THE SAINT VINCENT GRENADINES 1988 TENNIS PLAYERS STAMP FORGERIES

Saint Vincent Grenadines 1988 Wimbleton Tennis Players Stamp Forgery Set
Scott# 614-621 Stanley Gibbons# 582-589

Recently (October 2017) I purchased from eBay user balticamber2011 sets of the Saint Vincent Grenadines 1988 Wimbleton Tennis Championship stamps in perforated and imperforate blocks of four. The user is connected to other user accounts raimissss, armi777, asrm10, hobbytrade and is based in Latvia. The sets are forgeries.

What is odd is that these sellers were selling imperforate color proof sets in full panes just a year ago. Those are genuine!
At this point it shows us that instead of being satisfied in the sale of the genuine material which apparently they have run out of, they intend to rip you off with these newest forgeries!

All the stamps imaged above are fakes!

UPDATE March 2018

This month a new form of the forgeries of this issue have surfaced. Unfortunately they have been offered on eBay by user matthijs_philatelie. This seller is a major stamp seller on eBay with a great reputation. I have personally purchased from them many times. Many times in searches for the forgeries their lots have come up and (until now) all proved to be genuine. Sadly they have now become yet another victim of this.

The new form of forgeries of this issue are in the form of misperf errors. Just about every value of this issue was listed by matthijs_philatelie in complete panes of the misperf error! Here are a couple images taken from the lots.

Saint Vincent 1988 Tennis Players Stamp Forgery Panes with Error of Misperforation


Note how the perforations at top and bottom and the right side end. Now here is an image of a genuine set of panes. You can see how the perforations run through the selvage on all sides of the panes! Given a couple do not have the perforations running through on one side which is because of the position of the pane on the press sheet. Still they run through on three sides which as you can see on the forgeries it is not possible with the way the perforations are positioned. Definite proof that the misperforated stamp panes are forgeries.

Saint Vincent 1988 Tennis Players Genuine Stamp Panes

So BEWARE of all misperforated stamps of this issue!

END UPDATE

UPDATE May 2022

I was notified that the souvenir sheet for this issue has been forged as an imperforate. When I compared the image with genuine perforated versions I found it to be true! Imperforate versions of this souvenir sheet are a rarity. Very few examples were sold in the final sale of the printers archive back in 1995. Those being the proofs and progessive color proofs of which few were saved.

It is noted that another huge quantity of the Feigenbaum stock was released onto the stamp market in 2020-2021. It has been stated that a large quantity of the forgeries I have documented were released within that stock. It has been said that the British dealers (being aware of this) avoided buying the materials and it was moved to Asian markets. It is apparent that the new "appearance" of this new forgery is a result of that movement.

Here is an image of the genuine perforated souvenir sheet.

Genuine Saint Vincent Grenadines 1988 Tennis Players Souvenir Sheet


Here is an image of the forged imperforate souvenir sheet.

Forgery of the Saint Vincent Grenadines 1988 Tennis Players Souvenir Sheet as an Imperforate


Noting differences:
The red fonts are darker and bolder on genuine stamps.
Steffi Graf's face and arms have a reddish hue on genuine stamps. No reddish hue on the forgeries.
The grass at the bottom portion of the souvenir sheet is shades of green on genuine stamps. Shades of much lighter yellow green on the forgeries.
The inscription "STEFFI GRAF" is extremely bold on the forgeries versus a much lighter font on the genuine stamps.
Here is an obvious clue. There is no period (.) on the "ST." inscription on the Steffi Graf stamp!

So BEWARE of any offers and sales of this souvenir sheet in imperforate form. Most likely it is yet another worthless inferior forgery.

END May 2022 UPDATE

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 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 Grenadines 1988 Tennis Players stamp issues in perforated and imperforate forms. Do not know but suspect that the souvenir sheet has also probably been forged because these sellers offer it in bulk lots. All are being offered online right now as I write this on November 4, 2017.

