Classic Stamp Forgeries: Russia 1919 OKCA Issue

History of the issue

George Jaeger

Apparently, Bulak-Balakhovich who had proclaimed himself head of the Belorussian Peoples Republic placed an

order with the Latvian Government Printing Office for a series of stamps consisting of 5, 10, 15, 50 kopeck and l Ruble (perforated and imperforated). I have not seen a 1 Ruble

The stamps were designed by R. Zarrin who was the artist for many stamps of Imperial Russia.

Documentary evidence of the issuance of OKCA stamps shows only possible postal use.

The first detailed information about this issue appeared in an article by George Jaeger, published in his journal Der Baltischen Philatelist No. 2-3 for 1920.

Jaeger also appears to have had a monopoly on the sale of these stamps. He is also implicated in other stamp scams.

There is however evidence that these stamps were not required by the army or usable by those who would have required them. As far as servicemen were concerned, mail delivery was free.

Also the color scheme of the values does not meet the requirements of the UPU (Universal Postal Union)

As many as 3 million sets were reportedly made, far more than could have ever been used.

The sheer number produced guaranteed that these stamps would find their way into many WW collections.

By some accounts, the paper used in the original issues consisted of;

The 5k and 10k stamps exist ONLY on wove paper.

The 15k stamp exists on wove and pelure paper, but the pelure paper is scarce.

The 20k stamp exists on both types of paper, in about equal proportions.

The 50k stamp exists ONLY on pelure (i.e extra thin) paper.

I cannot confirm the above in all cases.

Perfed Issues

All of the genuine stamps on both normal and pelure paper are occasionally found with very rough faked 11.5 perforations

Significant colour changelings are known for all genuine values. The forgeries tend to be more stable.

CTO's

There is significant controversy over CTO's. Whole sheets of this issue with the original oval NW Army FPO cancellation are probably genuine. The CTO of the railway station of Moloskovitsy are disputed. Many period authors feel most were faked.

Genuine set

Original stamp features

These are not all consistent.

1. Break in the ribbon here
2. The line is broken here
3. Note break and space here
4. The dashes and dots are relatively even
5. The letters are clear
6. Common breaks on this frame line
7. The numbers are legible and there is a small dot at the end
8. The rings have little or no shading in them

1. Generally there are breaks here

2. Clear date with dot
3. The hilt design is very clear
4. Generally a break here
5. Generally a break here
6. A white space here

7. The double blade lines should be visible
I cannot comment on the cancel being genuine

1. The line drawn from the tip of the chevron intersects the cross on
the right side
2. The ribbon has 2 full curves
3. The octagon is wider than the height - key feature
4. The CA are joined
5. The letters are clear
6. Clear date with a dot

1. Thin uniform frame line
2. The design is clear with little or no shading
3. The letters are clear
4. The last 9 is clear followed by a dot, the other numbers are often indistinct
5. The rosettes have little or no shading
6. Note the breaks here

1. The left 50 is smaller and does not touch the frame
2. The ax tip has a break here
3. The lines and dots in the ring are clear and even
4. Little or no shading in these elements
5. The lines are clear and distinct
6. The letters are clear - note the font

Forgeries

There are two distinct series of forgeries of this issue which were printed in large numbers such that considerable wear of the printing surface occurred and overinked examples from late prints at first sight appear to be different forgeries.

The differences are mainly in the paper color and features. There is no set features and it is not simple to determine which set they belong to. I am only reviewing the common forgeries.

After selling the large amount of remainders, it is quite feasible that George Jaeger had a hand in creating the forgeries.

Overall a rough coarse printing with some traits of the original
1. No breaks shown
2. Blotchy unclear letters
3. Uneven dots and dashes
4. Shaded frame lines
5. Rings are completely shaded in
6. Large numbers with large blob for a dot