THE FORGED UNAUTHORIZED REPRINTS AND MODERN FORGERIES OF THE TUVALU NUKULAELAE 1985 LEADERS OF THE WORLD DOGS STAMP ISSUES

I have discovered that there is a reprinted version of the 1985 Dogs issue that is very different from the original versions. I have also recently discovered that modern forgeries of this issue are also being flooded onto the market. In essence the forged unauthorized reprints were made by/for a stamp dealer named Clive Feigenbaum. I can tell you that real dangerous forgeries are being flooded on the market as I rewrite this page in November of 2016. See Section 2.

The first section will be on the unauthorized reprints. the second section will be on the newly discovered forgeries.

SECTION 1

THE FORGED UNAUTHORIZED REPRINTS

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 reproductions 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 legally applied.
At least in the United Kingdom. Not in Montserrat, Tuvalu or any other country stamps were printed for though!
The ownership supposedly extended beyond the time of the Format Printers existence.
Is it really legal to do such a thing? Absolutely not! Not without describing them as what they are when sold. 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!

Another note on Feigenbaum retaining the plates or anything related to making the Tuvalu stamp issues. Because of the trials against him by Tuvalu, Tuvalu was authorized by the court to confiscate everything that made the original stamps. So, this shows us that obviously Mr. Feigenbaum stole the printing materials used to produce these forgeries as he was not authorized by the court to keep them. Apparently they are still in possession of the family to this day.

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 were already available. Thus....why reprint them? Of course birds on stamps is a popular thematic and possibly they were reproduced for the purpose of future sales of thematics and inspired by greed.

They were reproduced after Format closed the doors and at present there is no evidence that the Format Printers ever reprinted the set. Therefore, very few original proofs, progressive color proof sets, etc; exist. The majority come from this forged unauthorized reprinting.

So to finish the story for this set some of the original plates were used (and I note have never been found to this day) and thus they are very difficult to define at first glance except for one thing! The perforations differ and many other factors are different as you will see.

Are they forgeries? YES, because the some plates were reproduced as you will see. Therefore they must be sold as "FORGERIES".

TO THE SELLERS

I present this page so all stamp collectors and sellers will know what to look for accordingly and will price and describe the forgeries accordingly. I do not have information on the quantities produced but do know that it is at least as large as the originals due to percentages offered on the market. Most of the errors, progressives color proofs and proofs themselves are from the reproductions. Without full comparison to the following defined descriptions, you as sellers should take the responsibility of describing these forged unauthorized reprints with accurate descriptions and stop selling them with vague and/or no description. You need to describe the issues as either the originals or the forged unauthorized reprints. If you do not, and you are selling them, it is unethical and unfair to collectors and dealers in stamps as a whole.
Members of the APS, PTS etc. could find their reputations tarnished should it be found that you are selling under suspicious behavior and breaking Codes of Ethics in the trade by not describing these forged unauthorized reprints properly simply because of your lack of knowledge or because of greed.

TO ALL AUCTION SITES

Please, police these issues and the sellers who are not describing these correctly need to be stopped. If they do not describe them accurately, they need to have their lots removed from sale until corrections are made. They are easy to define as you will see below just by the images. If the seller uses blurry or very small images they should not be trusted and should be warned. It will take time for the problem to be corrected but it can be done as long as the collecting community works together as a whole. This problem spans over almost thirty years now! Don't you think it is time to stop the problem?

TO THE BUYERS

Please be aware before purchasing this issue. If you purchase it, 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 to many collectors because some dealers are just plain out to rip you off! Request a refund and return them. If the seller continually does this then they need to be reported and exposed. I am sorry to say, but because of the immoral actions of one person, it is up to you as a buyer to make sure you don't get ripped off! Apparently most dealers, leaders of stamp societies, auction sites and so called "experts" want to ignore the problems caused by this individual and so now over 50% of this issue offered on the market are either forged unauthorized reprints or forgeries of bad quality printing in all regards.

