Romania 75th anniversary

Romania 75th anniversary Stamps

November 20, 1932 a set of 7 imperforated stamps with the coat-of-arms of the different Romanian provinces and the years 1858 and 1933 (Sc 421-427) were issued.

A total of 200.000 sets of 50 stamps were printed. in Bucharest in the Stamp Printing Works on white paper with a watermark "Crown and Monogram". 

Although the Scott catalog makes no mention, the whole series is forged on original watermarked paper possibly obtained from selvage. 

These forgeries were probably postal in nature which again answers the question - "Why bother forging low value stamps ?" Simple, there is more potential profit with low value postal forgeries than with collector forgeries.

Comparison of the Genuine & Forgeries

Overall the forgeries are quite good so get out your best magnifying glass for this exercise.

I will stick to a comparison of the main features.

NOTE in the comparisons, the genuine is always on the left

Sc 421

Genuine

1. The forgery is blurred

2. Lines and shades on the bull's head are thicker

3. The mouthpiece is too shaded

4. The 33 are too close together

Sc 422

Genuine

In the forgery:

1. There is no space below the tongue

2. One of the 4 diagonal lines of the mane is defective

3. On the tail there is a missing small protrusion in the large opening

In the forgery:

1. The bricks have round ends

Sc 423

Genuine

In the forgery;

1. Lines are badly blurred and missing

2. Very thick shading

In the forgery;

1. The 1 is poorly inked

2. The top of the 5 is thick

Overall blurry

Sc 424

Genuine

In the forgery:

1. The castles are blurred

2. The feather shading is lacking

In the forgery:

1. The top of the 5 is very thick

Sc 425

Genuine

In the forgery

1. The coat of arms of the 4 provinces on the shield is unrecognizable

2. The sword and scepter  are not detailed

In the forgery:

1. The numbers are not sharp and too thick

Sc 426

Genuine

In the forgery:

1. The tail feathers do not touch the posthorn

2. The claws are not curved

In the forgery

1. Overall the numbers lack definition

2. The back of the 5 is rounded and there is a large ball at the tail

Sc 427

Genuine

Details are blurred and missing in the forgery

In the forgery:

1. The letters in LEI are smaller and poorly shaped

2. The shading lines in the horn opening are shorter

Reference

Originals and Counterfeits of the First Moldavian Stamps 75th Anniversary Issue - G. Pataki 1980