THE MODERN FAKE SAINT VINCENT UNION ISLAND 1987 QUEEN ELIZABETH 40TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY STAMP ISSUES
ROYAL RUBY WEDDING STAMP FORGERIES

Saint Vincent Union Island 1987 Queen Elizabeth 40th Wedding Anniversary Forgery Set
Scott# 236-240


I did not acquire examples of the forgeries of this issue until 2017. I just acquired the imperforate souvenir sheet forgery in July of 2018.
I have updated this page to include how to detect the souvenir sheet. According to Scott Catalog the souvenir sheet was never issued (no number for it) That has not stopped the forger from reproducing it in imperforate form.

I can tell you that real dangerous forgeries have been and are still being flooded on the market as I re-write this page in July of 2018.
The set imaged above and the imperforate souvenir sheet are completely fake!

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 complete perforated sets of forgeries of the Saint Vincent Union Island Queen Elizabeth 1987 40th Wedding Anniversary issues. Have not seen imperforates....yet. I have found that the souvenir sheet as an imperforate has also been forged. I have not found perforated versions of it as forgeries. All are or have been offered online right now as I re-write this on July 14, 2018. Originally written on September 15, 2017.

I can also tell you that I have discovered that many more "modern" issues for Saint Vincent and other countries are being forged. Mainly "errors" such as these and varieties 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 have been 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.

I purchased the above imaged set of forged stamps from a dealer in Canada who did not even realize that they were forgeries. I purchased them in 2017 along with many other sets which have all proven to be the same type of forgeries I have documented over the past three years.

Here is an image of a lot of perforated stamp forgeries sold in 2017 by balticamber2011 who is connected with armi777 and asrm10. All based in Latvia. snapshots of lots archived to prove sales.

Fake Perforated Saint Vincent Union Island 1987 Royal ruby Wedding Stamp Lot sold on eBay

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

The Stamps

Here are gum comparisons.

Gum Comparison of a Fake 85th Birthday Stamp Pair with Original
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.



Screen and Color Comparison of the Fake Stamp with Original Stamp
I will use the $1.50 and $3.00 values for comparisons using an original set I purchased recently from a seller in Manila which had the set still on an album page showing they are from many years ago now and thus.....genuine.

Note the extreme difference in color on the fake stamps. The inferior screen pattern that lacks much of the details.

Saint Vincent Union Island 1987 40th Wedding Anniversary Fake with Original Screen and Color Comparison of $1.50 Color Stamp


Saint Vincent Union Island 1987 40th Wedding Anniversary Fake with Original Screen and Color Comparison of $3.00 Black and White Stamp


Now let's look at the fonts.


You can see that the fonts on the forgery stamp are close but here is one big difference. On all the genuine stamps the "0" and "T" in "40TH" are uniformly spaced. On the forgeries there is a large gap between them. This is the same on all the values of this set.

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

Comparison of the 15c Queen Elizabeth 40th Wedding Anniversary Stamp Forgery with a Genuine Stamp


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

Noticeable Differences:
The bar between the country name plaque and the value plaque is green on the genuine stamps. It is yellow-green on the forgery.
The queen's dress is shades of light gray on genuine stamps. It is shades of greenish-grays on the forgeries.
The background on genuine stamps is very dark brown to black. On the forgery it is much lighter browns.

Comparison of the 45c Queen Elizabeth 40th Wedding Anniversary Stamp Forgery with a Genuine Stamp


Noticeable Differences:
The bar between the country name plaque and the value plaque is light gold on the genuine stamps. It is dark gold on the forgery.
The background hue on genuine stamps is light reddish-brown. On the forgery it is a heavier yellow-brown.

Comparison of the $1.50 Queen Elizabeth 40th Wedding Anniversary Stamp Forgery with a Genuine Stamp


Noticeable Differences:
The bar between the country name plaque and the value plaque is lavender on the genuine stamps. It is purple on the forgery.
The uniforms are shades of red on genuine stamps. It is shades of rust on the forgeries.
The background concrete building on genuine stamps is very light lavender hues. On the forgery it is very light browns.

Comparison of the $3.00 Queen Elizabeth 40th Wedding Anniversary Stamp Forgery with a Genuine Stamp


Noticeable Differences:
The bar between the country name plaque and the value plaque is dark pink-red on the genuine stamps. It is light pink-red on the forgery.
The background hue on genuine stamps is light brown. On the forgery it is a heavier yellow-brown.

