THE MODERN FAKE SAINT LUCIA 1986 5TH SERIES LOCOMOTIVE STAMP ISSUES

Saint Lucia 1986 Leaders of the World Locomotives 5th Series Forgery Set
Scott# 807-814 Stanley Gibbons# 858-873

I recently purchased more of the forgeries I have been warning about for almost three years now. Still no end of the movement of them onto the market.

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 or a lighter yellowish tint. These gum types were 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 perforated forgeries of the Saint Lucia Leaders of the World 1986 Locomotives 5th Series issues. All are being offered online right now as I write this on September 17, 2017.

Many sets of the cars and trains issues are being forged as imperforates as well. I have not seen this issue as imperforate forgeries but the threat and probability they exist is real.

In the set of forgeries I recently purchased I found that the 15c value has the yellowish gum whereas the rest have the white gum. this shows us that there are two printings of these forgeries. Evidence has proven that these forgeries have been moved onto the market in quantities of 10,000 sets at one time. Therefore we can see that at least 20,000 sets of forgeries of this issue are on the market now. Probably much more.

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 been posting more pages on the issues I have discovered to be forged and have included an index page listing them with links.

New information is welcome and you may contact me through this website anytime.

This set of forgeries I purchased from a Canadian seller who sells on eBay and Hipstamps. He did not even know they were fakes! Another example of how these fake reproductions are now being circulated all over the world.
If he had checked the gum on them he might have wondered why the 15c value has completely different gum. Sadly this is the case with many sellers out there.

I knew they were the forgeries because I have so much experience with them now I can pretty much spot them immediately just by the images given by sellers and by who the sellers are that are knowingly moving this junk onto the market through eBay and other venues. Here is an image of a lot being offered right now as I write this by balticamber2011 on eBay. He has sold lots like this in the past and is connect with user asrm10 and armi777 which are all based in Latvia. They are the main movers of the many forgeries I have written about and in my book their whole operation should be shut down permanently. Their business names are things like argi-stamps and SIA stamps. The government of Latvia should raid their places of business and put these criminals in a jail cell for they have now ripped off thousands of collectors and dealers worldwide!

Perforated Forgeries of St. Lucia 1986 5th Series Trains sold on eBay by balticamber2011

These would have been a good deal if they were not all fakes.
Snapshot imaging of lots sold and being sold by these cons are saved in files as evidence. They appear to be stupid enough to think that because eBay deletes lots after 90 days there are no past records of their criminal actions. Sorry, eBay saves them and can bring up your history for years past if they are in need of evidence. eBay is based in the U.S.A. and therefore complies with U.S. laws which in part makes them save your records for years!
This includes your images.

I now have everything together to present to you how to detect them and not get ripped off!! Sadly many have already been over the past 3 years.

The first way to detect many of them, if you have a black light, is to look at the face of them with it. If it glows brightly it is fake! Genuine stamps do not glow at all.
I have found though that many sets of forgeries vary from this. Some glow, some do not and some are mixed! Even though the forgery set has the same white or yellowish gum on all values, in some sets I have acquired, several values will glow and several do not! More research is ongoing on this.

Here are gum comparisons.

Gum Comparison of Fake Stamps with Original
The white 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 did not appear on the market until 2014 and no such stamps like these have ever been on the market nor recorded, it proves these to be modern forgeries of the stamps.

The yellowish gum I suspect to be older. It appears with this latest discovery that the forgers were working on this some time ago. The gum has a slight bend to it like original issues. It is still different than original gum though. A flat appearance compared to original gum. Still this makes some of the forgeries exceptionally dangerous because collectors and dealers who are scanning their collections and stock looking only at the gum looking for white versus yellow appearance will have these slip right by. As stated they do appear slightly different next to the originals but if you do not have originals right there to compare, you will have to resort to magnified detection of the face of the stamp to detect the forgeries.

