THE FORGED UNAUTHORIZED REPRINTS OF THE SAINT VINCENT 1985 LEADERS OF THE WORLD MICHAEL JACKSON STAMP ISSUES

The following revised article was written and sent to various stamp dealers in 2009. Since then it has come to light that what has been determined to be forgeries of the Saint Vincent 1985 Michael Jackson set of stamps and souvenir sheets was done under bogus legal grounds. For some time now, some have called them fakes or forgeries. In essence, that is what they are. The forged unauthorized reprints were made by/for a stamp dealer named Clive Feigenbaum after the Format International Security Printers went bankrupt and closed down forever.

Unauthorized reprints means that the country that issued the stamps originally never requested nor authorized the stamp agency and/or printer to reprint the stamp issue in question. The reprinting of stamps under these conditions is called illegal and therefore done for only one reason. Greed.
In this case and because of what was printed at the time and because of what has been printed recently (2014), which are considered to be forgeries of the original issues, all of these reprints should be considered Illegal and forged. Therefore counterfeit.

In Stanley Gibbons catalogs under this issue is noted the existence. The noting states:
"St. Vincent Philatelic Services Ltd. report that unauthorized reprints of Nos. 940/7 exist, poorly printed on whiter paper."
This is where the term ""unauthorized reprint" came from. It was defined as such in error. Over 50% of the stamps of this issue are these "reprints". With the new forgery reprints that have been flooding the market since 2014, now over 75% of the stamps for this issue sold online are not genuine!!

In attempting to alert dealers and your representatives who lead your stamp societies to the rampant sales of these reproductions, My words and evidence fall on many deaf ears. I even contacted the American Philatelic Society Stamp Store because almost every offer for this issue sold on the site were either the illegally produced unauthorized reprints or the modern fake forgery stamps. I simply asked for them to put the magnifier symbol on this issue which alerts collectors to the fact that unauthorized reprints exist for the issue. On December 27, 2017, I received an email from them that shows the statement from Mr. Ken Martin who is the Chief Operating Officer authorizing the Director of Circuit/Internet Sales to put the symbol on them.
I made a direct phone call to Mr. Martin to thank him and to tell him that unauthorized reprints of the Elvis Presley set for this country were also in the same status and that new fake stamps of the issue were flooding the market. Be it because he did not like the tone of the conversation or because he is being influenced by powerful dealers within the APS, to this day, April 16, 2017, no symbol has been placed on this stamp issue! Even though Ken Martin was told by me to check the Stanley Gibbons catalogs in the APS library. Even though Mr. Ken Martin stated over the phone that if indeed the unauthorized printing is noted in Stanley Gibbons that the APS would put the warning symbol in the stamp store for these issues. NO SYMBOL! This is how deep the corruption goes in even your highest societies. Allowing major illegal stamp sellers to remain members. Turning a blind eye to stamps that have no validity whatsoever. All in the name of greed and profits made from you, the victim and collector who depend on these people to keep our hobby safe.

I am attempting to "go over Mr. Martin's head" on this and maybe with fresher membership elections in the future, something will happen. we will see....
Should the appropriate changes be made within the Stampstore and the Scott Catalog notes the existence of these forgeries so that all U.S. collectors and dealers can be fairly warned of the existence and avoid them....I will delete this part of the page.

According to the reprint agreement started in 1987 the artwork and all other materials including the Format Printers Company Logo were still held under the legal ownership of Clive Feigenbaum who had the forged unauthorized reprinting done. The reprint agreement gave sole right to the owners of said materials to reprint at their discretion even under a different companies name. Even though the reprinting was done long after the Format Printers closed their doors the Company Logo found on the panes of the reprints was apparently legally applied.
At least in the United Kingdom. Not in Saint Vincent, Tuvalu or any other country stamps were printed for though!
The ownership extended beyond the time of the Format Printers existence. Apparently....in theory it is still possible according to Jonathan Feigenbaum applicable today!
Is it legal to do such a thing? Absolutely not! Not without describing them as what they are. Copies of the genuine stamps with no postal validity at all!
One thing about this reprint agreement. It was signed between the last owner of Philatelists Ltd. who was and always has been in association with Clive Feigenbaum. It was signed by Clive Feigenbaum as the last owner of PDC (Philatelic Distribution Corp.) to himself, the last owner of London and New York International Stamp Company Limited. In other words it is a scam to try to legitimize criminal activity!

