Latvia West Army Eagles

The issue was apparently requested by Col. Avalov Bermondt through an associate  named Rommer in Berlin, who ordered the printing of what became known as the "Western Army Eagle Issue" 

However the new Latvian Government had its own issue ready, the "Third Western Army Issue", and the stamps were rejected to become a collector curiosity.

The issue consisted of the 10 values from 5 to 75 kopecks. 

The design, featuring a Russian double-headed eagle, was lithographed in sheets of 100, 10 x 10 without gutters

The paper was thin,  hard, white, semi-transparent paper without watermark or any visible signs of a mesh. The stamps as first issued and intended for use were imperforate and printed on the thin paper. 

To increase the sales demand, which was rather poor, a small percentage of the sheets were later privately line perforated 11 (smooth) or 11.5 (rough or smooth) and others received false or bogus cancellations, see later. 

Eventually demand, largely for the packet trade, increased and reprints were produced from the original plates and probably by the original printers. 

As these stamps were invalid for postage they would not be "forgeries" but collector reprints as no laws were broken.

Genuine/Reprints

Without an excellent guide such as Dr. Ceresa's articles and proper equipment the differences between originals and reprints get very tricky and many authors get it wrong.

So many variations exist, early to late printings and with many different varieties of reprints that it can be very confusing.

The methods that many authors advocate are often wrong or do not consistently apply.

Genuine originals

The 5k is probably a later printing

The side chains each have 9 dots well defined which is a feature.

One well known author mentions the line above the numeral should be straight with no curves - this does not apply and only with some reprints

The right chain has a mid way break in the dots, this is sometimes noted as an original feature but over inking may cover this feature

The top corner elements and the veins in the bottom leaves are noticeably different in the forgeries.

Conclusions

Experts who reviewed 1000's of stamps have come to a general conclusion that:

27% are originals

59% are early to late reprints

14% are forgeries with the type I forgery accounting for over 90% of the forgeries.

Forgeries

There are 3 accepted types of forgeries.

Type I

Original left, forgery right

The side chains are now tiny dots with many missing - this appears to be a main feature of this forgery

The last top letter (reverse R) has a large rounded top - another main feature

The top corner elements are very different and missing some sections

The small shields in the wings are barely visible

The value tablet has a straight top line instead of a dimpled curve

The Type I appears to 

Below, Type I forgeries

Type II

This forgery can be found as an imperf and perfed 11.5 both smooth and rough.

It appears to be the least common of the forgeries.

1. An extra line around the inner shield on the eagle's chest.

2. The scepter is more prominent with more white and even outline.

3. The bar to the right-hand acorn is smaller than on genuine.

4. There is no horizontal bar to the cross of the crown.

5. The line above the value is again dimpled

6. The top corner elements are very different and some are missing

Below a Type IIa forgery

Type III

This forgery was considered uncommon but recently many are appearing on auctions

It is generally found clean perf 11.5 with some imperfs

Generally it more closely resembles the original than the other forgeries except for the main feature

1. The central part of the shield has a large open frame and pronounced center

2. The side chains have about 11 or 12 dots with most separated

3. The shields on the wings are very prominent

4. The line above the value is again dimpled

5. The crossbar on the cross is barely visible

Below Type III forgeries