Greece 1864 - King George I Essays

King George 1

 There is a great deal of confusion over these, particularly the first issue. 

The first mention of them is by Moens in  May 1864 and stating they were printed in Paris.

He also mentions the possibility that the designer came from Milan.

No certainty of the first issue's designer but  Luigi Ronchi made one of the 2nd type.

A portrait of King George shown right was the model for the first issue.

The Vlastov Greece catalog lists them as unissued stamps while others note the are nothing more than fantasy issues.

Original Type A

The stamp is considered to be the "original"

Traces of the top bar of the T in AETIT can be seen on the left of the upright

There are vertical extensions to the top and bottom horizontal strokes of the E in EAA. The middle stroke is just above the centre

There is a small vertical extension at the end of the top bar of the T in TPAMM.

The background of the portrait is made up of curly lines.

Forgeries of Type A

Crude lithographed forgery

There is no vertical extension at the end of the top bar of the T in TPAMM

These is no dot after TPAMM

The 0's in 20 are too large

The back ground id made up of straight diagonal lines

Another forgery of the type A

The background line are in the opposite direction.

The 2 has a shorter curl

These is a dot after TPAMM

Original ? Type B

Much better details than type A

The background line re straight

The E does not have vertical extensions

The top bar of the T in AETIT cannot be seen on the left of the upright

This stamp had the most forgeries as seen by the Fournier samples below

The is another forgery

The main feature is a large vertical extension at the end of the top bar of the T in TPAMM.

The colors are paler

The King George essays in 3 types

The three values, 5, 20 and 40 lepta, of these essays all use the same portrait of King George, enclosed in different frames. The three values were printed side by side in a variety of colours on a variety of papers.

Forgery

This is the only forgery I have seen

A very crude effort easily recognized

There is no dot after TPAMM

The 5 is a different shape