THE MODERN FAKE SAINT LUCIA 1984 SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES STAMP ISSUES

Saint Lucia 1984 Leaders of the World Summer Olympic Games Inverted Frame Error Imperforate Forgery Set
Scott# 665-668 Stanley Gibbons# 727-734

Saint Lucia 1984 Leaders of the World Summer Olympic Games Perforated Stamp Forgery Set

UPDATE August 2017

Well, I just recently purchased a perforated set of the forgeries and also found genuine gutter blocks of the issue in my Bileski collections. So have now updated this page with comparisons! The forgeries have spread all over the world now with no end in sight. It is now certain that the thousands of sets I found documented have been moved onto the market and sold by mainly sellers based in Latvia on eBay.

END OF UPDATE

UPDATE October 2017

Have now purchased the imperforate versions of the Saint Lucia 1984 Olympic Games stamp set. I purchased them from eBay user balticamber2011 for $2.04. In strips of five! Genuine imperforate stamps of this issue are a rarity and would normally sell for much more. This user is also raimissss. Also associated with armi777, asrm10 and hobbytrade. The users are Raimonds Miskinis and Antanas Miskinis located in Latvia. Business names are Argi-Stamps and or SIA stamps. They have now moved many thousands of forgeries onto the stamp market. Here is an image of what I got.

END OF UPDATE

I have found documented proof dated October 2015 that thousands of imperforate forgery sets and inverts are being attempted to be moved onto the market!
H.R. Harmer Auction 3005 Lot# 2001 documents that 100 sets of St. Vincent and 100 sets of St. Lucia fake imperforate inverts were sold for $400.00! These have already made it through and are now on eBay, Delcampe, Amazon and other places!

I have recently discovered that modern fake stamps of this issue are being flooded onto the market. I can tell you that real dangerous fakes or some call forgeries are being flooded on the market as I write this page in November of 2015.
All the stamps imaged above are fakes!

My research into the printer has enabled me to discover modern fake stamps have been created in 2014!! They are being spread across the world through online auction sites like eBay and Delcampe. Everything about them is fake except for one dangerous fact, they have the correct perf size. The gum type is different in it being white in color and very shiny. This gum type was not used until much later years, long after Format went bankrupt thus proving they were not produced by the Format International Security Printers. Obvious differences will be shown below. So far I have discovered complete sets of forgeries of the Saint Vincent Leaders of the World 1984 Olympic Games issues as perforated and imperforate invert errors. Because the invert errors exist it is certain that the normal issue have also been forged. All are being offered online right now as I write this on November 8, 2015.

I can also tell you that I have discovered that many more "modern" issues for Saint Lucia and other countries are being forged. Mainly varieties and "errors" of the issues which bring in higher profits although normal issues are also being faked in now many cases. All are being produced by the same source which is unknown at present. All are dangerous forgeries because the perf sizes are correct. Images shown on auction sites cannot be trusted because they cannot be defined by counting perforations and unless you have a comparable image of the originals they cannot be recognized by the images given by sellers. This includes the Audubon Birds issues including inverted frames, Dogs inverts, Flowers inverts, Michael Jackson inverts, imperforates and many more.

ANY INFORMATION TO TRACE THE SOURCE OF THESE FORGERIES WILL BE POSTED TO THE PROPER RESOURCES

At present sellers on eBay, Delcampe, Bonanza, and Amazon are offering them. I am sure other sources are now selling them also. A list of these sellers is being compiled and at some point the source may be revealed. At this time unless the sellers stop selling them (which is doubtful) it is up to you as a buyer to refuse to buy them without proper identification. In other words, make the seller send you 1200dpi images of the front and back of the stamps and then compare them with my images. I have posted more pages on the issues I have discovered to be forged and have included an index page listing them with links.

The number one clue about these forgeries:
ALL INVERTS OF THIS ISSUE ARE FAKES

The Format Printers never produced any "inverts" of this issue ever and these did not appear on the market until 2014.

I now have everything together to present to you how to detect them and not get ripped off!!

I mentioned I would use stamps from gutter blocks. Here is an image of them.

These gutter blocks were taken from the very rare press sheets found in the printers archive and are therefore authentic in all ways.

ULTRA-VIOLET LIGHT DETECTION

I have discovered another way to detect many of the forgeries. Use an ultra-violet light on them!
In many cases with all the forgeries I have posted the now many pages for, I have found that many sets glow brightly like the fluorescent papers used on many, for example, Canadian stamps in the past. A word of caution on this though. Many forgeries I have found, which all have the yellowish gum, do not glow or have lower grades of brightness or have numerous fibers in the paper that glow. In quite a few cases I have found the sets to have mixed papers, as in , several values glow and several are either less bright or do not glow at all!
There are only two answers to this oddity that are possible. It is either the forger is so lazy that he just grabs whatever paper is handy or....there are numerous different printings of the forgeries and this has been going on much longer than my discovery of the early 2014 massive movement of the forgeries onto the market.

The basic rule to follow with all stamps produced by the Format Printers is,
THE IMAGE SIDE OF GENUINE STAMPS DO NOT GLOW AT ALL.
The Format Printers used basically all the same type of paper on all the stamps they produced in the 1980's as did they use the same gum type except for a couple sets they produced in 1989 when newer types of gum were becoming popular in the stamp printing business.

For the normal perforated version of this issue that I have acquired the forgeries glow brightly as this image shows.
Not sure about the inverts and imperfs as I do not have them in my possession. Maybe you have that answer....

Here are gum comparisons.

