Germany - Thurn & Taxis -1852-66 Northern District Series

 Thurn & Taxis is not the name of a country but of a Princely House, Thurn and Taxis won world fame by the privilege of operating a monopoly for postal services

in a part of Germany and neighboring countries.
Due to fine and minute drawings, very few of its stamps ever were forged, and even those forgeries are poor. What could not be achieved by forging the stamp
itself was made up for by changing and faking cancellations. In the various issues the same design was always used, but paper or colors or methods of separation
were changed.
The field of its operations extended to states in both Northern and Southern Germany.
In the Northern States the currency was in silbergroschen while in South Germany it was in kreuzer, thus necessitating two series of stamps.

The 1852-58 Northern District Issues

Mi 1,2,3

Mi 4.5a,5b

Mi 6b,11a,11b

The 1859-61 Northern District Series

Mi 13, 14, 15

Mi 16, 17, 18

Mi 19

The 1862-64 Northern District Series

Mi 26, 27, 28

Mi 29, 30, 31

The 1865 Northern District Series (rouletted)

Mi 35, 36 & 37

Mi 38, 39, 40

The 1866 Northern District Series

Mi 45, 46, 47

Mi 48, 49, 50

Characteristics of the Genuine Northern Stamps
1852 1/4 Silbergroschen black / red.
1859 1/4 Silbergroschen red-orange/white.
1862 1/4 Silbergroschen black/white.
1865 1/4 Silbergroschen rouletted.

1. Between the ornament of the upper left corner and the inscription band a diamond shaped dot is visible.
2. The “F” of “Freimarke” is not in contact with any part of the design.
3. In the upper right and lower left corners there is a small circle.
3a. Between the upper right end of the frame around the inscription and the right frame line, there is a wedge which terminates in two lines.
4. The shading line next to the vertical limb of the “4” forms a sharp angle at the horizontal limb of the “4.”
5. From the. shading at the horizontal limb of the “4,” three background lines are curved away from the “4”
6. In the lower right and upper left corners are lines or semicircles, instead of small circles.
7. The lower spur of the “G” in “Grosch.” is split & the top opening of the “G” is wider at the top

1852. 1/3 Silbergroschen black/gray-brown.
1862. 1/3 Silbergroschen green/white.
1865, 1867. 1/3 Silbergroschen rouletted.

1. Between the corner ornament and the upper inscription band on the left, there is a diamond-shaped dot.
2. On the right of the upper left shield bearing the value, a dot appears near the frame line of the inscription band.
3. The “h” in “Grosch.” is narrower than the other letters.
4. The end stroke of the “G” in “Grosch.” is split.
5. The fraction line of the declaration of value in the lower inscription is curved.
6. The fraction line in the bottom right & top left are vertical, the other 2 are horizontal.

1852. 1/2 Silbergroschen black / gray.
1859. 1/2 Silbergroschen green/white.
1862. 1/2 Silbergroschen orange/white.
1865, 1867. 1/2 Silbergroschen rouletted.

1. In the posthorn of the upper left corner there is a dot .
2. A curved semi circle line with a shaped large dot to the bottom right.
3. The inner line on the right of the frame of the centerpiece is interrupted .
4. In the upper right corner of the bottom right shield bearing the value, a light dot appears in the upper continuation of the fraction line.
5. A break or breaks are typical in this area

1852. 1 Silbergroschen light blue, dark blue .
1859. 1 Silbergroschen blue/white.
1862. 1 Silbergroschen carmine-red.
1865, 1867 1 Silbergroschen rouletted

1. A prominent line instead of a dot
2. The tassel under the posthorn in the right upper corner is shaded.
3. In the lower right corner , in the shield bearing the value, the serif of the small “1” touches the frame line.
4. In the tassel of the posthorn, in the lower right corner, there is a dash.
5. In front of the mouth of the posthorn in the lower right corner there is a dot.
6. In the corners are small complete circles.
7. There is a line inside the tassel of the posthorn in the lower left corner.
8. Between the corner ornament and the inscription band at the top left there is a diamond-shaped dot.