Screen, Font and Color Comparison of a Fake Stamp with an Original Stamp
Let us use the 5c Tiptop stamp for high resolution comparisons. I use 1200dpi scans for viewing.
This first comparison shows you how inferior the screens are. I compare the coal car sign.


You can see that the screens used are much coarser. Much of the details are lost on the forgery. The letters on the sign are completely illegible on the forgery! 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 let's look at the fonts.


The forger did a pretty good job in a match for the fonts except for one thing. On genuine stamps there is a wide gap between the "P" and the "T" in "TIPTOP". In other words genuine "TIP TOP", forgery "TIPTOP". Note the difference in color backgrounds.

Now let's look at the front view of the engine on the detail drawing.


Amazingly different yes? Again you can see that much of the detail is gone or indistinct on the forgery. The forgery is a real shoddy copy isn't it! Note the extreme color differences. The purpose of all the detail drawings on LOTW stamps was to show you the details! I ask you....which one would you rather have?

Now I will show reduced images of the original stamps with the forgeries. At the bottom table are links to the same images at full size. To big to fit the page of course as I scanned them all at 1200dpi.

Comparison of the Fake 5c 1983 Rack Loco Tiptop Train Stamp with the Original Stamp


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

Noted differences:
Upper and lower color bars on genuine stamps are darker red-brown. They are lighter yellow-brown on the forgery.
The green bars on genuine stamps are green. They are lighter yellow-green on the forgery.
The "Loco 100" logo is much finer and the letters for "LOCO" are rounded on all corners. On the forgery they are sharp and pointed.
The cab and coal car on the detail drawing is dark green on genuine stamps. They are dark yellow-green on the forgery.
With magnification you can read the words on the signs on genuine stamps. You cannot on the forgeries.
Again repeating the most prominent way to detect the forgeries is on genuine stamps there is a wide gap between the "P" and the "T" in "TIPTOP". In other words
genuine "TIP TOP", forgery "TIPTOP".

Comparison of the Fake 15c 1975 Br Class 87 Stephenson Bo-Bo Stamp with the Original Stamp


Noted differences:
Upper and lower color bars on genuine stamps are blue-green. They are lighter dull green on the forgery.
The yellow bars on genuine stamps are mustard-yellow. They are yellow on the forgery.
The "Loco 100" logo is much finer and the letters for "LOCO" are rounded on all corners. On the forgery they are sharp and pointed.
The locomotive on both stamps is blue-green on genuine stamps. They are dull green on the forgery.
With magnification you can read the word "STEPHENSON" on the side of the engine on the detail drawing on genuine stamps. You cannot on the forgeries.
The most prominent way to detect this forgery. The word Bo-Bo. On the genuine stamps it uses small o's like "Bo-Bo". On the forgeries it is capital o's like "BO-BO".

Comparison of the Fake 30c 1901 Class D No. 737 Stamp with the Original Stamp


Noted differences:
Upper and lower color bars on genuine stamps are dark red-brown. They are lighter dull brown on the forgery.
The orange bars on genuine stamps are light orange. They are dull orange on the forgery.
The "Loco 100" logo is much finer and the letters for "LOCO" are rounded on all corners. On the forgery they are sharp and pointed.
The locomotive on both stamps is yellow-green on genuine stamps. They are dull green on the forgery.
With magnification you can read the number "989" on the front view of the engine on the detail drawing on genuine stamps. You cannot on the forgeries.
The most prominent way to detect this forgery. The spacing between the "737". On the genuine stamps it closer to the "No." on the left and on the top stamp closer to the "4" as well.

