Russian philatelic forgeries

Russian stamps have been extensively forged. Both rare and common stamps have been forged and certain stamps, for instance those of the Army of the North, are more common forged than genuine.[1]

Contents

Forgeries of Russian stamps

A very well known example of forgery involves the first stamp issued in Imperial Russia. Because a perforating machine was not available, these were issued without perforations in December 1857. By January, the machines were in place, and the same stamp was issued with perforations. The imperforate stamp is, as a result, more rare than the perforate.

Categories

Forgeries of Russian stamps can be divided into the following categories:

  1. Forgeries of a basic stamp. These are not so common. Examples include François Fournier's forgeries of the 3.50R and 7R high value stamps "without thunderbolts" and the Rostov famine issue of the early 1920s. Some issues of the Civil War have also been forged, such as the definitives issued by Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia.
  2. Forgeries of an overprint or surcharge on a common basic stamp. The Civil War period is particularly full of these. Overprinted stamps issued by the various "White" Armies have also been forged extensively. The stamps issued by the North-West Armies were particularly popular with the forgers, and dozens of different forgeries have been identified.
  3. Forgeries of a perforation. There have been many attempts to "create" a stamp with a rare perforation by taking an imperforate version of the stamp and forging the perforation. Examples include the Zeppelin issues of the early 1930s, many of which exist with a forged perf 111⁄2. Forging the perforation also allows for perforation varieties to be created to order.
  4. Forgeries of a postmark on a loose stamp. A notorious batch of these are the "Shtempelgate" forgeries of rare postmarks from the Russian Offices Abroad, usually on common 1 Ruble stamps.
  5. Stamps of the Russian Zemstvo local posts have also been forged.

See also

References

  1. ^ Tyler, Varro E. Focus on Forgeries: A Guide to Forgeries of Common Stamps. 2nd ed. Sidney, Ohio: Linn's Stamp News & Amos Press, 2000, pp. 246–250. ISBN 0940403889

Further reading

External links