Montenegro 1874-1896

Nicholas I

 The first stamps to be issued by Montenegro were in 1874 which coincided with the opening of the first post office for public use. The design of the stamps had a bust of Prince Nicholas.

For the average collector there are 2 problems in collecting these stamps.

- There were at least 4 printings between 1874 and 1893 and general catalogs give very little information in how to distinguish them

- Forgeries abound and they are quite good with only minor differences.

Fournier sold varieties of this issue and his successor  Hershberger may also have contracted new types of forgeries.

Printings of the Nicholas stamps

1874

lines are thin, shading on Prince’s forehead and cheek absent

paper white and soft

perforation wide 10½ with big holes, teeth sharp 

margins between stamps are narrow

1879

lines thicker, shadings heavier

paper smoother and thicker

perforation narrow, between 12 and 13

margins between stamps are narrow

1890

coarse printing

paper smooth and thick

perforation 11½ or 10½

margins between stamps are narrow

1893

coarse printing

paper smooth and thick

perforation 11½ or 10½

margins between stamps are wide

1874 series

This printing is generally not found in the average collection.

The CV can be high and rarely do any come up online. Most sellers/dealers are not familiar with them.

As noted the wide pointed perfs and the lack of shading on the face are key features.

Forgeries 

The main sources, Fournier & Spiro, do not appear to have specific samples of this forgery. I have only seen these possible forgeries.

On the right side after the letter P these is a small dot, the original has a large dot

The perforations are very crude

The ring cancel is typical and often found on "Spiro" cancels

Billigs in his 1936 book shows the same and only forgery of this type in several values with the same cancel.

He notes the perf as being 13

1879-93 Issues

A sample of the stamps with differences in the perfs.

Forgeries

This series, probably due to the extent of the validity period has abundant forgeries.

Some were probably postal in nature.

Fournier sold 2 types of forgeries that are well made and very similar to each other.

Type 1

Type 2

There are minor differences especially in the corners and the wreaths.

Type 1 left, type 2 right

All the type 1's in the Fournier collection are cancelled, the type 2 are unused.

1896

Perf 10.5 & 11.5

Bicentenary of the ruling dynasty, founded by the Vladika, Danilo Petrovich of Nyegosh.

Inverted centers and other errors exist, but experts believe these to be printer's waste.

Fournier's stock had many of these forgeries including full sheets with unusual selvage.

Fournier full forgery sheet

Below the genuine with Fournier forgery blocks.

The forgeries are not the same color and the details are somewhat crude with coarse shading.

1917

Austrian stamps issued under occupation with overprint

The genuine is left with the fake on the right.

The overprint has thick uneven letters

Fournier forgery pair with fake cancel