The stamps were engraved by D. José Pérez Valera
The paper is thin white; the values 6 and 12 cuartos are also printed on thick paper.
Printed in typography at the National Stamp Factory.Size 18.5 x 22.4 mm. Sheets of 170 stamps.
Postal validity until December 31, 1853.
Quantities issued;
6 cuartos, 12,768,942
12 cuartos, 151,799
2 reales, 3,875
5 reales, 67,550
6 reales, 13,900
Features of the Genuine Stamps
2. Central area has broken line.
3. Line is tilted upwards slightly.
4. Tiny dot at the end of nostril – not easily identified.
5. Line tilts downwards slightly.
6. Small S in the 6c and 12c is inclined
7. Lines visible in white space
8. White area tilts up.
9. Left end of white space protrudes slightly.
10. This pearl has a heavier frame.
11. Band thins here.
6c Forgeries
Sperati made many forgeries of Spain and are described in this BLOG
Most of the forgeries are Postal ones meant to defraud the Post Office as with many other Spanish forgeries. As this value was the most used one postally the potential for profits probably accounts for so many varieties being created. However the stamp trade and the quantities of these forgeries meant many found their way into collections.
Bobes forgery
1. Letters are thin
2. RAN letters joined
3. Trefoils on crown are pointed
4. Letters FRANCO increase in size left to right
5. Eye is very different
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| Bobes in black |
Overall very crude
1. Facial features very different
2. Letters are thin and misshapen
3. Frame distorted
4. Rings are broken
5. The 1 is very short and inclined
Unlisted forgery
Very crude
1. Eyes and nose wrong shape
2. No shading in the hair
3. 3 is leaning left
4. 6 is oddly shaped
5. Very small pearls in the frame
6. Top letters touch the frame
Fournier forgery
It is probable that Fournier forgeries were only sold and not made by Fournier
Printed by typography on medium or thin white paper. Many variation in tints
1 Design of the C of CORREOS is rounded and thin.
2 Second R is tilted to the right.
3 The eye opening is small.
4 Letter O of FRANCO is slightly inclined
 |
| Fournier sheetlet from the Geneva Collection |
Segui forgery
Printed by typography on thin white paper.
Probably the most common forgery
1. Break in hairline
2. Narrow eyelid
3. Large pearl
4. AN is joined
5. Ear is well defined
6. Large pearl
Very Crude - listed as a Spiro but I have some doubts as their work is generally better
Torres forgery
1. Letters are thin
2. Many broken lines
3. Neck shading made of large dashes
4. Head is very different
Quite well done for Torres
Matches exactly his 1879 catalog
1. Letters are thinner
2. The O and 6 appear slightly tilted
Printed by lithography on medium white paper. The postmark looks very contrived.
1. Width and height are smaller.
2. The band is uniform in width
3. Shading of the neck formed by lines instead of dots.
4. All the letters are uneven
A very primitive forgery with no resemblance to the original
Very crude design printed by typography on white medium paper.
1. CORREOS with thin and tall letters.
2. 5 is very short
3. The last pearl in the lower left arch is missing.
4. Eye and nose wrong
Very crude design printed by typography on white medium paper.
1. CORREOS with thin and tall letters.
2. 5 is very short
3. The last pearl in the lower left arch is missing.
4. Eye and nose wrong
5 . Very heavy shading
Printed by lithography on thick yellowish paper.
Rather poor forgery overall
1. Letter ‘C’ rounded and with narrow head.
2. RRE letters are joined
2. The 1853 figure formed with a progressively larger font
3. Large shading dots in the neck
4. Letters RAN are joined by the base.
5. Figure 6 is tall and thin
Printed by typography on white medium paper.