TO THE STAMP CATALOG MAKERS

You need to define these in your notations about their existence. At present you do not even note they exist thus your catalogs do not help the collecting community to figure out what they are nor how to define the differences. Stanley Gibbons notes the forged unauthorized reprints for the St. Vincent Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley issues but does not note it for this issue and other issues I have discovered.
Scott catalog does not even note them at all! Probably because most of the forged unauthorized reprints were sold to American stamp dealers. I guess they are trying to save face or something by not noting their existence, possibly because of influence by these same dealers who wish to continue to rip off collectors like you and me.

I must state at this point, that on the quantities of these forged unauthorized reprints the standard would probably be the same as on the Leaders of the World Automobiles and Locomotives series. Basing on the Format Printers practices at the time for reprints.
1.) The reprinting would be 21,000 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.) A possibility of made for collector errors as in missing colors or misperfs, of which standard practices would produce 3,000 of a given value or values.

It is probable that the same standard of quantity production has been followed with the reproductions after the Format Printers closed their doors forever for this issue. Except for one thing. Evidence is now showing with the following new update that there have been at least two printings of the forged unauthorized reprints for this issue!

UPDATE April 2018

In my work to eradicate the sales of the forged unauthorized reprints and forgeries unless properly described on eBay and such I made a new discovery for this issue. A seller on Delcampe was offering this set with upper left corner margins. I saw immediately that they were the forged unauthorized reprints because the 20c value has the same style of color guide as other forged unauthorized reprints have been shown to have. This color guide was never used by the original printer. Here is an image.

If you look near the bottom of this page you will see an image of genuine full panes of Nukulaelae dogs issues. Look at the upper left corner of the 20c pane. As you can see....there is no color guide there at all! The only color guides used by the Format Printers on this issue are the number and letter guides you can see at the bottom of the lower two panes in the image.

Now here is what is strange. The set that I received has 25 holes rather than the 27 holes!
We can see also that the screen patterns differ. Either the printer "upgraded" or the 2nd printing was made at a different location. The colors and gum appear to be the same though so it was probably an "upgrade" designed to make the forgery reprints more deceptive. Either way this is proof that more of these forged unauthorized reprints were made than originally thought for this issue. It also means collectors and dealers will have to look a little closer when counting the perforation holes as the version with 25 holes is very close to the genuine 24 hole stamps.

END April Update

On with the original forged unauthorized reprint section I wrote in 2012.

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 Tuvalu Nukulaelae 1985 Dogs Stamps

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 reprints without defining them as such;
(iii) Protecting the integrity and interests of the Tuvalu Philatelic Bureau.

It is unknown at this time when these forged unauthorized reprint stamps first appeared. We can presume that because they have a similarity to the forgery reprinted Saint Vincent Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley stamp sets that they probably came onto the market in the same timeframe. Clive Feigenbaum had access to the original artwork transparencies and printing plates separations and for this set the original plates so the forged unauthorized reprints are of fair quality. The stamps are more than capable of not being detected by most dealers, stamp collectors, and now, Cat Topical collectors. There are however, a number of distinguishing features on the forged 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!

Also these are found as imperforate proofs, progressive color proofs and in some cases as "errors" with misperfs etc;. No inverts were ever made by the Format Printers nor by Clive Feigenbaum for this issue.

These forged unauthorized reprints should not be valued by anyone! They were created by a stamp dealer intent on ripping you off!
This newly discovered reprinting will now cause the original stamp sets to become more valuable as demand for them will rise.
I would value the forgeries at nothing. This is true "wallpaper". At the time of this webpage creation approximately 50% 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 long ago.
I guess you could say....I am the expert on these now.

(1) Scott 35 5c Se-Tenant Pair
Hungarian Vizsla and Bearded Collie

When compared side-by-side with the original stamps, the forged unauthorized reprint stamps look very good and use a richer set of colors allowing for more contrast in the photographs. 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.