Comparison of the $4.00 Queen Elizabeth 40th Wedding Anniversary Stamp Forgery with a Genuine Stamp


Noticeable Differences:
The bar between the country name plaque and the value plaque is blue on the genuine stamps. It is purple on the forgery.
The queen's hair is shades of dark brown flowing into black on genuine stamps. It is shades of lighter yellow-brown flowing into dark brown on the forgeries.
The background and everything in the image on genuine stamps is much brighter than the image on the forgeries.

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

The Imperforate Souvenir sheet

DO NOT BUY IMPERFORATE 40TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR SHEETS WITHOUT CLOSE INSPECTION!

Ultra-violet light section added July 14, 2018.

I recently spotted an imperforate forgery of the souvenir sheet for sale at a cheap price from a seller on Delcampe located in the Netherlands. Genuine examples of this souvenir sheet as an imperforate do exist therefore making this imposter very dangerous. For this first section I am using a Union Island imperforate souvenir sheet forgery and a genuine imperforate souvenir sheet I acquired from the Bileski Estate for comparisons. Here are the differences.

The Fake Imperforate Union Island Royal Ruby Wedding Souvenir Sheet

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 imperforate version of this issue that I have acquired the forgeries glow brightly as this image shows.


Gum Comparison of the Genuine and Forged 1987 40th Wedding Anniversary of Queen Elizabeth Imperforate Souvenir Sheets
There is an obvious difference in color and texture.


Screen and Color Comparison of the Forgery Souvenir Sheet Image with Genuine Souvenir Sheet Image
The inferior screen pattern is prominent making the image less detailed. Still a very dangerous forgery when not with an original to compare.


Screen and Color Comparison of the Forgery Souvenir Sheet Portrait Image with Genuine Souvenir Sheet Portrait Image
The inferior screen pattern is prominent making the image less detailed. Note the background is green on genuine souvenir sheets versus deep blue-green on the forgeries.


Screen and Color Comparison of the Forgery Souvenir Sheet Black and White Portrait Image with Genuine Souvenir Sheet Portrait Image
Again the inferior screen pattern is prominent making the image less detailed. Note the color is brown and white on genuine souvenir sheets versus almost black and white on the forgeries.


Font, Screen and Color Comparison of the Fake Souvenir Sheet with Original Souvenir Sheet
Here you see a key fault to detect the forgeries. The spacing between the "40" and the "TH" of "40TH" is wider on the forgeries.
Note the complete font difference of the "G".
Also the fonts are much thicker and heavier on the originals than on the forgeries.


Here are the two souvenir sheets side by side. Now you can see the difference yes? Again please notice the forgery is slightly smaller in size.


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

Because of the fact that a major portion of leaders in the stamp community wish to turn a blind eye on these forgeries. Because of dealers and buyers who are afraid to "step up to the plate" because of fear of being ridiculed by self proclaimed "experts" or because they don't want to get involved, the forgers will continue to forge more and more sets. They have already effected other issues that have nothing to do with Leaders of the World issues such as Nauru 1982 Scouts, Barbuda 1983 Manned Flight and others showing us the wide range of stamps they are capable of forging and possibly have already forged. Soon you will be the victim when you buy that fake high valued Orchid stamp or that high priced definitive set you have dreamed of getting or what you thought to be a genuine error or variety which in the end only turns out to be fabricated by these forgers and nobody wants it when you go to sell it or your children go to sell it.

You have a choice.

Continue to ignore this problem that the majority of stamp leaders and editors seem to be trying to do just like they have with unauthorized reprints and "illegal" stamps in the past. Or spread the word and complain to your contacts and leaders that these problems need to be exposed and described in magazines, newspapers and catalogs before every stamp issue made in modern times from the 1970's onward falls victim to being a suspected forgery and in turn you or your friends or associates will fall victim to it when trying to buy or sell them. These forgers are professionals and have been here for decades unseen. They will continue to harm us unless people like you stand up and take notice!

This problem effects everyone because now instead of the value being based on a set quantity of the issued stamp, we now have double, triple or even more in quantity placed on the market. It will therefore depreciate the stated value of them in the catalogs simply because they will not research them and "assume" there are tons available when in reality for many sets the originals are and have become difficult to find.

I am simply the one who is discovering them because of my research on the printer.
Indeed several issues that I have researched and obtained the original varieties of are effected. This set does not effect me at all. I only own what is imaged and have a few of the archival pieces from the Bileski estate. 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 Saint Vincent Union Island 40th Wedding Anniversary of Queen Elizabeth stamps and souvenir sheet 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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