Honduras 1865

President Medina in 1864 requested that postal stamps be printed. The stamps were printed probably in Belgium in late 1864. 

As the postal rates had changed when delivered, the 2 real stamps were sold to the public for one real each.

They were valid from 1865 to 1877.

Printed in sheets of 4 panes with a total of 480 stamps.

An estimate of 1.5 million of each were printed.

Plate flaws abound.

Only some 3 covers exist.

The 2 colors were for use in two areas were the currency used was different. This required specific bookkeeping.

Genuine Stamps

Forgeries

Initially demand, especially in England, was high and sources were very limited.

A natural for forgers like Spiro to fill the demand.

There are at least 10 varieties of forgeries in a variety of colors and lots of fake cancels and overprints.

At the end, vast numbers of remainders were available and with time  many forgeries became difficult to find.

Type I

1. Rainbow arch touches only the left edge of the pyramid.

2. Peak of pyramid is closer to the Y than the N.

3. Cap above mountain top is an equilateral triangle.

Also in green and violet.

Type 1a

1. Cap above mountain top is an equilateral triangle.

2. The arc does not touch the sides

3. The tip of the pyramid is high and near the N

4. Letters are very thick

Type II

1. Arch has no central line

2. Top letters are larger

3. The 2's are thinner with a small ball

4. The tip of the pyramid is closer to the N

5. Left star has a defective right upper point - key feature

Type III

1. There are no stars or branches

2. There is a dot after LIBERTAD

3. The letters are compressed 

4. The serifs on the 2's are angled instead of straight up

This is a very common forgery with sub types - on one the oval is rounder and there is no stop after LIBERTAD

This is quite possibly a Torres forgery

The cancel below is a common feature

Type IV

This forgery also found in pink perfectly matches the example in the 1892 Torres catalog

1. Large left star touching the line

2. The cap is wedge shaped

3. The top left 2 has a constant top flaw

4. All the 2's are different

5, The y top is very wide

Type V

Found in olive green colour

1. Many breaks in the horizontal lines

2. Small crudely formed stars

3. Small top left 2

4. No space between DE and H5. 

5. Stars poorly drawn

Type VI

A crude example

1. Coarse uneven lines

2. The tip of the pyramid is very high and touches the Y

3. The top of the mountain is tilted right

4. There are no stars

5. The top letters are tall and thick

Type VII

An extremely crude forgery

Bears no resemblance to the original

I have only seen this example

Type VIII

1. Very tall pointed mountain

2. 2's are all different

3. Very large CORREO cancel

4. Left star crudely shaped and touching the frame

Type IX

1. Top letters are tall

2. The central pyramid has straight equal sides

3. The cap is to the left and far above the tip of the pyramid

4. The sides of the arch are far from the pyramid sides

Fournier Geneva Collection

Forgeries sold by Fournier but from different original sources

Fake Covers

The fact that authentic covers of this issue are rare, it provided an opportunity for forgers to cash in. 

The Krebs Brothers were stamp dealers located at 81 Nassau Street , New York, NY in the late 1880s

It is said they sold fake covers as genuine. However even the stamps themselves are poor imitations. These are now seldom encountered