
both the Scott Catalog and Stanley Gibbons head editors and to this day they have done nothing to add the information I have provided to both in an XML file which
would protect the issues now and into the future for all collectors and dealers. This should not be tolerated by the stamp community. Please complain to the people
in charge of these major catalogs to get off their a%#'s and get the information into their catalogs. Or are they being bought off as well?
END 2021 UPDATE
As of February 2021 these forgeries are still on the market in venues like Hipstamps, ebid, Amazon and are constantly placed on eBay and Delcampe.
Moderators on eBay and Delcampe are alert to them but tons are still being sold. Until the major catalogs acknowledge the fact of their existence and create blanket notes
and special notes to protect the effected country issues these forgeries will continue to plague the market. The forger will continue to create and place more on the market
until this is done.
I am leaving everything I have written over the past 4-5 years on this page so you can see just what a major battle this is. Despite my articles being fact checked and published
the major catalog editors are not doing anything about updating the general catalogs to protect you from them. This must change. I will continue to contact and "pester"
them until they do this. You can see by what has happened above that they can easily be influenced and changed by these cons. Why is it so hard to get them to change when
the truth is staring them in the face?
Here we go!
I wrote all of this in 2017.....
As of July 2017 the flow of these fake reproductions continues. Some of the sellers listed below have increased selling them despite repeated
warnings. They persist in selling them because venues like eBay have not retained a way to weed out the forgeries. I recall years ago that they did have
a group of experts who were involved in removing bad sellers and bad stamp lots but it seemed to fade away over the years. Probably because these bad sellers
fought tooth and nail to retain their selling status because eBay is really the only place that gets worldwide attention by millions of stamp collectors and dealers.
The bad sellers know this and because they depend on eBay as their main source of income they have been relentless to remain there. I have watched all of
this unfold and can tell you that changes are coming in the eBay arena because eBay has also realized that confidence in their stamps categories has dropped
because of these people. Many have returned and have infested the stamps categories with illegal stamps, unauthorized reprints and printings and these type of
modern forgeries all produced to deceive collectors and dealers with intent to rip you off!
Illegal stamps are a prime example of this scourge on our hobby. For some countries the sale of illegal stamps is so bad on eBay that many searches for years
that a given country never issued stamps, turn up hundreds of lots bearing the year and are obvious illegal stamps denounced in the UPU circulars.
Because eBay would lose a major portion of profits in the stamps category if they were to close down these sellers accounts who bring in thousands of
dollars monthly in the sales of these fake stamps along with legitimate stamps, they seem to do nothing. Yes some of these sellers are major dealers who
sell both legitimate stamps and illegal stamps and forgeries mixed in. These big dealers are indeed bad sellers and they need to be taught a major lesson.
That lesson is to delete all their bad lots and if they persist in trying to sell them.....delete them!
If you have visited other parts of my site you know I am a firm advocate against the sale of illegal stamps and forgeries. Now if these sellers want to
offer them with proper descriptions as in stating they are illegal stamps or forgeries or bogus labels, that is fine by me. Trying to offer them without
proper identification and in many cases stating they are genuine stamps in my book is grounds for eliminating their lots and their accounts if they continue
to fight to lie...no matter how "big" they are in the stamp business. To those "big" dealers I say, "You are not to big to fail!".
More and more reports on the forgeries I show on the linked pages below and new forgeries are coming in. The latest report I received from a specialist in the
Turks and Caicos Islands stamp issues reporting that a stamp issue printed by The House of Questa has now been reproduced in the same way! This
opens up a new major section of stamps that are now in jeopardy of being (or already have been) forged.
Another specialist in the Cricket Players stamps including the Leaders of the World stamp issues has discovered forgeries are being circulated.
I have investigated and found almost every LOTW Cricket Players stamp has been forged on a massive scale.
Imperforates and possible color proof sets as well! He sent examples purchased right on eBay and they have proved to be fake reproductions, I have since
produced pages on how to recognize them. Until now the only imperforates came from the uncut press sheets found in the archive. Very few exist and very
few were ever offered.....until now. All of a sudden you can get sets and pairs for a couple dollars! You can't smell a rat??
Adding in 2019 that these "dealers" are not to be trusted ever! They fought and still fight to knowingly sell illegal stamps and forgeries....