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 for 99c each! Apparently because these Latvian sellers have sold so much of this issue in the past most buyers have lost interest in getting more. 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. I have contacted this seller and he resists the efforts to stop the forger and intends to continue to sell them. Therefore a fraudulent seller in my book. Here are images of what I got.

Saint Vincent Grenadines 1988 Tennis Players Perforated Forgery Set in Blocks of Four sold by balticamber2011

Saint Vincent Grenadines 1988 Tennis Players Imperforate Forgery Set in Blocks of Four sold by balticamber2011


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 both the perforated and imperforate 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
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 did not appear on the market until 2017, it proves these to be modern forgeries of the stamps.


Gum Comparison of the Original and Forgery of the 1987 Tennis Player Stamps
Again there is an obvious difference in color and texture.


Screen, Font and Color Comparison of a Fake Stamp with an Original Stamp
I will use the $3.50 Virginia Wade 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. The genuine stamps have circles with a dot in the middle. The forgeries have circles with circles in the middle.
Fine screens yes, but still not quite as fine as screens used on the genuine stamps.

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

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

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

Here you can see because the screens are not as fine that the picture is losing much of the detail.

Now let's look at the fonts.


You can see that the numbers are much more enhanced with the black edging making a bolder three dimensional effect on the genuine stamp. Also the red is much bolder and deeper.

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

Comparison of the 15c Pam Shriver 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 red fonts are darker and bolder on genuine stamps.
The players face and arm have a reddish hue on genuine stamps. No reddish hue on the forgeries.
The background colors are shades of red-blue on genuine stamps. Shades of blue on the forgeries.

Comparison of the 50c Kevin Curran Stamp Forgery with a Genuine Stamp


Noting differences:
The red fonts are darker and bolder on genuine stamps.
The players face and arm have a reddish hue on genuine stamps. No reddish hue on the forgeries.
The wall at the bottom portion of the stamp is shades of very dark green on genuine stamps. Shades of much lighter green on the forgeries.

Comparison of the 75c Wendy Turnball Stamp Forgery with a Genuine Stamp


Noting differences:
The red fonts are darker and bolder on genuine stamps.
The players face, arms and legs have a very reddish hue on genuine stamps. No reddish hue on the forgeries.
The background is shades of very dark blue-green on genuine stamps. Shades of green on the forgeries.

Comparison of the $1.00 Evonne Cawley Stamp Forgery with a Genuine Stamp


Noting differences:
The red fonts are darker and bolder on genuine stamps.
The players face, arms and legs have a very reddish hue on genuine stamps. No reddish hue on the forgeries.
The wall at the bottom portion of the stamp is shades of very dark blue-green on genuine stamps. Shades of dark green on the forgeries.

Comparison of the $1.50 Ilie Nastase Stamp Forgery with a Genuine Stamp


Noting differences:
The red fonts are darker and bolder on genuine stamps.
The background is very dark black on genuine stamps. It is dull brown-black on the forgeries.

Comparison of the $2.00 Billie Jean King Stamp Forgery with a Genuine Stamp


Noting differences:
The red fonts are darker and bolder on genuine stamps.
The players face and arms have a reddish hue on genuine stamps. No reddish hue on the forgeries.
Billie Jean King's Hair and glasses and other things have a green tinting on the forgeries. No such tinting on genuine stamps.

Comparison of the $3.00 Bjorn Borg Stamp Forgery with a Genuine Stamp


Noting differences:
The red fonts are darker and bolder on genuine stamps.
The players face, arms and legs have a very reddish hue on genuine stamps. No reddish hue on the forgeries.
The right side of the background playing field is shades of dark black-green on genuine stamps. Shades of dark green on the forgeries.

Comparison of the $3.50 Virginia Wade Stamp Forgery with a Genuine Stamp


Noting differences:
The red fonts are darker and bolder on genuine stamps.
The players face has a very reddish hue on genuine stamps. No reddish hue on the forgeries.
The team trophy plate is brown-gold on genuine stamps. Yellow-gold on the forgeries.

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 Grenadines 1988 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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