In addition to the perforations being different, the forged unauthorized reprint stamps have a honeycomb pattern throughout the image and the details are blurred (see above); while the originals do not have a pattern and are much more detailed.

Some other subtle differences to look out for are:
1.) Slightly Weaker / lighter Font for all inscriptions on the forged unauthorized reprints;
2.) The white background has a bluish hue on the forged unauthorized reprints versus very white on the originals;


These forged unauthorized reprints are much better quality than the Elvis and Michael forged unauthorized reprints as the images and everything are in proper proportions.
The colors between the bars where the country name and denomination are and on the frames is almost identical to the originals.
Because of this they are much harder to detect than other sets of forged unauthorized reprints I have discovered without looking very closely at them. If one does not have a set of originals to compare they can easily slip by.

(2) Scott 36 20c Se-Tenant Pair
Bernese Mountain Dog and Boxer

Again use RULE #1 (Count the Perforations) as above. Again, the unauthorized reprints have 27 holes compared to the original pair's 24 holes.


Again in addition to the perforations being different, the forged unauthorized reprint stamps have a honeycomb pattern throughout the image and the details are blurred (see above); while the originals do not have a pattern and are much more detailed.

(3) Scott 37 50c Se-Tenant Pair
Labrador Retriever and Shetland Sheepdog

Again, the forged unauthorized reprint stamps are instantly recognizable by the number of perforations (27 Holes instead of 24) and demonstrate the same features of printing as the closeup shows.

(4) Scott 38 70c Se-Tenant Pair
Welsh Springer Spaniel and Scottish Terrier

Here again on the $1 values we have similar differences.
This sums up the demonstration on how to identify the forged unauthorized reprints of the Tuvalu Nukulaelae 1985 Dogs 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. Please read on to learn about the forgery stamps of this issue being circulated as of 2015.

I hope that this reference page on the Tuvalu Nukulaelae 1985 Dogs forgery Reprint 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 reprinted without authorization in the early 1990's after the Format International Security Printers went Bankrupt.

SECTION 2

THE FORGERIES OF THE NUKULAELAE 1985 LEADERS OF THE WORLD DOGS ISSUE

I have found documented proof dated April 2015 that at least 10,000 perforated forgery sets have been moved onto the market!
They were sold in Gaertner's 30th auction in lot number 21438A.

UPDATE AS OF JANUARY 1, 2016!

I have found documented proof dated October 30, 2015 that 500 sets in panes of progressive color proof forgeries have been moved onto the market!
The sale was made in H.R. Harmer auction 3008 in lot number 3216.
This now shows that fake imperforates and color proofs are flooding the market.

They are easy to define....

1.) There are only five stages to the set including the final proofs whereas all originals were produced with seven stages. Until now (30 years later) none were on the market because they were either destroyed or lost or never produced in quantity by the Format Printers.

2.) Colors, gum and screens are the same as described in my original definitions below.

This image is taken from one lot being offered on eBay by user alphaomegaphilately. Even though told they are forgeries directly and told how to define them this user persists to this day to try to rip you off with them!
Here is an additional update as of September 2017:
Instead of being an honorable stamp dealer this guy has taken the deceit to a new level. He no longer images the forgeries as a set because it is obvious with there being only 5 stages. Now he is trying to rip you off by selling them like this!
At this point I do not see him making any sales of them. By using these tactics and persisting in trying to rip collectors off with this junk my personal advice is to avoid any account this user uses because how can you trust or even want to deal with a seller who got ripped off and intends to rip you off just to get his money back? Instead he should be going after the source of the forgeries which is known by the auction house he bought them from.
Simply by getting the name in writing, which he could legally do, he could help expose the forger. But perhaps he is in league with the forger?
Sure seems to have the same attitude.

END OF UPDATE

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 fake normal issues of the Tuvalu Nukulaelae Dogs issue. All are being offered online right now as I write this on July 8, 2015.