The main movers of this junk now since 2015 and still to this day in 2017 are eBay sellers:
armi777 based in Latvia business name is Argi Stamps.
asrm10 based in Latvia.
balticamber2011 based in Latvia.
hobbytrade based in Latvia business name is SIA Hobby Trade.
veiksme based in Latvia
kamalmedicine based in India business name K. M. Thematic. Uses small images to hide the details.
kamalthematic based in India K. M. Thematic.
alphaomegaphilately based in India. Uses small images to hide the details
alphaomegaphilately2 based in India.
stampbank_of_london based in the United Kingdom business name is Stampbank of London.
UPDATE May 2017
A new player on eBay as of January 2017. This one just listed full pane sets of these forgeries as of this update. Wants $50.00+ for this junk in fake pane sets!
User name sounds a lot like stamps2buy. Google stamps2buy to understand the past history and then you might just connect the dots!
Read the Philately's Rough Trade articles and such to see just how long this has really been going on.
izabelastamp2deal based in Poland.
UPDATE June 2017
After more checks on these people now have another change. User izabelastamp2deal changed user name on May 18 to stamp2deal. Owners name is Dominika Kontarowicz
but this could be fake as well.
I note that apparently some as you can see are the same seller using different user names. Some will deny they are the same person.
Some try to enhance the images or make them too small to see the details. In todays world these are all old shoddy tactics. A seller of stamps
in todays world has no excuse to provide these kind of images. If they do....you should be wary of them. No good images....no sale period!
These sellers are spamming and have been spamming eBay lots for several years now. They offer this junk at 99c start bids. Or they offer
fake color proofs and fake inverts and fake imperforates for amounts that would not relate to true value if they were genuine error stamps. Namely
because for most the genuine material was either destroyed or only found on archival press sheets of which very few were saved in the archive.
Therefore, because these sellers offer this junk, they should be avoided entirely because all you are doing if you buy from them is to:
1.) Enable the producer of these fake reproductions to continue to rip you off!
2.) Enable sellers like these to continue to rip you off!
3.) Enable the flooding of the stamp market with these fake reproductions to the point that now over 50% and in some cases much more
are now being sold to unknowing collectors and thus you are ripping off other collectors if in turn you offer them for sale!
Many of these fakes are of varieties like imperforates and "errors" like inverts of the issues thus increasing their potential value and sales to unsuspecting collectors.
Anyone stating they are rare or later printings or highly collectible items are fooling you! The majority have been made 25+ years after
the Format Printers were liquidated! There were only a couple inverts of the image on the stamp that were ever created by the Format Printers and that was
done during the last two years of their existence under the influence of Mr. Clive Feigenbaum. Because of rumors and hearsay by numerous ill informed people, some being called
"reputable" in nature, collectors have been influenced into believing that the Format printers were firing off tons of inverts and other "errors" which in fact is completely
false. Therefore, anyone trying to sell "inverts" to you is now suspect of trying to sell you these fake reproductions. Don't buy until you do the research! Even the inverts
that were produced by the Format Printers are being reproduced by these cons.
I have proven those to be much more "common" than these dealers have stated in the past. An example being 10,000 printed by Format. One dealer states "We believe only several hundred
of these exist" knowing thousands exist. Now you have an unauthorized printing of them done in the 90's and now you have these new forgeries printed in 2010's! What to do
about it? Unless proven to come from the original printing by Format, don't buy them! Don't buy even the originals if the seller is trying to rip you off at an over inflated
price. Simply do the research on them. How you ask? I have already done it for you! Just search for them on my site in the Format International Security Printers country pages.
The unauthorized reprints and modern forgeries are of inferior quality with the originals and will never be worth what these dealers are
selling them for. In time as they are exposed more and more they will eventually become worthless because dealers and collectors will recognize them and refuse to buy them
from you at all! Who wants poorly made reproductions of the genuine stamps?
These sellers use terms like "misprint" or "inverse centre" or "upside down" to avoid detection for the real philatelic terms. They move the junk when the heat is put on them
from one user name to another. the country they are moving them from can change as well. This problem is worldwide and the network being used to move this junk is also worldwide
and is firmly connected with the same network that is moving illegal stamps as well. If you do not know what illegal stamps are, visit my section on them. they have been plaguing
the stamp market since 1999.
An article in the October edition of the British Philatelic Exporter was published in 2015. It does not cover the fact
that normal issues, imperforates, color proofs, other issues other than Leader of the World issues and other countries are being forged.
