The Romanian mail coach issue (Sc 158-165) was prepared for the opening of the new main post office in Bucharest in 1901, but was not issued until May 1 1903.
The 8 stamps were engraved by M. Thevenin and typographed in the printing shop of the French government in Paris.
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| Sc 159 |
The stamps are printed on thin, white-rose paper with yellowish gum.
Some stamps (from the edge of the sheet) have parts of the watermark of the paper manufacturer "Johannot et Cie Annonay".
Perforation 14x13.5
Key features of the original stamps
- Large ball is attached at the top of left stairway rail. The right one is large and clearly visible
- On the rider's hat, there are two feathers. The left, longer one is definitely attached to the hat, while the right shorter feather does not touch the hat or the lower feather (or just barely).
- Horse's forefoot touches the whiffletree
Forgeries
There are 2 forgeries made by photographing the originals, retouching and lithographing them. This causes unclear contours, unrefined textures and slight smudges of ink, in contrast to the typographed originals with clear, clean contours but sometimes broken lines.
Both forgeries have smooth, white gum with perforation 14x13.5, 13.5x14.5 etc, but also 11x11.
The Type I forgery was produced in France, possibly by E. Cote in Paris. The stamps were printed in horizontal sheets of 48 stamps (8 X 6 stamps each).
Along the length of the sheet sometimes the watermark "Papeterie de Renage (Isere)" in 6 mm high letters can be found.
The Type I accounts for almost all the forgeries.
Comparison of the Genuine & Forgery
- The ball on the left staircase appears to be floating
- One of the riders has a very wide hat and both hats almost touch
- The horse's forefoot does not touch the whiffletree - a Key Feature
- The engraver's name is very legible
The type I forgeries often appear on 'auction" sites as complete sets in perfed and fake imperforates.
Type II Forgery
This forgery is very uncommon.
I have seen poor catalog images and descriptions but none can be found on forums or auctions.
Overall it is very poorly designed.
It may have been a postal forgery that the authorities quickly removed.
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| Image from an old forgery book |
Type II features
- Ball on fence post very small or non-existent
- Hats do not touch as with forgery type I
- The hat ribbon is a definite Y and attached to the hat
- There is only one line under the coach
- The bottom right of the R is rounded
- The harness is attached to the hoof but has a prominent break
Above key features of the genuine (left) & the Type I & Type II forgeries
1932 Sc428
Comparison with the 1903 original
- The ribbon in the driver's hat now has 3 ends
- The engraver's signature "Thevenin" has become illegible
- The left ball on the staircase is not visible
- The shading in the horse's leg is different
- The shading of the lead horses is much heavier
- The shading lines in the ground below the horses is strengthened
- The outer frame line is more solid and heavier
Forgery
The Scott catalog makes no mention of any forgery, however one is known but I have no examples.
The forgery is very poor quality with missing details
The original stamp is perforated 13.5 and has watermark "Crown & Monogram".
The forgery has the same watermark, but different perforation 14.25 and 13.75x13.5.
The forgeries are also slightly smaller in height than the originals.
On the forgeries the hoof of the left rear horse is "correctly" drawn in connection with the whiffletree.
The two ribbons on the driver's hat are only partly connected to the hat.
The engraver's name is completely illegible.
The forgery was more likely copied from the 1903 original rather than the Type I forgery.
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