I can also tell you that I have discovered that many more "modern" issues for Tuvalu 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 some 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 Audubon Birds issues including inverted frames, Dogs inverts, Flowers inverts, Michael Jackson inverts, 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.

As of September 2017 I have updated sections of this page and added the ultra-violet detection section.

The main movers of this junk now since 2014 and still to this day in 2017 are eBay sellers: armi777 based in Latvia.
asrm10 based in Latvia.
balticamber2011 based in Latvia.
kamalmedicine based in India.
kamalthematic based in India.
alphaomegaphilately based in India.
stampbank_of_london based in the United Kingdom.

I note that apparently some as you can see are the same seller using different user names.

These sellers are spamming and have been spamming eBay lots for several years now. They offer this junk at 99c start bids. Or they offer fake color proofs and fake inverts and fake imperforates for amounts that would not relate to true value of the genuine stamps. Namely because for most the genuine material was either destroyed or only found on archival press sheets of which very few were saved in the archive. Therefore, this junk offered by these sellers (which you can see nobody appears to care in the philatelic community) should be avoided because all you are doing if you buy it is to:

1.) Enable the producer of these fake reproductions to continue to rip you off!
2.) Enable sellers like these to continue to rip you off!
3.) Enable the flooding of the stamp market with these fake reproductions to the point that now over 50% and in some cases much more are now being sold to unknowing collectors and thus you are ripping off other collectors!

I noticed sales of the Nukulaelae Dogs issue being sold at the 99c start bid on eBay by users armi777 and asrm10 in lots of 10 sets from panes. This seller is a large volume dealer and was offering these fakes in bulk lots of 5, 10 and 15 pairs all still attached in partial pane sets. The starting bid at 99c! Buyers constantly bid them up to $3.00 to $12.00 ranges. They all are selling thus they are now everywhere in the world! Thousands have been moved!

I suspected that they are forgeries because other forgeries I have purchased from this same dealer. I purchased some of the first lots the seller posted. Sure enough they are exactly the same as all the other forgeries I have written about. I got them for around $5.00 winning bid. This shows us how easily these are being spread across the world.

The sellers are playing dumb and are persisting in selling these and many other forgeries. Connected hand and foot with users asrm10 and raimissss and balticamber2011. The users real names are Antanas Miskinis and Raimonds Miskinis according to return addresses....business names are Argi-stamps and/or SIA stamps.

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 normal perforated version of this issue that I have acquired, the forgeries glow brightly as this image shows. I use a genuine set of pairs for the comparison.
The imperforate color proof forgeries will glow the same I am sure even though I did not acquire any. I cannot sell genuine color proof sets at the prices asked by the above mentioned seller. Perhaps you have the answer to that question.....

Here are gum comparisons.

Gum Comparison of a Fake with Original
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 2014 in bulk lots, it proves these to be modern forgeries of the stamps.


Gum Comparison of the Original, Reprint and Fake 1985 Leaders of the World Dogs Stamps
Again there is an obvious difference in color and texture.


Screen and Color Comparison of the Fake Stamp with Original Stamp
Note the extreme difference in color on the fake stamp. The thicker black bar lines. The dot patterns.


Screen and Color Comparison of the Fake Stamp with the Reprint Stamp
This is another reason why the fake stamps are such dangerous forgeries. You can see that the fake stamp uses a better screen pattern than the reprint from 1991. Please note the extreme difference in color on the fake stamp. The thicker black bar lines. The dot patterns.
The fake stamps are kind of like a photocopy of the originals but use a lower quality screen and have a shiny surface over the face.


Perforation Comparison of Fake Stamp with Original
The forgeries have much cleaner cut holes than the originals. Aside from the forgeries being perforated with a different machine this is most likely due to the originals being produced on much more fibrous, heavier and thicker paper and gum.


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

Comparison of the Tuvalu Nukulaelae Dogs 5c Stamp Forgery Pair with a Genuine Stamp Pair
A stunning difference yes?
The forgery stamps are kind of like a photocopy of the originals but use a lower quality screen and have a shiny surface over the face.
They can easily fool you!