Since then nothing more has been done and so the producer of these fakes is emboldened as are the sellers of them. This is the true reason why
many believe millions of a single issue of LOTW cars or trains exist. Because now it is known that they have been reproduced over and over again
under direction of the same source long after the Format International Security Printers went bankrupt and was liquidated in the belief they
have a "right" to do it. One thing that is wrong in this article is the fact that these fakes are being produced right under their noses in their
own country....not eastern Europe!! Here is the article describing how and why all these new inverts are fakes.
I have found certain forgeries have a yellowish gum and some have very white gum. I believe the yellowish gum is an earlier version as majority moving today are
forgeries having the very white gum. The yellowish gum is still very different than gum used by Format in that it is smooth and dull looking next to originals.
Still, it makes it even more difficult to detect on some issues namely some trains and cars issues.
NEW INFORMATION! September 2017
Today (September 17, 2017) I found my ultra-violet light and tested. It appears we have a simple way to tell many of the forgeries no matter which gum they have!
I just put the ultra-violet light on a large group of assorted issues of the forgeries and have found there are some that glow like the image and some that do not!
In looking at the sets I have found that quite a few have mixed conditions!
For instance one train set containing four values has two values that glow and two that do not! Yet they all have the same yellowish gum!
This tells us one of two things. Either there are more printings than first thought of these forgeries which has probably been going on much longer than
originally thought with the discovery of them in 2014 or the forger is just using random papers with no regard to make the sets.
I seriously now suspect it is the former which means many of these forgeries may have been circulating much earlier than the 2014 discovery!
Because the producers and sellers watch my pages diligently, they will probably try to avoid using papers that glow on their next round of reproductions.
Until someone with the guts to expose the producer with "hard evidence" comes forward, he will continue to destroy the market with these forgeries....forever!
This is why there is a strong belief that "millions" of a single issue of these are out there. Because now....apparently....there are! The only thing is.....a major
portion are these forgeries!
The forgery as you can see glows brightly under ultra-violet light whereas the genuine stamp does not glow at all! Noting the gum on genuine stamps does
glow as you can see by the perforation edges.
In checking several stock books full of genuine sets of many issues produced by the Format Printers I found none of them glow at all. This is because the
Format Printers never used phosphor tagging nor fluorescent papers (with exception to certain Crown Agent supplied paper which glow "slightly") on any of their stamp issues they printed.
For the majority of countries at that time there was really no need for such security measures to be implemented.
More detailed research is ongoing on this angle and will be added to the linked pages as it is completed.
END NEW INFORMATION
Despite repeated notifications from dealers and collectors, your stamp representatives, leaders and editors continue to ignore and procrastinate on this problem. Especially
the ones here in the U.S..
The problem has become so huge now that it is beginning to look like some of our biggest and most trusted auction houses
and "respected members" of the stamp community are involved in and allowing this to continue.
We traced the sources of the forgeries and have found them to be consigned in large lots via several major auction houses.
The first auction house we discovered is Gaertner (Gärtner) auction house in Germany. Large lots have been sold there since early 2014.
They have since withdrawn all lots by the consignor and state they will not accept any more from them but the damage is already done. They are not
willing to take action as in reporting and filing complaints against the consignor. Therefore they are a major contributing factor that is allowing
the forger to continue.
We discovered that H.R. Harmer's auction house in the United States have been selling large lots since late 2013. Again they appear not to be allowing the consignors
to list them anymore but again by being silent and not exposing the consignors they have also enabled the forger to continue.
All offerings from both auction houses did not state anything about reprinting and in fact some actually stated they came from
the Format archive! All documented in their archived auctions. This indeed is deception and breaks the codes set forth by the ASDA, APS, PTS stamp organizations. The consignor(s) have
broken the following rules as have the auction houses for not alerting previous buyers of this junk. In my opinion they are just as guilty as the forger
because they will not take action. Here are the rules they all are breaking....
ASDA CODE OF CONDUCT
7. I will properly, carefully and honestly grade and describe all merchandise offered for sale by me and indicate any faults, defects,
restorations or alterations that may exist, to include indication of canceled to order material.
16. I will not sell, produce, nor advertise counterfeit material in any form in violation of law.
19. I will conduct myself according to accepted standards of morality and courtesy in all philatelic activities not specifically cited in this code.
ASDA PLEDGE
3. To refrain from dealing in stolen philatelic and counterfeit material, and to furnish buyers of repaired, regummed, reperforated,
restored reprinted or otherwise altered philatelic material with a complete written statement showing in detail the nature of the changes
and alterations in such material.