Comparison of the Fake 60c 1922 No. 13 Stamp with the Original Stamp


Noted differences:
Upper and lower color bars on genuine stamps are dark red-brown. They are lighter dull brown on the forgery.
The tan bars are pretty close. Lighter on the genuine stamps.
The "Loco 100" logo is much finer and the letters for "LOCO" are rounded on all corners. On the forgery they are sharp and pointed.
The locomotive on both stamps is yellow-green on genuine stamps. They are duller yellow-green on the forgery.
With magnification you can read the number "13" on the front view of the engine on the detail drawing on genuine stamps. You cannot on the forgeries.
The most prominent way to detect this forgery. The "2-Co-2". On the genuine stamps the "o" is more oval like a zero "0" and a much lighter font. On the forgeries it is the same boldness as the "C" and round like an "o".

Comparison of the Fake 75c 1954 Br Class EM2 Electra Stamp with the Original Stamp


Noted differences:
Upper and lower color bars on genuine stamps are blue-green. They are lighter dull green on the forgery.
The orange bars on genuine stamps are burnt-orange. They are orange on the forgery.
The "Loco 100" logo is much finer and the letters for "LOCO" are rounded on all corners. On the forgery they are sharp and pointed.
The locomotive on both stamps is dark army-green on genuine stamps. They are dull yellow-green on the forgery.
With magnification you can read the word "ELECTRA" on the side of the engine on the detail drawing on genuine stamps. You cannot on the forgeries.
The most prominent way to detect this forgery. On genuine stamps on the lower stamp all the letters describing the engine are very close together and almost touching. They are also much bolder. On the forgeries they are evenly spaced and not touching at all.

Comparison of the Fake $1 1922 City of Newcastle Stamp with the Original Stamp


Noted differences:
Upper and lower color bars on genuine stamps are a darker blue than on the forgeries.
The reddish bars on genuine stamps are dark vermilion. They are light vermilion on the forgery.
The "Loco 100" logo is much finer and the letters for "LOCO" are rounded on all corners. On the forgery they are sharp and pointed.
The locomotive on the upper stamp is a bright green on genuine stamps. They are bright yellow-green on the forgery.
With magnification you can read the number "24" on the front of the engine on the lower stamp on genuine stamps. You cannot on the forgeries.
The most prominent way to detect this forgery. On genuine stamps (using magnification) on the lower stamp the "$1" is opaque and you can see the image through it. On forgeries it is solid and you cannot see through it.

Comparison of the Fake $2.25 1930 Von Kruckenburg Stamp with the Original Stamp


Noted differences:
Upper and lower color bars on genuine stamps are a lighter yellow-brown than on the forgeries.
The greenish bars on genuine stamps are a lighter gray-green than on the forgeries.
The "Loco 100" logo is much finer and the letters for "LOCO" are rounded on all corners. On the forgery they are sharp and pointed.
The locomotive on the upper stamp is a light blue-gray on genuine stamps. They are gray on the forgery.
Now for a shocker! Did you catch it? The most prominent way to detect this forgery. On genuine stamps on the lower stamp the name of the engine has D.R.G. for a first line. On the forgeries it is completely missing!

Comparison of the Fake $3 1893 J.N.R. No. 860 Stamp with the Original Stamp


Noted differences:
The brownish bars on genuine stamps are very light brown. They are light yellow-brown on the forgery.
The "Loco 100" logo is much finer and the letters for "LOCO" are rounded on all corners. On the forgery they are sharp and pointed.
The locomotive on the upper stamp is a blue-gray on genuine stamps. They are dull gray on the forgery.
With magnification you can read the number "860" on the side of the engine on the detail drawing on genuine stamps. You cannot on the forgeries.
The most prominent way to detect this forgery. On genuine stamps "$" and the "3" are closer to each other than on the forgeries.

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

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. For this issue I own almost all the existing color proofs for this issue. I only own a couple perforated sets of this issue. 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 Saint Lucia 1986 5th series Locomotives stamp forgeries 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!

Here are links to images of each stamp with an original next to a forgery. All are scanned at 1200dpi so the files are large. All were scanned at the same time with the same settings and nothing is enhanced. Using Scott Catalog numbers. Please be patient with downloading them because each file is around 7 to 8 megs.

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

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