Friday, November 13, 2026

Lombardy -Venetia 1850

 Typographically printed, at the beginning on hand made paper with central watermark KKHM (Kaiserlich und Koenigliches Handels Ministerium), every sheet were made of 256 stamps (including 16 Andreas crosses), and was unperforated. Colours appeared in various shades during its eight years.
Each of the 5 stamps has its own features that allow to divide the stamps in different types and subtypes. This is due to changes made to correct bad looking defects. 
Official reprints were made by the Vienna Postal Authorities due to the great demand by collectors  for philatelic purposes.  Only Type III, on machine made paper without watermark were officially reprinted.

Genuine Stamps
Unused stamps have a much higher CV
Stamps were first printed on a rough hand-made paper of uneven thickness with watermark in script letters K.K.H.M. (Kaiserlich Königliches Handels-Ministerium). Only 16-20 stamps out of 240 on a printing sheet are watermarked. 

5c
Only 1 type of the 5c

10c
Type I:
The lowest horizontal line in the second letter E in CENTES is broken,
the lower outline of the coat of arms consists of one thick line, only in cases of clear print this line appears to be split in two.
Type III
The letter E not broken anymore,
The lower outline of the coat of arms consists of two lines.

15c
Type I:
Both numerals in denomination are of equal height,
Inscriptions on top are damaged: the second letter K in KKPOST is broken and the first letter E in STEMPEL has short horizontal stroke on the bottom.
The lower outline of the coat of arms consists of one thick line.
Type II:
Numeral 5 in denomination is standing higher than the numeral 1.
Numeral 5 in denomination is enclosed on the left side.
Inscriptions on top are complete, without damage.
The second letter E in CENTES. is broken (just like Type I of 10 centesimi stamp).
The lower outline of the coat of arms consists of one thick line.
Type III:
Numeral 5 in denomination is standing higher than the numeral 1.
Numeral 5 in denomination is not enclosed.
The second letter E in CENTES. not broken anymore.
The lower outline of the coat of arms consists of two lines.

30c
Type I:
The lower outline of the coat of arms consists of one thick line.
Type III:
The lower outline of the coat of arms consists of two lines.

45c
Type I:
Number 45 is positioned lower than the inscription CENTES. The distances between the upper line and individual numbers in denomination varies.
The distance between the numeral 5 and the letter C in CENTES. is between 0.2 and 0.7 mm.
the lower outline of the coat of arms consists of one thick line.
Type II:
The number 45 is at the same height as the inscription CENTES.
The distance between 5 and C is 0.6 mm.
The lower outline of the coat of arms consists of one thick line.
Type III:
The same as Type II.
The lower outline of the coat of arms consists of two lines.

Forgeries
5c
The tail is different - too large
The feathers are indistinct
The outer frameline is too thick in spots
The middle bar of the first "E" is too low
The "S" is too small

10c
Forgery (left) compared to genuine (right)
"10" too large
Feathers very crude
"CENTES" too thick
"S" lower than other letters

"KEPOST" instead of "KKPOST"
"1" wrong shape

Base of "1" wrong
Haeds have too much white
"C" has no serif
"S" too high
Very common forgery

Outer frame thick and very rough
"1" wrong shape

Thick base on "1"
Rough uneven outer frame

15c
Torres forgery
"15" wrong compared to genuine
"CENTES" too largr
Bird heds wrong
Tail lacking ornament.

Fournier forgery
"15"  too high and thick

30c 
Fournier forgery
Well executed
Large "3"

Very large "3" touches both margins and too close  to "C"
"CENTES" too low and letters uneven
Tail wrong

45c
Fournier forgery
"45" wrong shape
op "T" too low

"5" higher than "4"
Background dots missing
Wings wrong
Unusual "S" shape

"45" too thin
Many background dots fused together

Postal Forgeries
Postal forgeries of that period appeared in 1853 and 1857-1858. These are known as Milan or Verona Forgeries.

Verona Postal forgery
Unlike private or later reproduction forgeries, Verona postal forgeries were made to circulate as real postage during the 19th century. Because they are scarce and historically significant, authenticated pieces command high prices at specialized auctions—often ranging from thousands to tens of thousands of euros depending on the condition and whether they are tied to a piece or cover.


Verona Forgery
In the 15c, the "15" is very close together.
The "S" has a flat top.
In the 30c, the "C" is shorter
The "S" is oddly shaped and shorter
The "3" is lower

Milan Postal forgeries
They typically differ slightly in dimensions or height from genuine stamps (which measure 21 mm tall)
As with the Verona forgeries, these command very high values especially tied to a cover.
15c Type II
Wide space between "15"
Thick "C"
Partial serif on "1" and "T"

Malformed "3"
Thick "C"
Short "ES"

45C Type II
Base of "4" inclined
"T" short right serif
Very tall "S"
45c Type IV
"5" higher
Very tall "S"
45c Type VI
"45" separated
"S" not as tall

Reprints
Reprints only as Type III, on white machine made paper without watermark were officially reprinted in 1865, 1871, 1885 and 1889 (the most common).

Modern Forgeries (1960?)
Modern online auctions in large quantities  under the title 'ristampe' (reprints), made somewhere in the 1960s



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