Paraguay 1862 Bogus Lion Issue

 Originally prepared by M. Stern, of Paris, as a legitimate essay, and submitted to Paraguay.

Owing to troubles at that time, the die fell into the hands of a Buenos Aires printer who printed copies in many different colours. 

Meanwhile, other copies were printed in Paris.

In addition to which, at least six different lithographed forgeries made their way onto the stamp market. 

The stamp became to be considered a bogus issue.

I believe this is a rare original stamp

This is described as a color proof of the original

These are Negative Essays  from the American Banknote Co. files circa 1930.

This is apparently currency with the stamps represented in the corners.

I doubt this is legitimate currency.

Forgeries

Type I

- Lion very different with more shading and appears to have a large nose

- Cap id dome shaped with stripes

- Corner stars are small and poorly shaped

- The top of the cap is small

Type II

- Very thin letters

- Tiny corner stars

- Line has sad look and head is tilted to the right

- Cap is heavily shaded

- The cap is just a dash

Type III

This forgery is attributed as supplied by Spiro

- It is probably the best reproduction of the forgeries

- CO letters in CORREO are small

- Many Letters touch the frame lines- The cap has 4 stripes of shading

- The stars Are small

Type IV

- The lion is very white

- The cap has a large colored blotch

- The top of the cap is small and inclined

- The letters are very short

- The lion has a very short tail

A full sheet of the forgery

The 5X5 layout is very typical of Spiro offerings

Type V

These are considered to be the work of Patroni who made other South America forgeries.

He used a wide range of unique cancels

- The top of the head of the lion is lacking

- The letters are very thin and almost invisible in many cases

- The pole is nearly invisible

- The top of the cap is attached to the base in most cases

Type VI

This is an odd bogus issue in the style of Torres

- The lion is very short and appears to have a human face

- There is no tail

- The letters are thick

- The DE instead of DEL denotes a Spanish origin

- The stars are very small

- The cap is more of a "fool's cap"