APS PHILATELIC CODE OF ETHICS
7. I agree not knowingly to sell, trade, produce, or advertise repaired, altered, or otherwise modified philatelic items unless that condition
is clearly stated. I further agree not to sell, produce, or advertise counterfeit material in any form, in violation of any law.
I can verify a major portion and in some cases all imperforate and error varieties of the following additional stamps are fake reproductions. Without proper analysis of
the following stamps and souvenir sheets made by the Format Printers, it is likely...you have been ripped off!
Elvis Presley perforated and imperforate stamps and souvenir sheets
Pretty much every country issue of 85th Birthday perforated and imperforate stamps and souvenir sheets
Pretty much every country issue of Statue of Liberty imperforate souvenir sheet issues
Nevis 1986 Royal Wedding imperforate souvenir sheets
British Virgin Islands Cable and Wireless imperforate souvenir sheets
Antigua and Barbuda 1984 Man of War imperforate souvenir sheets
Bequia and Grenadines of St. Vincent Explorers imperforate souvenir sheets
More recently more Leaders of the World Cars and Trains issues are now flooding the market namely from Saint Lucia, Bequia and more Nevis.
The list is so long now and with this latest discovery that the general statement is ALL LEADERS OF THE WORLD issues have been duplicated
and forged to the extent that over 50% on the market are now forgeries!!
Oddly enough...only a couple from the Tuvalu side have been forged. I wonder why...read about the trials against the last owner of Format to get a hint.
The following previous updates I am retaining for a while more on this page as of July 2017.
UPDATE MAY 2017!!
This problem is getting huge! I have now discovered fake reproductions of Tanzania 1985 trains printed by Holders Press! Just received from our
favorite fake reproduction seller armi777 (aka asrm10, owner Antanas Miskinis). Time to backtrack and find the chess and queen issues printed by this company I purchased several years
ago from this seller on eBay. The company only printed a few sets for Tanzania in 1985-6. The company was strictly connected to Clive Feigenbaum.
The forgery reproductions have been produced from the original plates of which only one person had access. Figured it out yet?
It is now pretty much certain every issue produced by Holder Press has been reproduced numerous times over recent years. This is why so many are
"available". This seller is strong in Zambia and Rwanda issues produced by the Format Printers as well which leads to the question of fake reproductions of those. Most
likely with all the evidence it is a fact. A new page on the Tanzania trains has been added below!
UPDATE MAY 2016!!
From what I am seeing being placed on eBay by these Latvian sellers who are using multiple accounts you can now say EVERY single
Leaders of the World Cars and Trains issue from St. Vincent and all dependencies, Nevis and St. Lucia have been forged!
All perforated and imperforate varieties are now stamps that you will have to be wary of when purchasing. All caused by the greed
of a few and the ignoring of the problem by your so trusted leaders in the stamp community.
I have positively identified Nevis 1st Series, 4th series and 5th series Locomotive issues.
You can add normal issues of the 3rd series Locomotives. You can add imperforates of the 1st series Automobiles issues. All are
now appearing on eBay via these Latvian sellers. Probably the source of the fakes has moved from auction houses Gaertner and Harmer to other means.
Evidence now is showing a direct link to the Latvian sellers on eBay. It will continue until you and people who run the philatelic societies and magazines
wake up and do something about it! There is no telling how many other stamps are being effected that are not LOTW issues.
END MAY UPDATE
OCTOBER UPDATE
As of October 22, 2016 I have now discovered more Format produced issues are being forged and placed on the market. "Reprinting" stamps
35 years after their release may be legal in some twisted sense, but to sell them as if they are genuine is simply ripping off the public.
They have now forged (that is right...forged) every 1986 Royal Wedding issue from the Western Hemisphere side. They have reproduced normal
issues and imperforate varieties of them. You will probably see fake inverts of them soon, just like the fake 60th Birthday inverts...
For some reason they have not reproduced many issues made for the Eastern Hemisphere side which namely is Tuvalu. My theory is because almost
all the printing materials used to produce the stamps originally were confiscated by Tuvalu in 1990. Also because of the trials. If they were
to massively produce them they would be in contempt of the verdicts held in 1990 and could be imprisoned for it. It should be quite obvious now
that the forgers are using the original plates and other materials used to create the stamps originally.
