Classic Stamp Forgeries: 2026

Sunday, August 30, 2026

Western Australia Swan Issues

Western Australia had lots of attention by forgers, Spiro, Panelli, Fournier, Treherne, Torres, Zechmeyer, Winter and many others. The iconic stamp was in great demand,

Genuine issues

1st row: 1d SC1, 1d Sc25, 1d Sc36

2nd row: 2d SC21, $d Sc15, 4d Sc22

3rd row: 4d Sc32, 6d Sc23, 1sh Sc24d

1861 selection of six imperf. plate proofs

Forgeries

Spiro/Fournier Forgeries

Easily noticeable by the flat bottom U and the lack of color in the head.

The W has pointed ends.

The flat bottom U is often described as the main feature of all forgeries. Quite WRONG as we will see.

These are by far the most common forgeries.
Full sheets of Fournier sold forgeries provided by Spiro.

However one should not be fooled into thinking all Fournier have a flat bottom "U"

The stamps below from the Fournier Genevs Collection clearly show both flat and round bottom U's

Panelli Forgeries

These are quite deceptiove.

These can be distinguised by the round bottom U and primarily by the hook serif on the G and the noticeably long bottom arm on the first E of WESTERN.

Torres Forgeries

These are easily identified by the short beak on the swan and the typical odd Torres cancels.

Treherne Forgeries

Distinguished by the thick letters and staight line feathers. The G is misshapen. The head and beak are very narrow.

Miscellaneous Forgeries

These have a large eys, lack of shading and a white head.

A Taylor forgery with uneven & slanted letters

A very crude forgery

A Zechmeyer paste on facsimile

Thursday, August 27, 2026

Spain 1930 11th Congress

The chances of having a genuine set are very slim. It was aimed primarily to collectors.

Only 25000 sets were issued and it was only valid for 3 days. The low CV probably reflects the vast quantity of excellent forgeries.

The main featores

Genuine lsft, forgery right

Genuine

Forgery

Genuine set

Forgery set

Control number on genuine

Tuesday, August 18, 2026

Saint Helena’s stamps only became popular with collectors after the pictorial issues of 1902, This was not the case with earlier issues. Genuine mint and used early stamps are expensive. This probably accounts for the great number of forgeries and remainders.

A postal stone used by sailors in the1600-1700's\

Genuine Stamps

Sc1, Sc3, Sc8 & Sc9

Sc10, Sc13, Sc14 & Sc23

SC24, Sc33, Sc37 & Sc38a

Sc47

Forgeries

Some 17 different forgeries have been found

Fournier Forgeries

Fournier sold forgeries from several sources.

There is no indication he forged any himself.

Oneglia Forgeries

Recognizable by his typical cancels and being engraved.

Panelli Forgeries

Recognized by the 2 dots behind the queens's chignon.

Spiro Forgeries

The background pattern besides the heading has a lot of white space.

The "H" of "HELENA" has a very thin horizontal bar.

The first "E" of "HELENA" has the central bar placed too high.

Torres Forgeries

Note the long pointed chignon

Queen's piercing eyes

Cohn Forgery

It appears he only forged the 6d

De Beukelaer Facsimile

Two different versions made by the Belgian chocolate factory of De Beukelaer and given free with their chocolates & biscuits. They bear the cancel "ST HELENA SR 24 01". The "SR" should have been "SP".

Unknown forgers

Crude forgeries with ovpt. color matching stamp color

Queen has thick eyebrow

S of ST> odd shape

Squinting queen

Possibly made in France given the French cancel

Very crude unique forgery

Odd bogus color

Remaiders

Residents needed only a few stamps and overseas sales were poor. Charged with disposing of obsolete Saint Helena stamps, Postmaster Thomas B. Bruce sold in 1904 a large number of remainders to a stamp dealer (Mr. Healey) well below face value after hand cancelling them with the violet grill. This cancel was never used for postal purposes and stamps with this cancel are not very valuable. Over 250,000 stamps were sold. On the positive side, they are popular with collectors who seek genuine stamps given the many forgeries.