Overall a good forgery
1. CORREOS with thin and tall letters.
2. The last pearl in the lower left arch is missing.
3. Last C is very tall and touches the line
4. Crown band does not taper
Although a rather poor forgery, it is extremely rare and was listed for $1000 as a forgery
1. The last C is inclined
2. The pearls are small and not in line
3. Mouth line is thick
4. Eye lacks shading
1. The last C is inclined
2. The pearls are small and not in line
3. Mouth line is thick
4. Eye lacks shading
12c Forgeries
Appears it may have been a hand wood stamping
Fournier forgery
Printed by typography it is also found in red, blue and green
1. Figure 3 has a narrow head.
2. Hair lines are thick
3. Absence of the top serif of the R of FRANCO.
4. The base of the figure 2 is thick.
5. Small s is thick.
6. RE of CORREOS is tall
 |
| Fournier Block with handwritten note |
 |
| Fournier forgery found in the Geneva Collection, wrong color & odd cancel |
Novella forgery
Printed by typography on thin white paper.
Little is known of Novella who operated in Catalonia. His forgeries are very well done
1. The head of the 5 is slightly shorter.
2. Two white points, very defined, between the first and second flower, counting from the left, of the diadem.
3. The dot in the end of the nose is missing
4. Head of the last C is too curved
5. Less shading in the hair
Segui forgery
Printed by typography on thin white paper.
Well executed as are all the Segui
1. Letter ‘S’ with the head slightly flattened.
2. The right side of the third flower, counting from the left, is closed.
3. The eyelid is narrow.
4. AN letters joined by the base.
5. The last whole pearl in the lower right area of the oval is large.
Graus Type I forgery
Printed by lithography on thick white paper.
1. O of FRANCO is inclined
2. Number ‘3’ ‘joined to’ 5 ‘.
3. There are only five florets in the diadem.
4. The shading of the hair of the head is totally irregular.
5. The letters RAN are joined.
6. Point below s is too far down.
7. Very stern looking queen
Graus Type II forgery
Printed by lithography on thick yellowish paper.
1. Letter C of CORREOS is rounded
2. Figure 1853 formed with progressively larger type
3. Dots in the neck are sparse and thick.
4. letters “RAN” joined by the base.
5. Number 1 has a sharp inclined top
Graus Type V forgery
Printed by lithography on thin gray paper.
1. Letter C rounded.
2. The 3 has a large ball
3. Mouth is thick
4. The C of Cs is inclined and crude, the small s is shaped differently
5. RAN are joined together
6. The second O of CORREOS is large
Graus Type VI forgery
Printed by lithography on thin white paper.
1. Letter C of CORREOS is wide and inclined
2. Last flower of the crown is narrow in its center.
3. The right frame line is thick
4. Letter O of FRANCO slightly tilted to the right.
5. Cs has a very irregular design
Graus Type VII forgery
Dangerous modern forgery (Peter Winter?).
Reproduced by photographic methods and printed by off-set.
1. Very definite break in the head of the S
2. White dots in the upper ear.
3. Very defined break at the base of Lower C.
4. The base of the small ‘s’ is straight.
5. Dot in the nose tip is missing
6. The 2 genuine trait lines in the large white space left below the ear are only partial
2Rs Forgeries
Graus Type XV forgery - Bobes black
Very similar to the "Fournier" 12c
Printed by typography on medium white paper.
1. Upper inscription has high and thin letters
2. Figure 5 has a small lower arch.
3. Elongated earlobe
4. Missing last pearl in left lower arch.
5. Lower inscription with tall, thin letters.
6. Pointed shape of the crown florets
 |
| Bobes blue |
Unlisted forgery
Excellent forgery
1. Oval frame line is thinner
2. Letters are slightly thinner
3. T of CERT noticeably inclined
4. Eye is slightly more open
Fournier forgery
Printed by typography on medium or thin white paper.
1. Figure 3 is narrow at the top.
2. Break in the inner pearl of the central trefoil
3. The lower inscription is slightly off-center downwards.
4. Letter o of DO is small
 |
| Fournier Full Sheet |
Novella forgery
Printed by typography on thin white paper.
1. First O is rounded, especially the top.
2. The top of the figure 5 is slightly shorter.
3. Two very defined white dots between the first and second tres-foil counting from the left.
4. Top of the C too curved.
5. The base of the number 2 is thick
6. More breaks on the top hair
Segui forgery
Printed by typography on thin white paper.