Notes on differences:
The country name color bar is orange-yellow on genuine stamps. It is mustard yellow on the forgeries.
The black bars above and below the country name color bars are twice as thick on the forgeries.
The lines on both dogs fur is well pronounced on genuine stamps. They are blurred with very little definition on the forgeries.
The dot between the "Leaders of the World" logo at the top can hardly be seen on genuine stamps. it is large and bold on the forgeries.

Comparison of the Tuvalu Nukulaelae Dogs 20c Stamp Forgery Pair with a Genuine Stamp Pair


Notes on differences:
The country name color bar is light lavender on genuine stamps. It is light purple on the forgeries.
The black bars above and below the country name color bars are twice as thick on the forgeries.
The lines on both dogs fur is well pronounced on genuine stamps. They are blurred with very little definition on the forgeries.
The dot between the "Leaders of the World" logo at the top can hardly be seen on genuine stamps. it is large and bold on the forgeries.
The "0" in the 20c denominations has a straight edge on the outer left and right sides on genuine stamps. It is "curved" on the forgeries.
The "cent" symbol "c" almost touches the "0" of "20" on the forgeries whereas it is well spaced on the genuine stamps.

Comparison of the Tuvalu Nukulaelae Dogs 50c Stamp Forgery Pair with a Genuine Stamp Pair


Notes on differences:
The country name color bar is light green-blue on genuine stamps. It is aqua-blue on the forgeries.
The black bars above and below the country name color bars are twice as thick on the forgeries.
The lines on both dogs fur is well pronounced on genuine stamps. They are blurred with very little definition on the forgeries.
The dot between the "Leaders of the World" logo at the top can hardly be seen on genuine stamps. it is large and bold on the forgeries.
The "0" in the 50c denominations has a straight edge on the outer left and right sides on genuine stamps. It is "curved" on the forgeries.
The "cent" symbol "c" almost touches the "0" of "50" on the forgeries whereas it is well spaced on the genuine stamps.
An obvious difference is the word "Shetland" on the Shetland Sheepdog stamp. The top right loop of the "S" in "Shetland" is well spaced away from the "h" on genuine stamps. It touches the "h" solidly on the forgeries.

Comparison of the Tuvalu Nukulaelae Dogs 70c Stamp Forgery Pair with a Genuine Stamp Pair


Notes on differences:
The country name color bar is gray-green on genuine stamps. It is yellow-green on the forgeries.
The black bars above and below the country name color bars are twice as thick on the forgeries.
The lines on both dogs fur is well pronounced on genuine stamps. They are blurred with very little definition on the forgeries.
The dot between the "Leaders of the World" logo at the top can hardly be seen on genuine stamps. it is large and bold on the forgeries.
The "0" in the 70c denominations has a straight edge on the outer left and right sides on genuine stamps. It is "curved" on the forgeries.
The "cent" symbol "c" almost touches the "0" of "70" on the forgeries whereas it is well spaced on the genuine stamps.
An obvious difference is the word "Spaniel" on the Welsh Springer Spaniel stamp. The top right loop of the "S" in "Spaniel" is well spaced away from the "p" on genuine stamps. It touches the "p" solidly on the forgeries.

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

The perforations on the panes are wrong

Here is an image of the Nukulaelae 1985 Dogs stamp panes from the original printing.


Now here is an image of a corner pair from the fake Nukulaelae 1985 Dogs Stamp pane.


Now look at the image of the panes and the image of the fake stamp with selvage shown above. Can you see the difference?
The perforations run through the selvage on the original panes on all sides. There are no perforations on the selvage of the fake panes!
Also the pane numbers of the panes are completely different!!

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 forgeries of the Tuvalu Nukulaelae Dogs 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!

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. Please be patient with downloading them because each file is around 2.5 megs.

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

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