The reasons why the forged unauthorized reprinting was done at a later date is a mystery. One rumor has it that it was out of revenge for the originals being suspiciously sold outside the liquidation procedures at the time of the liquidation of the Format Security Printers. There was certain animosities between the owner, Mr. Clive Feigenbaum, and certain stamp dealers associated with Philatelists Ltd.. It is only rumor and we will leave it at that. It is interesting though as the stamps at the time really did not have a huge selling record and plenty of the original stamps were already available. Thus....why reproduce them? Of course Michael Jackson on stamps is a hugely popular thematic and possibly they were reproduced for the purpose of future sales of thematics which, of course, brings us back to greed.

Sorry to say but a major percentage of thematic (topical) collectors have little knowledge in regards to what is genuine, illegal or a forgery because they put to much trust in the dealers that are to this day selling them this junk. At the time when the forged unauthorized reprints were made, British dealers were already wary of dealing with any more Leaders of the World issues being sold by Mr. Feigenbaum, and so, these "reprints" were sold in bulk to certain American Dealers who joyfully spread them across the world.

So, to finish the story apparently the original plates were lost, stolen or destroyed and thus new plates were made with the images of Michael Jackson being slightly larger than the originals. This then classifies them as illegal stamps AND forgeries. All experts have stated that if the stamp is not reproduced from the original plates then it cannot be classified as a reprint. It HAS to be classified as a forgery. The perforations differ and many other factors are different as you will see. As far as the question of it being immoral and/or unethical? Yes, both apply because it does and has damaged the hobby in that the market is now saturated with these forgeries of low quality which were never used as valid postage.

Are they forgeries? YES, because they are not made from the original plates and are therefore completely different than the originals.

As of 2016 a new wave of these and many more Leaders of the World forgeries are flooding the market. They are even MORE dangerous forgeries because they have recently been printed using correct perforation sizes to deceive collectors. They are being sold by numerous sellers on all auction venues and the problem is now a huge one due to your philatelic leaders wanting to turn a blind eye. Nearly half and in some cases more than half of many of the issues offered are now these new forgeries. To learn how to define them please visit my page linked here which gives detailed descriptions helping you to define them.

Modern Michael Jackson Stamp Forgeries

Quantities Produced

Quantities of the original printing would be the same as on the Leaders of the World Automobiles and Locomotives series. Basing on the printers practices at the time for the original printings.
1.) The reprinting done by the Format Printers themselves (which would still have the 24 holes) would be 75,000 sets perforated.
2.) 5,000 sets of imperforate proofs.
3.) 2,000 sets perforated with specimen overprint.
4.) 1,000 sets imperforate with specimen overprint
5.) 3,000 sets of Progressive Color Proofs.
6.) There are several made for collector errors in the original printings as in missing colors, offset colors and misperfs of which standard practices would produce 3,000 of a given value or values.

The first printing of course was probably in the range of 250,000 to 500,000 sets.

NO INVERTS OF THIS ISSUE WERE EVER PRINTED BY THE FORMAT PRINTERS
It has been proven with the genuine progressive color proofs that it is impossible to "invert" the frames as they have been done on the forgeries.

It is possible that the same standard of quantity production has been followed with the forged unauthorized reprinting after the Format Printers closed their doors forever.
I personally believe it was probably double that or more due to the massive availability of the forged unauthorized reprints on the market.

A word of advice

I present this page so all stamp collectors and sellers will know what to look for. I do not have information on the quantities produced but do know that it is a larger quantity than the originals. Most of the errors, progressives color proofs and proofs themselves are from the forged unauthorized reprinting. Without full comparison to the following defined descriptions, the illegally produced forged unauthorized reprints are being mixed with the originals throughout the market more and more. Describing these forged unauthorized reprints with accurate descriptions is important. They must be described as forgeries and to legally sell them you must permanently mark them as either forgeries or unauthorized printings. More varieties are appearing which are both from original and the forged unauthorized reprinting. Now modern forgeries including new inverts are flooding the market as well.

