Liannos Post Turkey 1865

 This post was begun at the suggestion of the Turkish Government, which admitted itself incapable of organising a satisfactory postal service in Constantinople and its environs.

The post was authorised by Imperial Decree, dated August 15, 1865, and the service was begun on December l, chiefly as an intercity service, although letters were also collected and forwarded abroad.

Original Stamps

1865 (Dec) Type 1

Letter stamps. Recess printed by Perkins, Bacon & Co., in sheets of 200, and perforated 14 probably at Somerset House, London. 

Stamps supplied from Paris.

Black impressions on colored paper of varying thickness.

The stamps can be found imperforate (scarce) and with a rough pin perf 16 (scarce)

Genuine blocks below.

Forgeries

Although relatively common, I have only seen 1 type.

These were found in the Geneva Fournier collection and most probably only sold by him

Examination with the original reveals many minor differences in the star, letters and numerals

Blocks from the Geneva Fournier lots

1865 Type 2

Newspaper stamp (Value 3.5 paras). Hand-stamped on ungummed paper , or direct on to newspapers.

Three types: Black impression on colored paper.

Type 1. P.L. in sans serif lettering, and two horizontal lines beneath "x" 

Type 2. P.L. in Roman lettering, and two horizontal lines beneath "x" 

Type 3. P.L. in Roman lettering, and one horizontal line beneath "x." 

Type 1

Type 2

Forgery

These appear to be rare and are probably modern

The printing is too neat

Many features in the letters are different

1865 Type 3

Rare

Prepaid frank in black or

blue with Turkish characters and "P.P." in negative. 

On white or colored paper. Imperf.

This frank may have been impressed only on prepaid postal stationery. 

I have not seen any forgeries

1866. Types 4 and 5 

Litho. Black impression on colored paper {10 and 20 paras), or colored impression on white paper (1 and 2 piastres).

10 paras straw

20 paras lilac

   a. rose (Type 5)

1 piastre red 

2 piastres blue 

The book of Hurt & Williams states that there are 13 types of forgeries

There is no clear explanation of what a genuine looks like

These stamps were usually not cancelled

Billigs notes that the above Type 4 & 5 are genuine issues

NOTE the different punctuations used

These are probably genuine

These are described as reprints but I have not seen any notice in catalogs of reprints and they look very fresh

Forgeries

Letters and punctuation (all the same) do not match

Odd cancel

Tiny periods

Unusual serifs on S of Service

Dots are all perfectly aligned and different from genuine stamps

The bottom of the S in Service is stretched to the left

In the above

Letters are thicker than the originals

Punctuations are identical

Numerals do not match

Forgeries sold by Fournier