END OCTOBER UPDATE
NEWEST DISCOVERIES AND EDITIONS
The Saint Vincent Grenadines 1988 Cricket Players Stamp Forgeries. Page created August 17, 2018
The Nevis 1983 Locomotives 1st Series Stamp Forgeries. Page created July 29, 2018
The Saint Vincent 1988 Tourism Windsurfing Imperforate Stamp Souvenir Sheet Forgery. Page created July 22, 2018
The Saint Vincent Grenadines Union Island 1987 Queen Elizabeth 40th Wedding Anniversary Stamp Forgeries. Major UPDATE July 14, 2018
The 1982 21st Birthday of Princess Diana Inverted Frame Error Forgeries. Major UPDATE April 14, 2018
The Nevis 1985 85th Birthday of Queen Elizabeth Stamp Forgeries. Page created April 7, 2018
The Tuvalu Vaitupu 1985 Butterflies Stamp Forgeries. Page created February 25, 2018
The Saint Vincent Grenadines Union Island 1985 Butterflies Forgery Stamps. Page created February 18, 2018
The Saint Vincent Grenadines Bequia 1985 Warships of the Second World War Stamp Forgeries. Page created February 10, 2018
The Saint Vincent 1985 3rd Series Automobiles Stamp Forgeries. Page created February 2, 2018
The Saint Vincent 1987 Wimbleton Championship Tennis Players Stamp Forgeries. Page created January 26, 2018
The Nevis 1984 British Monarchs Kings and Queens Stamp Forgeries. Page created November 24, 2017
Saint Vincent Grenadines 1988 Wimbleton Tennis Players Stamp Forgeries. Page created November 4, 2017
The Saint Vincent Grenadines Union Island 1984 Cricket Players Forgery Stamps. Page created October 28, 2017
Saint Vincent 1984 2nd Series Automobiles Stamp Forgeries. Page created October 22, 2017
Saint Lucia 1986 Locomotives 5th Series Stamp Forgeries. Page created September 17, 2017
Saint Vincent Union Island 1987 Queen Elizabeth 40th Wedding Anniversary Stamp Forgeries. Page created September 15, 2017
Saint Vincent 1986 Queen Elizabeth 60th Birthday Stamp Forgeries. Page created September 9, 2017
Saint Vincent Grenadines Union Island 1985 Queen Elizabeth 85th Birthday Forgery Stamps. Page created September 2, 2017
Saint Vincent Grenadines 1985 Queen Elizabeth 85th Birthday Stamp Forgeries. Page created September 2, 2017
Saint Lucia 1984 British Monarchs Kings and Queens Stamp Forgeries. Page created September 2, 2017
Saint Vincent Grenadines Bequia 1984 Olympic Games Stamp Forgeries. Page created September 1, 2017
Montserrat 1985 Queen Elizabeth 85th Birthday Stamp Forgeries. Page created August 27, 2017
Saint Vincent 1985 Queen Elizabeth 85th Birthday Stamp Forgeries. Page created August 27, 2017
Saint Vincent Grenadines 1987 Queen Elizabeth 40th Wedding Anniversary Stamp Forgeries. Page created August 26, 2017
The forgeries first started appearing on the general market in early 2014. All are produced from the same source. All have the same gum types, paper and have a blurrier image
because of lower quality screens or worn plates. These are all dangerous forgeries because they are very difficult to detect when looking at images or
even when looking at them in person without originals to compare them with. They are excellent reproductions and have the proper perforation
sizes.
They are appearing on the market as errors of missing value and/or country name, inverted frames, imperforates and many as normal issues. I discovered
them because of my research on the printers. For all these years most of these "errors" and for some the varieties as in imperforates were never on the market and never documented to exist.
When all of a sudden they started appearing on the market, namely eBay, I had to get some to update my public reference pages on the issue in question.
Why, all of a sudden, would a seller be able to afford to place in bulk lots and sell for only a couple dollars imperforate stamps that either were never on the market, or
were so rare that they were never offered for less than say $50-100.00 for one?!?
When I received the first purchase and opened them I knew something was wrong. This was the Nevis 1986 Spitfire $2.50 issue with error of missing
country name. I think the seller may have thought so too because they sent me a full pane along with panes of the other values as well for my
research. Because of my research on the printer of the issue I have a lot of examples of the issue from the original stock. In comparing I found
the error and the other values all to be fakes. They are completely different than originals. They were never printed at Format!
I then purchased more errors that did not conform to my research. These were inverted frame errors that were never on the market before.
Michael Jackson, British Monarchs, Queen Elizabeth 60th Birthday and so forth.
Each set I received proved to be made by the same source using the same gum types, paper and lower quality screens. All are fakes! I then
bought imperforate souvenir sheets, some being sold in lots of 5 and 10 for dirt cheap! Again same source and again fakes never printed at Format!