Buyers should be aware before purchasing this issue. If you purchase them be sure to compare them as soon as you receive them to be sure the seller did not fool you with an image of the originals and then sends you the forged unauthorized reprints. This has happened a lot even to me! Especially with the Elvis and Michael Jackson stamps. Request a refund and return them. If the seller continues selling this junk don't buy anything from them. It is up to you as a buyer to make sure you don't get ripped off! These dealers and auction sites are lying when it comes to them protecting you.

Stamp reference catalogs have failed miserably in describing these forged unauthorized reprints. Scott catalog does not even tell you about them at all! They need to redefine these in notations about their existence. In Stanley Gibbons the descriptions at this time are inaccurate and helps nobody in the collecting community to figure out what they are nor how to define the differences.

LET'S GET STARTED!

ALL THE FOLLOWING IMAGES WERE SCANNED AT 600dpi AND RESIZED IN EXACTLY THE SAME WAY WITH NO COLOR ALTERATIONS.

How to Identify the Forged Unauthorized Reprints of the Saint Vincent 1985 Michael Jackson Stamps and Mini sheets

This guide was written with the purpose of:
(i) Helping buyers to identify the forged unauthorized reprint stamps which have been on the market for over 25 years now;
(ii) Protecting the interests of genuine dealers everywhere who don't sell fakes or forgeries or fake reprints without defining them as such;
(iii) Protecting the integrity and interests of the Saint Vincent Philatelic Bureau.

The forgery (unauthorized reprint) stamps first appeared in early 1990's but as British dealers were wary of these stamps, they were largely sold to American Stamp dealers, who bought up the stock in bulk (together with forged (unauthorized reprints) of the Saint Vincent Elvis Presley stamps and Mini sheets). The distributor, Mr. Clive Feigenbaum, had access to the original artwork transparencies and printing plates separations which are used to create the actual plates that are used for printing, so the forgeries (unauthorized reprints) are generally of a good quality. The forged (unauthorized reprint) stamps are more than capable of not being detected by most dealers, stamp collectors, and Michael Jackson memorabilia and topical collectors. There are however, a number of distinguishing features on the forgeries (unauthorized reprints) (that are illustrated below), which make them easy to identify from the original stamps.

By the way, the stamps illustrated above are all forged unauthorized reprints!

These are also found as imperforate proofs, progressive color proofs and in many cases as "errors" with misperfs etc;. The inverted frame errors have been produced recently (2014) and are modern forgeries! The Format Printers never made invert "errors" of the Michael Jackson issue.

UPDATE August 6, 2016

I just lost an auction on eBay that contained the stamps in the following image. Either the competition was fooled by the sellers description that the inverts are rare or they realized this to be the proof that the forgeries (unauthorized reprints) were never made at Format! Here is absolute proof that all the forgeries (unauthorized reprints) were never made by nor at the Format International Security Printers. This image shows the color guides fully attached to the fake inverts. As you can see they are nothing like the color guides used by the Format Printers on any stamp issue that they ever produced. The forgeries (unauthorized reprints) use the same color guides on the panes as the original panes. This image is of stamps that were cut from a press sheet before the panes were cut noting the large selvage on which the color guide is visible proving that Format was never involved.

Unlike the new forgeries that are flooding the market, the forged unauthorized reprints were produced on press sheets similar to what the genuine press sheets were like. Therefore gutters exist for them. There are no gutters for the newest forgeries because they are being printed on a cheap printer that is incapable of printing the very large press sheets. Producing press sheets requires huge and advanced printing presses which today are very expensive to maintain and run. The producers of the recent forgeries are incapable of running such machinery.


These forgeries (unauthorized reprints) should not be valued by anyone! They were created by a stamp dealer with intent on ripping you off! At this point it is unknown exactly how many were made but the quantity is high.
Probably 3 to 4 times as many according to what is on the market. The errors and proofs also have a higher number. These are in the 5-10,000 set range. The errors and proofs from the original reprinting which was done by the Format Printers themselves would have the same quantities pretty much as with the LOTW Cars and Trains as described previously. I would value the forged unauthorized reprints at nothing. This is true "wallpaper". Pricing for the originals will rise if this knowledge becomes standard. At the time of this webpage creation approximately 75% of sales on the market contain the forged unauthorized reprints. Others may try to disagree, but as time will tell it will be according to what the market decides....not the sellers nor "experts" as obviously there are none or this would have been known and taken care of long ago.
I guess you could say....I am the expert on these now.