Used Segui are not common so cancel may be a fake
1. Letter ‘S’ with the head slightly flattened.
2. The right side of the third flower, counting from the left, is closed.
3. The eyelid is narrow. ,
4. AN letters joined by the base.
5. The last whole pearl in the lower right area of the oval is large.
 |
| Segui Unused |
A reasonable effort with the usual "FALSCH" overprint
1. The numerals of 1853 are uneven
2. The C of CERT is tall and touches the frame
3. The DO is short
4. The 2 touches the frame
5. The small s of Rs is larger and higher
6. There is a large blotch after the top S that appears consistent
Torres forgery matching his catalog catalog
Printed by lithography on thin gray paper.
Overall rather poor
1. Small upper inscription letters, highlighting the separation between RE and OS.
3. Chin is squared
4. The base of the figure 3 is almost straight.
5. Letter R of CERT is very wide
6. Letter R of Rs is very irregular.
Graus Type III forgery
Printed by lithography on yellowish thick paper
1. Letter C is rounded, especially the base.
2. Letter S is rounded at the head.
3. Number 1 top is oblique
4. The 5 top is tilted.
5. Figure 3 has a very long top.
6. Lower inscription, the DO is short, 2 is misshapen, the R is very wide and the s is short and touches the frame which is not closed at the top
Graus Type IV forgery
Printed by typography on thick white paper
1. Top of the 5 is a thick rectangular stroke.
2. Figure 3 lack central section.
3. No top frame to the band
4. Small o is round.
5. Figure 2 touches the frames.
6. Large blunt nose
Graus Type VI forgery
Printed by lithography on thin white paper.
Overall not very good
1. CO letters tilted to the right.
2. Top numbers are tall
3. Big ear.
4. Chin not rounded.
5. Number 2 is narrow.
6. Small s is very wide
Graus Type VIII forgery
Printed by typography on white medium paper.
Rather poor copy
1. First O is leaning to the right.
2. The two RR very different from each other
3. Number 8 is wide and tall.
4. The 5 has a very short top
5. Letter E of CERT is very wide.
6. Small S has a very wide base
Reproduced by photographic methods and printed by lithography.
An extremely good forgery that can easily fool any collector
1 Head of figure 3 slightly shorter, with the thin end and very slightly curved.
2 The downward line of the mouth is short
3 The slope of the nose is different
4 The base of figure 2 is thick and short.
Graus Type X forgery
Printed by lithography on thin white paper.
Overall quite good
1. The head of the S is slightly short.
2. The 8 is wide inside.
3. White space at the rear of the band.
4. The D of DO is inclined
5. The chin is not as rounded
Graus Type XI forgery
Printing by lithography on thin white paper.
Overall reasonably good
1. Deformed figure 1
2. Figure 3 with the base formed by an almost straight line.
3. Figure 2 is thick.
4. Letter T deformed.
5. The second top R is larger
Graus Type XV forgery
Printed by typography on medium white paper.
1. Top inscription has tall, thin letters.
2. Number 5 has a small lower arch.
3. The ear is long
4. Missing the last pearl in the lower left arch.
5. Lower frame has thin letters, the 2 is high and the R is low
5Rs Forgeries
Unlisted forgery
Printed by typography on medium white paper.
1. Upper inscription has high and thin letters
2. Figure 5 has a small lower arch.
3. Elongated earlobe
4. Missing last pearl in left lower arch.
5. Lower inscription with tall, thin letters.
6. Pointed shape of the crown florets.
Unlisted forgery
Excellent forgery
1. T of CERT bent
2. Dot at tip of nose is missing
3. E of CORREOS is inclined
4. Top of the 5 is thicker
5. Dots of neck not as well separated
Fournier forgery
Printed by typography on medium or thin white paper. Also found in red, blue and lilac.
1. Number 3 narrow at the top.
2. Break in the inner pearl of the central flower.
3. The figure 5 and E are inclined to the left.
4. 1 and 8 are thick
 |
| Fournier with fake cancel |
Novella forgery
Printed by typography on thin white paper.
