THE SAINT VINCENT 1987 TENNIS PLAYERS STAMP FORGERIES

Saint Vincent 1987 Wimbleton Tennis Players Stamp Forgery Set
Scott# 988-995 Stanley Gibbons# 1057-1064

Recently (December 2017) I purchased several more suspect sets of the forgeries I have been reporting. I found that the Saint Vincent 1987 Tennis Players stamps have been forged.

The set of stamps imaged above are fakes!

My research into the printer has enabled me to discover modern fake stamps have been created in 2014 and now 2017!! 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 yellowish in color, very smooth and 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 1987 Tennis Players stamp issues in perforated forms. Oddly I have not found imperforate forgeries.....yet. Do not know but suspect that the souvenir sheet has also probably been forged because the Latvia based sellers I have been reporting on offer it in bulk lots. All are being offered online right now as I write this on January 26, 2018.

I can also tell you that I have discovered that many more "modern" issues for Saint Vincent and other countries have and 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.

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

These sets of forgeries I purchased from a victim dealer. Apparently because the Latvian sellers have sold so much of this issue in the past most buyers have lost interest in getting more. They are buying them though. This is yet another example of how these fake reproductions are now being circulated all over the world. I am sure other collectors will buy them if these sellers do not refrain from offering them. Here is an image of one lot sold recently by user asrm10.

Saint Vincent 1987 Tennis Players Perforated Forgery Set in Blocks of Four sold by asrm10


I purchased some time ago some of the Tennis Players color proof pane sets from armi777 and found them to be genuine. I have done several studies on the Tennis issues including the infamous missing tennis ball "errors" that were purposely made by the Format Printers. I have several of the genuine press sheets found in the archive of the printer. I also have a couple genuine sets lying around of which I have had for years now and will use for the comparisons below.

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

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 perforated versions of these forgeries I have found they glow brightly as the image shows.

Here are gum comparisons.

Gum Comparison of a Fake Stamp with Gum on a Genuine Stamp
Unlike the gum on most of the forgeries that are flooding the market right now the gum is more yellowish in color on these. It is opaque though in comparison with the original gum. This type of gum has appeared on several other issues I have detected as forgeries like the St. Vincent Century of Motoring issue and several Locomotives sets. It is having a tendency to curl worse than original gum. I do not know if these were produced earlier by the forger and held until now, but they did not appear here on the market until recently. Everything else about the forgeries is the same as all the other forgeries I have described as you will see. This yellowish gum does make them harder to detect though at first glance without originals to compare with.
The pattern appears to be when the yellowish gummed forgeries are sold out then forgeries with very white shiny gum appear.


Gum Comparison of the Original and Forgery of the 1987 Tennis Player Stamps
Again there is an obvious difference in color and texture.
You can see that the forgery gum is much more opaque thus you can see the face image through it.


Screen, Font and Color Comparison of a Fake Stamp with an Original Stamp
I will use the $1.75 Martina Navratilova stamps for high resolution comparisons. I use 1200dpi scans for viewing.
These first comparisons show you that finer screen size on the forgeries are used. This has occurred on several forged issues making it a bit harder to detect. This means the producer has access to more of the printing materials used to make the original stamps.

This first image shows you the screen patterns. They appear almost identical in sizes.

Here is a 1200dpi comparison of Martina's face.

You can see that the genuine stamp has a much redder hue on Martina's face. This stands out on the other forgeries as well. Note that Martina's hair is much lighter on the forgery.

Here is a look at part of the team trophy Martina is holding.

Here you can see because the screens are as fine that the detail is close. I note on the genuine stamp the trophy has a brownish hue on it.

Now let's look at the Value fonts.


Now there is a big difference! The color is dull orange on genuine stamps. It is bright red on the forgeries.

Now I have to show you this image of the country name fonts.


Now there is another big difference! The dark color on the trophy is penetrating into the letters on the forgery. The fonts are solid on genuine stamps.
It is solid on genuine stamps because the orange fonts are placed onto the stamp in a separate process after the image is put on. The color proofs show this. On the forgery the red fonts are placed at the same time as the image being a much cheaper process. Thus the "bleed through".

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

Comparison of the 40c Hanna Mandlikova Stamp Forgery with a Genuine Stamp


You can see this is a very difficult forgery to detect by images on auction sites. When offered on their own they will deceive many collectors and dealers who do not have knowledge of these.
Noting differences:
The players face and arms and legs have a reddish hue on genuine stamps. No reddish hue on the forgeries.
The grass/dirt at the bottom portion of the stamp is tan on genuine stamps. Shades of light green on the forgeries.

Comparison of the 60c Yannick Noah Stamp Forgery with a Genuine Stamp


Noting differences:
The fonts and tennis rackets on the logo are orange on genuine stamps. They are red on the forgeries.
The players face, arms and legs have a deep reddish hue on genuine stamps. No reddish hue on the forgeries.
The fence in the background is blue-green on genuine stamps. Yellow-green on the forgeries.

Comparison of the 80c Ivan Lendl Stamp Forgery with a Genuine Stamp


Noting differences:
The name fonts and the tennis rackets on the logo are orange on genuine stamps. They are red on the forgeries.
The players face and legs have a reddish hue on genuine stamps. No reddish hue on the forgeries.
The grass in the background is a much darker green on genuine stamps.

Comparison of the $1.00 Chris Evert Stamp Forgery with a Genuine Stamp


Noting differences:
The players face, arms and legs have a deep reddish hue on genuine stamps. No reddish hue on the forgeries.
The players hair is much more yellow on the forgery.
The wall in the background is deep dark green on genuine stamps. It is brown-green on the forgeries.

Comparison of the $1.25 Steffi Graf Stamp Forgery with a Genuine Stamp


Noting differences:
The players face, arms and legs have a deep reddish hue on genuine stamps. No reddish hue on the forgeries.
The wall in the background is deep black-green on genuine stamps. It is brown-green on the forgeries.
The forgery has an overall greenish tint even on Steffi's dress.
The grass/dirt at the bottom portion of the stamp is tan on genuine stamps. Shades of light green on the forgeries.

Comparison of the $1.50 John McEnroe Stamp Forgery with a Genuine Stamp


Noting differences:
The value fonts are orange on genuine stamps. They are red on the forgeries.
The players face, arms and legs have a deep reddish hue on genuine stamps. No reddish hue on the forgeries.
The large circular ring in the background has yellowish tint on genuine stamps. It has a heavy yellow-green tint on the forgeries.

Comparison of the $1.75 Martina Navratilova Stamp Forgery with a Genuine Stamp


Noting differences:
The fonts and tennis rackets on the logo are orange on genuine stamps. They are red on the forgeries.
The players face has a deep reddish hue on genuine stamps. No reddish hue on the forgeries.
The players hair is bright yellow on the forgery.
The trophy has a brownish tint on the genuine stamps. No brownish tint on the forgeries.
Comparison of the $2.00 Boris Becker Stamp Forgery with a Genuine Stamp


Noting differences:
The fonts and tennis rackets on the logo are orange on genuine stamps. They are red on the forgeries.
The players face has a deep reddish hue on genuine stamps. No reddish hue on the forgeries.
The players hair is bright yellow on the forgery.
You can see that there is a lot of differences between the two printings. Noting also that some of the forgeries are very badly centered. They would be rejected by inspectors at the Format Printers.

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. Aside from some genuine color proof pane sets these do not effect me at all. 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 Vincent 1987 Tennis Players 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!

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

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