(1) SG940-1 or 941a / Scott 894 60c Se-Tenant Stamp Pair

When compared side-by-side with the original stamps (for confirmation that the pair on the left are genuine, see Scott Catalogue), the forged unauthorized reprint stamps look very good and use a richer set of colors allowing for more contrast in the photographs. Notice the many more studs on Michael's Jacket. However, don't let the colors fool you!


Rule Number One (and probably the only rule needed) when identifying the forged unauthorized reprints is to COUNT THE PERFORATIONS! As most of these stamps are sold in se-tenant (joined) pairs, count the number of holes along the vertical join. For the Original stamps, there are 24 Holes (i.e. 25 Perforations), whereas the forged unauthorized reprints have 27 Holes (i.e. 28 Perforations). The holes in the forged unauthorized reprints are thus noticeably smaller, and there is a tendency for all holes to not be completely punched out.
For more advanced collectors that use a perf gauge the forged unauthorized reprints are perf 14x14.5. The originals are perf 12.5 all around.


In addition to the Perforations being different, the forged unauthorized reprint Stamps use a Narrower Pinkish Font (compared to the Original Thick Purple Font) (see above); while all the original images in the forged unauthorized reprint stamps have been enlarged, resulting in a cropping of the image to fit the same-sized frame. This is illustrated in the example images below for the 60c stamps.

(2) SG942-3 or 942a / Scott 895 $1 Se-Tenant Stamp Pair

The $1 Pair of Stamps are regarded as the best of the forged unauthorized reprints, but again Use RULE #1 (Count the Perforations) as above. Again, the forged unauthorized reprints have 27 Holes compared to the Original Pair's 24 Holes.

Some other subtle differences to look out for are:
1.) Slightly Bolder / Darker Font for "St. Vincent" and "$1" in the forged unauthorized reprints;
2.) Michael's head is closer to the top of the frames in the forged unauthorized reprints;
3.) The "Michael Jackson" signature is clearer and bolder on the original stamps, while the "n" in the signature is not discernible against Michael's hand in the forged unauthorized reprints.

(3) SG944-5 or 944a / Scott 896 $2 Se-Tenant Pair

Again, the forged unauthorized reprint stamps are instantly recognizable by the number of perforations (27 Holes instead of 24) and demonstrate a number of similar variations as before, including a darker green font for the typeset; a big cropping of Michael Jackson's head in the left hand stamp / and a cropping of his gold button in the right hand stamp; and a bigger contrast of colors in the forged unauthorized reprints, including an almost White Background in the right hand stamp. These are illustrated in more detail below.

(4) SG946-7 or 946a / Scott 897 $5 Se-Tenant Pair

ERRORS AND MODERN FAKE STAMPS

At present no forged unauthorized reprint errors seem to exist for the singles.
Several errors exist from the original printings.
The shifted color or some call them the ghost printing errors are imperforate. Quantities are unknown but probably the standard 3,000 sets were produced.


The Michael Jackson inverted frame error stamps appeared just recently in 2014. I have discovered that they are modern forgeries!!!. They have appeared just recently and all aspects of their design is different. At present the source is known but evades public exposure. They are being sold on internet auction sites and elsewhere right now! They are dangerous forgeries because they have the proper perforation size. Still, when compared with the originals and the unauthorized reprints they are completely different! The paper, gum and colors are all different. Your first clue is that the gum is very shiny and white. This type of gum was not used until recent years long after Format closed and long after the forged unauthorized reprints were made. Another clue...the $4 value is from the souvenir sheet making this imaged "set" a mixed set. Visit the linked page for detailed definitions and images.

1985 Michael Jackson Forgery Stamps

PROGRESSIVE COLOR PROOFS

The following sets of images show the forged unauthorized reprint progressive color proofs along with examples of the originals.
Note that a full set of progressives of any of the values should have 9 proofs to be a complete set.
The forged unauthorized reprints only have 8 and there are two blue shades.
Please be aware of this and don't purchase them.