1. First O is rounded, especially the top.
2. The top of the figure 5 is slightly shorter.
3. Two very defined white dots between thefirst and second tres-foil counting from the left.
4. Top of the C too curved.
5. More breaks on the top hair
6 .T is noticeably inclined
Segui forgery
Printed by typography on thin white paper.
1. Letter small s has the head slightly flattened and offset.
2. The right side of the third flower, counting from the left, is closed.
3. The eyelid is narrow. ,
4. The last whole pearl in the lower right area of the oval is large.
5. The C of CERT is wider at the bottom
Spiro forgery
Overall very crude with little resemblance to the original
Graus Type I forgery
Very thick grayish paper.
1. All the lettering and numbers do not match
2. No dot below DO or small S
3. The letter frame ends are square not round
5. Lower 5 is inclined
Graus Type II forgery
Printed by lithography on thick, white or yellowish paper.
Overall very crude
1. Number 3 linked to 5.
2. Top letters taper to the right
3. Only five tres-foils in the diadem.
4. The shading of the hair of the head is very irregular.
5. The shading of the neck and chin is lines instead of dots.
6. Letter T of CERT very separate from the R.
Graus Type III forgery
Printed by lithograph on medium white paper.
1. Top letter C very close to the lower frame.
2. Letter S is wide
3. Figure 5 has a thick top
4. The tres-foils don’t have a base line
5. The lower inscription is very low.
6. The eye is very different
Graus Type IV forgery
Printing by lithography on thick white paper
1. Letter C is rounded and with narrow head.
2. The 1853 figure is formed with progressively larger type.
3. Dots on the neck are sparse and thick.
4 Lower inscription has very large letters and figures.
Graus Type V forgery
Printed by lithography on thin gray paper.
Fairly good forgery
1 C of CORREOS is rounded.
2 Central branch of the E in CERT is too high
3 The eyebrow comes to a point
4 The mouth is is thick and curved
Graus Type VIII forgery Bobes green
Printed by lithography in blue on medium thick paper.
Perhaps to represent a color error?
1. Top inscription has thin and tall letters.
2. First R of CORREOS is narrow and short.
3. Number 1 has a very short serif.
4. Number 8 the head is wider than the base.
5. 2 dots under DO and very small dot under the small S.
 |
| Bobes in blue |
6Rs Forgeries
Bobes orange forgery
Printed by typography on medium white paper.
1. Upper inscription has high and thin letters
2. Figure 5 has a small lower arch.
3. Elongated earlobe
4. Missing last pearl in left lower arch.
5. Lower inscription with tall, thin letters.
6. Pointed shape of the crown florets.
Novella forgery
Printed by typography on thin white paper.
Excellent very dangerous forgery
1. The head of the figure 5 is slightly shorter.
2. Two white points are very defined and rounded, between the first and second flower, counting from the left on the crown
3. The white space between the final curved line of the band and the first lower line of shadow, is very wide.
4. The small o is rounded.
5. The figure 6 is slightly thicker.
Segui forgery
Printed by typography on thin white paper.
1. Letter small s has the head slightly flattened and offset.
2. The right side of the third flower, counting from the left, is closed.
3. The eyelid is narrow.
4. The last whole pearl in the lower right area of the oval is large.
5. The C of CERT is wider at the bottom
Torres forgery
A poor forgery
1. The C of CERT is inclined and flattened
2. Large space between the EO of CORREOS and the first O is inclined
3. The number 3 is tall
4. The R of Rs touches the frame
5. Details of the eye and nose are wrong
A really crude forgery
1. Number 3 linked to 5.
2. Top letters taper to the right
3. Only five tres-foils in the diadem.
4. The shading of the hair of the head is very irregular.
5. The shading of the neck and chin is lines instead of dots.
6 Letter T of CERT very separate from the R.
Graus Type III forgery
Printed by lithography on thick white or yellow paper.
1. Letter C is rounded and with narrow head.
2. the figure 1853 is formed by progressively larger type.
3. The lower left shading of the band is made with large and slightly curved stripes.
4. Shadow spots of the neck are sparse and thick.
5. Lower inscription with very large letters and figures.
Graus Type IV forgery
Printed by lithography on thin gray paper.