1852. 2 Silbergroschen black/rose.
1859. 2 Silbergroschen carmine-red/white.
1862. 2 Silbergroschen blue/white.
1865, 1867. 2 Silbergroschen rouletted.

1. There is a prominent dot at the bottom right of the small “2”
2. Instead of a dot, we have a cross here
3. This space is blank, no dot or shape.

1852. 3 Silbergroschen black/yellow.
1859. 3 Silbergroschen brown-red/white.
1862. 3 Silbergroschen reddish-bister/white.
1865, 1867. 3 Silbergroschen Rouletted olive bister.

1. There is a large prominent dot in the top of the top left posthorn.
2. There is no shape or dot in this space.
3. The top of the crest has a partial outer frame.
4. There is a prominent dash right of the posthorn opening.

1859. 10 Silbergroschen orange/white.

1. There are two horizontal lines at the first vertical limb of the “F” in “Freimarke.”
2. The “k” in “Freimarke” touches the wavy lines above it with one or two spurs.
3. The right ornament line of the inscription band has two spurs one left horizontal and a vertical bottom one.
4. In the coil of the posthorns there are three or four dots.

5 . The “G” in “Grosch.” is flattened at the bottom on its left side.

Forgeries

Given the intricate designs, forgeries are not common and most are easily spotted. The forgers had easier options as we will see.
It should also be noted that the genuine characteristics do not always apply to all specimens. Wear on the plates, inking and other issues can all contribute to
making inspection difficult.

The right stamp is a decent forgery. (left original) 

The background contours do not match

The corner small posthorns are obviously wrong.

A very crude forgery with all the genuine features missing

Senf.perf of non perf stamp

On this forgery the left foot curl is much more proounced than the original. As well the ottom posthorns are distorted.

Fournier sold  forgeries lacking any geuine traits. Note the background in the 3Kr

Fournier "proofs"

Fournier forgeries

Reprints

The most troublesome issue for collectors are the reprints apparently produced in 1909.
As complete sheets of a number of values were no longer to be found in the archives of the Princely Domain of Thurn and Taxis, it was decided to produce the
missing values anew from the original plates. On the whole, some 7500 sets of reprints were produced, namely, values necessary to fill up the need for complete
sheets. 

These included;

1852., 1/4, 1/3, 1/2 , 1 , 2, 3 Silbergroschen. 1, 3, 6, 9 Kreuzer.
1853. 1 Silbergroschen. 3 Kreuzer.
1859. 1/4, 1/2, 1, 2, 3 Silbergroschen. 1, 3, 6, 9 Kreuzer.
1862. 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, 1, 2, 3 Silbergroschen. 3, 6, 9 Kreuzer.
1865. 1/2, 1 Silbergroschen. 1 Kreuzer.

At the same time 25 sheets of each of the 10sgr, 15kr and 30kr were printed in black on blue paper.
The colors of the reprints differ greatly from those of the originals. They are stronger and fuller. Also the paper is of a more modern kind, stronger, shiny or
glazed. There are small differences in the elements when compared to the originals. Each reprint, furthermore, has the letters “ND” (Neudruck) in violet color on
the back, and are not gummed. I have heard (unconfirmed) that the ND may not be on all sheets and it may be chemically removed on individual stamps.
Cost about $100-$150 if bought as a complete set. Individuals are $5-$7.

Reverse side ND (easily removed)

Samples of 1909 reprints.

A full set of reprints

Forged Cancels (Fakes)
This is the biggest problem facing collectors.
As many of these stamps are worth far more used, the forgers took the readily available remainders and produced fake cancels.
Not only are the cancels more valuable but many collectors specialized in acquiring the cities represented by the numeral cancels. Some of these can be quite rare
and bring even more value.
Of course, the clarity, centering and location of the cancels adds even more value.
Although not conclusive, some features of genuine cancels include;
1. The numerals are well formed and consistent
2. The numerals do not touch the ring and are centered
3. The numerals are often curved with long serifs
4. The end balls on numerals such as 5, 6, 9 tend to be large
5. Serifs on the stem of 1, 7 tend to be long on both sides
6. The rings tend to be even, not blotchy and evenly spaced

Here are a few samples -fakes on the right