FORGED UNAUTHORIZED REPRINT

ORIGINAL

FORGED UNAUTHORIZED REPRINT

ORIGINAL

FORGED UNAUTHORIZED REPRINT

ORIGINAL

FORGED UNAUTHORIZED REPRINT

ORIGINAL


This sums up the demonstration on how to identify the forged unauthorized reprint St. Vincent 1985 Michael Jackson stamps. As you can see, you do not have to be an expert philatelist to be able to do this. You do not even have to be a collector at all! The differences between the original stamps and the forged unauthorized reprints is quite obvious.

Now on to the Souvenir Sheets!

CAN YOU SEE THE DIFFERENCE!?! The Michael Jackson Story … of Forged Unauthorized Reprint Saint Vincent Mini sheets

Noting perforation sizes on the forged unauthorized reprint souvenir sheets are the same as the originals. this can make it a bit more difficult to recognize the stamps if they are removed from the souvenir sheets.

(1) SG MS948 / Scott 898 45c Block of 4 as two Se-Tenant Pairs on Souvenir Sheet

Top Sheet (Original): 144mm x 109mm (as per Stanley Gibbons)
Bottom Sheet (Forged Unauthorized Reprint): 142mm x 103mm (as per CopyShop 'R Us)


Differences:
1.) Forged Unauthorized reprint has cropped top (Jacko has lost his fingers; Blue Light is cut).
2.) Forged Unauthorized reprint has cropped left hand side (more of the blue and red lights are cut).
3.) Forged Unauthorized reprint has slightly cropped bottom.
4.) Forged Unauthorized reprint uses a Pinker font on the St Vincent text, denomination, and parallel bars.
5.) Forged Unauthorized reprint denomination value (45c) floats higher towards the perforations.
6.) Forged Unauthorized reprint "ST. VINCENT" and framing parallel bars are in the wrong position (too high).
7.) Forged Unauthorized reprint framing parallel bars around St Vincent are much narrower.
8.) Forged Unauthorized reprint has a darker shade of "Leaders of the World" in the white stamp background.

(2) SG MS948 / Scott 899 90c Block of 4 as two Se-Tenant Pairs on Souvenir Sheet

Top Sheet (Original): 144mm x 109mm (as per Stanley Gibbons)
Bottom Sheet (Forged Unauthorized Reprint): 146mm x 104mm (as per CopyShop 'R Us)


Differences:
1.) Forged Unauthorized reprint has cropped right hand side (less yellow banner after the "N").
2.) Forged Unauthorized reprint uses a much darker shade for the "LEADERS OF THE WORLD" text.
3.) Forged Unauthorized reprint white text box for Leaders of the World is 50mm (only 46mm on Originals).
4.) Forged Unauthorized reprint stamps intersect the "R" in Leaders (before the "R" on Originals).
5.) Forged Unauthorized reprint has 3 instances of "Leaders of the World" above the stamps (4 on Originals).
6.) Forged Unauthorized reprint stamps have 26 occurrences of "LEADERS OF THE WORLD" (27 on Originals).
7.) Forged Unauthorized reprint has a narrower / less bold typeface for "ST. VINCENT".
8.) Forged Unauthorized reprint uses a Pinker font on the St Vincent text, denomination, and parallel bars.
9.) Forged Unauthorized reprint denomination value (90c) floats higher towards the perforations.
10.) Forged Unauthorized reprint "ST. VINCENT" and framing parallel bars are in the wrong position (too high).
11.) Forged Unauthorized reprint framing parallel bars around St Vincent are much narrower.
12.) Forged Unauthorized reprint has a darker shade of "Leaders of the World" in the white stamp background.

(3) SG MS948 / Scott 900 $1.50 Block of 4 as two Se-Tenant Pairs on Souvenir Sheet

Top Sheet (Original): 144mm x 109mm (as per Stanley Gibbons)
Bottom Sheet (Forged Unauthorized Reprint): 145mm x 104mm (as per CopyShop 'R Us)


Differences:
1.) Forged Unauthorized reprint has cropped left hand side (metal microphone stand is cut out).
2.) Forged Unauthorized reprint has cropped top and bottom.
3.) Forged Unauthorized reprint uses a much darker shade for the "LEADERS OF THE WORLD" text.
4.) Forged Unauthorized reprint white text box for Leaders of the World is 51mm (only 47mm on Originals).
5.) Forged Unauthorized reprint has 2 instances of "Leaders of the World" and 2 partial above the stamps (4 on Originals).