1. Letter C is very rounded.
2. Large small s
3. The florets connect with the headband with a rectilinear support.
4. The eyebrow is formed by two lines coming to a point
5. The design of the mouth is very wrong
Graus Type IX forgery
Printed by lithography on medium-thick paper.
1. Top inscription has thin letters.
2. First R is narrow and shorter than the second.
3. Figure 1 has a very short serif.
4. The 8 has a larger top than the base.
5. Sleepy eye look
Coat of Arms of Madrid
They were only used for local postage in Madrid.
3 cu. From April 1 to October 14 - 35,020 issued
1 cu. From October 15, due to the reduction of postage, for a simple letter. In use up to 31 of October 1854 - 250.750 issued
They have an unusual rough metallic type paint on them which is generally oxidized to some extent with age. Originals below.
1. A key feature of this issue is the slanted second I in INTERIOR, however some of the better forgers did copy it.
2. There is a thin letter C in the shading of the crown to the right of the two rhombus.
3 & 6. The stars above the tree and to the lower right of the tree are open at the bottom. The stars are well formed six point stars. There is no shading inside the stars.
4. The bear has a crown and the right point touches the leaves.
5. This line is thick and is not a continuation of the one on the other side of the star
7. There are three dots where the branches join above the 1. Only a few forgers got this right.
8. The first R has a longer curved right leg
9. The RA is joined
10. This element is open or with very faint line.
In CUARTO the U is slanted and the RT letters are slightly taller than the others.
The outer horizontal lines touch the outer frame but not the central octagon.
1c Forgeries
Fournier 1c forgery
Printed by typography on thin white paper.
Well done forgery.
1. Letter C is small.
2. Second O of CORREO is higher.
3. The fourth horizontal line of the oval does not touch the star.
4. The foot of the bear is separated from the root of the tree.
5. Only two points in the junction zone of the lower branches
Segui forgery
Printed by typography on thin white paper.
1. The right crown diadem resembles a G .
2. The upper star is open above and below
3. The lower dots are close to the letters and too large.
4. The lower left tip of the second star is tilted downwards.
Graus Type 1 Forgery
1. Letters are uneven and thick
2. "1" higher than the authentic one.
3. Undefined stars as well as numerous breaks in the oval of the shield.
4. Second "R" of CORREOS with 2nd short leg
5. Letter "N" of INTERIOR without serifs
6. Second R of INTERIOR touches the frame
Graus Type VI forgery
A poor imitation
1. Top inscription has irregular letters and, especially, the second R is very wide.
2. The stars are very irregular.
3. The link between the two lower branches is almost non-existent.
4. The lower inscription is off-center.
5. The letter A of CUARTO is wide as is the top of the T.
Graus Type XI forgery
Printed by typography on thin gray paper.
A fairly dangerous imitation
1. Elements od the crown are not as well defined.
2. Dark shading in the tree
3. Letter A of FRANCO is filled in.
Graus Type XIII forgery
Printed by lithography on medium paper.
Very poor forgery
1. Top and bottom inscriptions have very tall and thin letters.
2. The stars are circles with spines.
3. The bear is not recognizable.
4. The crown is very wide and lacking details.
3c Forgeries
Fournier forgery
Printed by typography on thin white paper.
Well done imitation.
1. Letter C is small.
2. Second O of CORREO is higher.
3. The fourth horizontal line of the oval does not touch the star.
4. The foot of the bear is separated from the root of the tree.
5. Only two points in the junction zone of the lower branches.
Oswald Schroeder forgery
The measurement is 18.l x 22.9 mm.
1. The letters have thicker and the lower serif
2. The C of CORREO touches the O as does the C of CUARTOS.
3. The RT of CUARTOS is joined
4. The crown is different and the tips touch the leaves
Graus Type II forgery
Printed by lithograph on yellowish thin paper.
Overall a very poor imitation
1. Top letters are much too short
2. The bear has an odd shape and has curved arms.
3. The stars are elongated and misshapen..
4. The lower letters don’t match especially the C and S.
Below, Trial stamps from the Geneva Fournier collection
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