I then bought several lots of Leaders of the World Audubon birds issues (normal issued) which the Format Printers produced all of,
because the sellers of the other fakes were and are selling them in large blocks for cheap. Received them and they too are fakes! Never printed at Format!
So you can see this has become a huge problem in the stamp market because these forgeries are circulating from big dealers to smaller dealers
who in turn are selling them to unknowing collectors.
At the time I wrote this the number of sellers was small. Not any more... There are only certain sellers on eBay and Delcampe offering the inverts.
Very few were but more are appearing now. I can see smaller sellers are offering the fakes they have purchased from the larger sellers.
These have now all flooded the market to where 50% or more of these issues offered online are now... fakes.
It is only issues produced by the Format International Security Printers and now (2017) apparently Holders Press. Will others be targeted? Like House of Questa issues? It is possible.
Still the source has to have access to the materials used to print the stamps (plates, artwork, etc;) which is doubtful. New reports are beginning to show I may be wrong on this.
It is therefore important for dealers and collectors to compare stamp issues produced by the Format Printers with originals everywhere! Especially dealers, when purchasing
stock from "wholesale dealers" and who still have older stock to compare with. Most of these sellers of this fake material don't even realize that it is forged. Many do know but
remain silent for profits. Some are selling fakes mixed with genuine stamps. Simply checking the gum difference would alert them. Format used a custom
made gum that cannot be duplicated. The formula and application has long been forgotten.
TO THE SELLERS
I present these pages so all stamp collectors and sellers will know what to look for accordingly and help stop sales of these fakes. I do have
information on the quantities released for some but I do not have them all. Guaranteed they are large quantities. Even the fake inverts are not rare!
Thousands were sold in those large lots yet the sellers of them want $20, $30, $50.00 for them!
Without full comparison to originals, you as sellers must take the responsibility of knowing what you are selling.
If you do not, and you are selling them, it is unethical and unfair to collectors and dealers in stamps as a whole.
Avoid buying Format related stock without verifying it is authentic!
There are plenty of genuine stamps still out there. If you are going to sell them....verify they are genuine first!
TO ALL AUCTION SITES
Police the issues I have linked below and the consignors who are selling them need to be blocked from selling them and exposed.
This is why the use of anonymity is so harmful in philatelic dealings. It allows the crooks get away with it! When crimes like this occur, all auction
houses should be forced to reveal the names of the consignors involved. If they are errors that did not exist until now they are easy to define just by
the images. If a consignor is trying to consign large lots of any Format Produced material...be wary!
It will take time for the problem to be corrected but it can be done as long as the collecting community works together as a whole. Following these
simple actions can stop many fraudulent activities that at this point are rampant in all stamp related auction sites.
TO THE BUYERS
Please be aware before purchasing the linked sets of stamps or any issue produced by the Format Printers. If you purchase them be sure to compare them as soon as you receive them to be sure the seller did not rip you off with fake stamps! This happens a lot. Seller posts an image of the originals and sends you the fakes. Request a refund and return them. If the seller continues to attempt to sell these fakes then they need to be reported. It is up to you as a buyer to make sure you don't get ripped off! At this point "experts" and leaders are doing nothing to stop the flow of these forgeries! They are treating them just like they have illegal stamps and unauthentic British Locals like Staffa Island and such.
TO THE STAMP CATALOG MAKERS
You need to define these in your notations about their existence. At present you do not note and denounce their existence and so the producer
continues to be allowed to make these forgeries.
Future catalogs will have to be modified because this is the biggest stamp scandal in the world. Namely because it now
effects every stamp collector and dealer in the world. To ignore it shows how inadequate and unreliable your catalogs are becoming. Let's correct that!
The following links are to existing specialized pages that have been updated with new information on these fakes or new pages describing them.
I hope that these reference pages on modern fake stamps and stamp forgeries will assist all collectors, dealers and memorabilia
collectors in defining these forgeries and choosing not to buy or sell them.
Please refer this page to all of your stamp collecting friends and acquaintances to help get the word out.
Please contact me on other issues that are being forged and if properly identified I will add the information!
The basic information on identifying these fakes since they are all from the same source is on every page and can be used to identify other fakes.
Don't become another victim of this problem caused by the greed of an unethical and immoral stamp dealer who obviously cannot be satisfied to make profits from
legitimate stamps and only resorts to ripping you off with fake reproductions, illegal stamps and bogus labels!
Your friend and fellow collector and researcher,
JLowe
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