Gum Comparison of a Fake Stamp with Original
I do not have the invert sets so there may be a difference in gum on them because some of this series for other countries has been discovered to have a yellowish colored gum. This comparison is for the normal perforated forgeries I just received.
This gum appears to still be PVA but without the greenish tint. It has been noted that other British issues like some of the Machin issues have this type of gum. The problem is it was not used until the late 90's. The gum is very shiny though which conflicts with the description of the gum known as PVAI (Layflat) used on the Machins. Yet the stamps lay perfectly flat on a surface whereas originals have a light bending from aging.
This is evidence showing even a later creation and since these imperforates did not appear on the market until 2014, it proves these to be modern forgeries of the stamps.



Screen, Font and Color Comparison of a Fake Stamp with an Original Stamp
Let us use the 5c stamps for high resolution comparisons. I use 1200dpi scans for viewing.

This first comparison shows you how inferior the screens are. I first compare the Men's Volley Ball stamp.


You can see that the screens used on the forgery are coarser. Much of the details are lost on the forgery. The background colors are shades of magenta and purple on the genuine stamps. They are shades of gray on the forgeries.
The forgeries still are very dangerous because when imaged for sale by sellers they look almost exactly the same as the originals. Buyers will think it is just the sellers scanner making them look "different". To compensate the forger uses a shinier surface on the face of the stamps.

Now here is a look at the Women's Volley Ball stamp


Here you can see a big difference in the color of the shirt. Can you see the difference in the screens used? Look at the red areas. Format used a "solid" pattern on the red. The forger continues to use the same screen throughout the image. Another easy way to tell which is which.

Now let's look at the frame border.


You can see that the screens on the forgery stamp are completely different.

Now I will show reduced images of the original stamps with the forgeries.

Comparison of the Fake 5c Summer Olympic Games Stamp Pair with the Original Stamp Pair

Now that you know what to look for it helps yes?
Still you can see that most people will not even notice it which is what the forger wants!

Notes on differences:
Background and bleacher area on left stamp is shades of magenta and purple on genuine stamps. Shades of gray on the forgeries.
The red shirt on the main player on the right stamp is deep red on genuine stamps. It is close to burnt orange on the forgeries.

Comparison of the Fake 10c Summer Olympic Games Stamp Pair with the Original Stamp Pair

Note the deeper green color frames on the fakes versus the light green color on the originals.
The hair on the runner on the right is almost brown on genuine stamps versus black on the forgeries.

Comparison of the Fake 65c Summer Olympic Games Stamp Pair with the Original Stamp Pair

Note the yellowish color frames on the fakes versus the tan color on the originals.
The horse on the right stamp is shades of brown on genuine stamps. It is shades of red-brown on the forgeries.

Comparison of the Fake $2.50 Summer Olympic Games Stamp Pair with the Original Stamp Pair

Note the light tan color frames on the fakes versus the deeper pink-tan color on the originals.
The lighter greens on the left stamp on the genuine stamp versus the much darker greens on the forgery.

You can see that there is a lot of differences between the two printings.

One buyer of these fakes purchased a large lot from one of the biggest and most reputable stamp sellers on eBay. He bought what he thought was the complete print run of one "newly discovered" error in full panes in packets of 200 panes which were unopened.
I am sorry to say that there are several ways proving these were never produced by the Format Printers.
Firstly the packaging is wrong. Here is the image he sent me.


The plastic wrapping is a flexible plastic used today. Format packaged all stamp panes in very brittle hard plastic that tears easily when opened. The separation paper is brown. Format always used pink/red paper to separate and protect the panes and souvenir sheets. If panes are packaged like this it is a sign to beware!

Because of the fact that a major portion of leaders in the stamp community wish to turn a blind eye on these forgeries. Because of dealers and buyers who are afraid to "step up to the plate" because of fear of being ridiculed by self proclaimed "experts" or because they don't want to get involved, the forgers will continue to forge more and more sets. They have already effected other issues that have nothing to do with Leaders of the World issues such as Nauru 1982 Scouts, Barbuda 1983 Manned Flight and others showing us the wide range of stamps they are capable of forging and possibly have already forged. Soon you will be the victim when you buy that fake high valued Orchid stamp or that high priced definitive set you have dreamed of getting or what you thought to be a genuine error or variety which in the end only turns out to be fabricated by these forgers and nobody wants it when you go to sell it or your children go to sell it.

You have a choice.

Continue to ignore this problem that the majority of stamp leaders and editors seem to be trying to do just like they have with unauthorized reprints and "illegal" stamps in the past. Or spread the word and complain to your contacts and leaders that these problems need to be exposed and described in magazines, newspapers and catalogs before every stamp issue made in modern times from the 1970's onward falls victim to being a suspected forgery and in turn you or your friends or associates will fall victim to it when trying to buy or sell them. These forgers are professionals and have been here for decades unseen. They will continue to harm us unless people like you stand up and take notice!

This problem effects everyone because now instead of the value being based on a set quantity of the issued stamp, we now have double, triple or even more in quantity placed on the market. It will therefore depreciate the stated value of them in the catalogs simply because they will not research them and "assume" there are tons available when in reality for many sets the originals are and have become difficult to find.

I am simply the one who discovered them because of my research on the printer.
Indeed several issues that I have researched and obtained the original varieties of are effected. Mainly these fake imperforates. I am a professional tradesman and have never depended on stamps to live on. There are many that do depend on stamp sales though and it is for them also that I have created this section of the website.

You can now define the fake Saint Lucia 1984 Summer Olympic Games stamps easily and can now possibly avoid being ripped off! Sorry to say this, a lot of you already have been fooled and more of you will be until the right people get serious about it!

Your friend and fellow collector and researcher,
JLowe RETURN TO TOP

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