Serbia - Prince Michael Issues 1866-69

 

Sc6 Vienna Printing Perf 12

Sc9 Belgrade Printing Perf 9.5

Sc14 1868 Imperf

Forgeries

The key features of the forgery (right)
1. The ball of the K droops down
2. Breaks in the top design
3. No bar across the top of the letter
4. The genuine stamp (left) has 77 pearls
in the circle around the head. At the right
hand side of the head 16 white lines
should be visible at the right hand side
and 19 white lines at the left hand side.
There are only 59 pearls in the circle and
16 white lines to the right of the head and
17 to the left in the forgery.
18. It is listed by Billigs as a Type II forgery

By all accounts these were produced by Torres

Billigs type II (Torres) showing a Vienna, Belgrade and 1868 imperf forgeries

The imperf has a cancel typical of a Spiro sold forgery

Genuine left , forgery right

A Billigs (Fohl attributed) Type IIIa forgery
Possibly created by Torres
It has 80 pearls and the CK are oddly shaped with the KA not joined
There are some vertical scratches on the center background which appear in one of
the plate positions which may have served as the model.

Genuine left , forgery right

2H Billigs Fohl Type III (this may also be a Torres creation)
There are many differences with the letters and ornaments
The main feature of the forgery is the very large distinct eye

A Fohl? forgery with 80 pearls instead of 77, 

A forgery with 74 pearls can also be found

A forgery from unknown source with 61 pearls

A very primitive forgery sold by Fournier

A cutout from an 1984 Hamburg souvenir sheet

Legion of French Volonteers - 1941

 

The L.V.F., Legion of French Volunteers against Bolshevism, was created on July 8, 1941 (with the blessing of Marshal Pétain and the consent of Adolph Hitler), 15 days after the start of the invasion of the U.S.S.R. by Germany which took place on June 22, 1941. 

It was born of many French collaborationist parties, and is for its combat part within the Wehrmacht. In June 1942, the 'L.V.F.' will be transformed into 'Tricolor Legion', frowned upon by the Germans, it will be dissolved at the end of 1942 to become again L.V.F., which itself will be dissolved by decision of the Germans in September 1944.

The first issue of the L.V.F. takes place on October 21, 1941, with the block of 'l'Ours', printed in 30,000 copies with a charitable surcharge of 100F. The sale is carried out by subscription for the most part to dealers (5/6th) and collectors (1/6th). Forgeries are plentiful.

Genuine stamp

Original S/S with the key features of the genuine.

Note the inclined arms of the letters E & F

The Close perf holes

The large C 

Forgeries

There appears to be at least 2 types

This fake is close to the original but in a deep blue color throughout.

It also lacks the letter features of the original

This fake also lacks the letter and perf features.

Overall it is heavily shaded

This is noted as a "reproduction"

It matches the previous fake but the perf holes are noticeably larger

The cancel is fake & does not match the original.

German Colonies - 1901-02 Yacht Issues

 

SMY Hohenzoller 

Genuine Issues

Original stamps

These were originally printed in sheets of 100 (10X10)

Forgeries

Fournier sold all the colonies that used the yacht issue
They are passible given the lack of philatelic knowledge of the early 1900's but they have many differences when compared to the originals.

Why so many low value forgeries? - importing stamps from Germany was restricted , so dealers supplied these ample forgeries.

On the forgery - right

1. Letters are generally shorter and uneven

2. Corner decorations are poorly drawn

3. Cross base touches end of flag

4. Vertical white lines are lacking

5. Waves are much coarser

6. Numerals are shorter

Fournier sold them primarily in sheets of 12 or singles with fake cancels. The sheets were printed with all the colonies on one sheet.

This crude forgery is attributed to Fournier but does not match any I have on file and is most likely from another source

Bogus stamps created for the philatelic market. Advertised in contemporary collectors’ journals by Australian stamp dealers. A few used on genuine covers

US forgeries

Hialeah forgeries appeared on the market around 1999 and were very abundant
Several sellers were involved and all are/were based in Hialeah in Florida

The Hialeah forgeries were also produced with the higher CV overprints

A Fake postcard produced in 1980-90

I do not show that Fournier sold the high value large format types
These are rather crude and apparently made by Oneglia

Brazil 1889 Postage Due

 

Genuine stamp

Forgeries

Genuine left, forgery right

In the forgery..

-1 The white network of the frame is coarser and lacking in detail.

-2 For all values except the 20r, the lower leg of the letter "Z" in BRAZIL is joined to the main stem.

-3 In the triangle section above the "B", the forgery has dots while the genuine has full lines

-3 For the 20r, there is a red dot in the oval above the "E" in CORREIO.

The forgeries exist gummed and ungummed also uncanceled and with fake cancels.

The forgeries were sold by Fournier and may have originated with Patroni

The Fournier sheets were produced with all the values on one sheet.

Bolivia 1897 2B

 

Genuine Pair

Forgery

The forgery is very well executed and can be considered as dangerous and very plentiful.

1. Genuine is perf 12, forgeries 11.5

2. The genuine has an accent over the "U" of "REPUBLICA", the forgery does not

3. In the genuine the 2 downward facing triangles over the "LIV" do not touch the frame line but they touch in the forgery

4. The stars on the sides are rendered more accurately in the forgery

5. The forgery can be found with a fake BOLIVIA box cancel

My guess would be that Patroni, who forged other S.A. stamps was the originator

Above 2 forgeries with fake cancels

Partial sheet of Fournier forgeries

Colombia 1919 Airmail

COLOMBIA Air Post

1919 First Experimental Air Mail Flight June 18, 1919. 

200 copies of a 1917 centavo stamps were overprinted.

They were unofficially overprinted by typography

This was executed in horizontal strips of ten, which were severed with a guillotine knife, causing horizontal perforations to have a "cut" appearance. 

The plates also produced 10 different positions which can be identified. 

Of the total stamps issued, 160 were used on covers on the special flight.

Original issue

 Forgeries are VERY plentiful ranging from crude to very good

One way to determine them is by the key features of the 10 types.

This can be difficult based on the inking differences.

10 plate varieties

Typical forgery (date inclined)

Original & only postmark

Fakes/bogus never issued or used.

Fournier - Forger or Dealer?

We know that Fournier sold forgeries from many sources. But, on his passing a lot of equipment was obtained by the Bern Communications museum. It included ...
Photo enlargement equipment, print templates, print samples, print clichés, wooden stamps, stamp paper, stamp printing machine, stamp overprinting machine, perforating devices and embossing machines.
I and others are of the opinion that Fournier did indeed produce & sell his own forgeries from acquired equipment and dies His proofs are a good indicator of the forgeries he actually made.

Alsace-Lorraine

Austria Lombardy-Venetia

Belgium

Borneo

Congo

Egypt

Finland

Germany - Bremen

Germany - Brunswick

Germany - Hannover

Germany - Oldenburg

Germany - Saxony

Germany - Schleswig-Holstein

Germany - Wurttemberg

Greece

Haiti

Hawaii

Luxembourg

Panama

Russia

Sardinia

Serbia

Spain

Switzerland