UPDATE: A variance to this is because of poor cutting of the sheets the top instance IS full.
Usually on these the bottom instance is completely covered by the stamp block. In other words, you must see at least 3 full instances and most of the 4th instance above the stamp block to be Original.

6.) Forged Unauthorized reprint stamps have 25½ occurrences of "LEADERS OF THE WORLD" (27 on Originals).
7.) Forged Unauthorized reprint has a narrower / less bold typeface for "ST. VINCENT".
8.) Forged Unauthorized reprint uses a lighter green font on the St Vincent text, denomination, and parallel bars.
9.) Forged Unauthorized reprint denomination value ($1.50) floats higher into the perforations.

UPDATE: A variance to this is the denomination value ($1.50) also floats low.

10.) Forged Unauthorized reprint "ST. VINCENT" and framing parallel bars are in the wrong position (too high).
11.) Forged Unauthorized reprint framing parallel bars around St Vincent are much narrower - almost invisible.
12.) Forged Unauthorized reprint has a darker shade of "Leaders of the World" in the white stamp background.

(4) SG MS948 / Scott 901 $4.00 Block of 4 as two Se-Tenant Pairs on Souvenir Sheet

Top Sheet (Original): 144mm x 109mm (as per Stanley Gibbons)
Bottom Sheet (Forged Unauthorized Reprint): 142mm x 109mm (as per CopyShop 'R Us)




Differences:
1.) Forged Unauthorized reprint has cropped bottom (no space or small space under the Michael Jackson red banner).
2.) Forged Unauthorized reprint has cropped left hand side.
3.) Forged Unauthorized reprint has cropped right hand side.
4.) Forged Unauthorized reprint has cropped top (intersect the red and blue lights).
5.) Forged Unauthorized reprint stamps are 6mm below the red and blue lights (should intersect as per original).
6.) Forged Unauthorized reprint stamps often exhibit bad perforations.
7.) Forged Unauthorized reprint has a narrower / less bold typeface for "ST. VINCENT".
8.) Forged Unauthorized reprint uses a lighter brown font on the St Vincent text, denomination, and parallel bars.
9.) Forged Unauthorized reprint "ST. VINCENT" and framing parallel bars are slightly higher.
10.) Forged Unauthorized reprint framing parallel bars around St Vincent are almost invisible.
11.) Forged Unauthorized reprint has a darker shade of "Leaders of the World" in the white stamp background.
12.) Forged Unauthorized reprint "Micha" part of signature can't be read, due to brightness of his white jacket.

ERRORS

I found this error of the 90c value recently in 2015. Since it is perforated it is classified as a missing color error. It is actually the final colors stage of the color proofs. Only two were offered and they have not appeared since.
This is a 90c value souvenir sheet that is a misperf which is actually called a shifted perforation error. The seller wishes to deny it is from the forged unauthorized reprints and uses a small and blurry image, but you can obviously tell it is from the forged unauthorized reprints.

PROGRESSIVE COLOR PROOFS

At present time I can not find any of the progressives that are from the original printing. It does not mean that they don't exist. The Michael Jackson set of souvenir sheets does exist with forged unauthorized reprint progressives.
Again noting the forged unauthorized reprints only have 8 and there are two blue shades.
Here they are.

FORGED UNAUTHORIZED REPRINTS

Scott 898 Part A
Scott 898 Part B
Scott 899 Part A
Scott 899 Part B
Scott 900 Part A
Scott 900 Part B
Scott 901 Part A
Scott 901 Part B

This sums up the demonstration on how to identify the forged unauthorized reprint 1985 Michael Jackson souvenir sheets. Again I must stress the point that you do not have to be an expert philatelist to be able to do this. You do not even have to be a collector at all! The differences between the original souvenir sheets and the forged unauthorized reprints is quite obvious again.

I hope that this reference page on the Saint Vincent 1985 Michael Jackson forged unauthorized reprinted stamps will assist all collectors, dealers and memorabilia collectors in defining and choosing which sets they have or are buying.

Please refer this page to all of your stamp collecting friends and acquaintances to help get the word out.

Here are links to all the other LOTW issues that were discovered to have been reproduced without authorization in the early 1990's after the Format International Security Printers went Bankrupt.

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

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