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Preview of Stamps Catalogue: VOLUME 1

NEW CALEDONIA 1859 issue

Nouvelle Calédonie

Return To Catalogue - New Caledonia 1881-1892 - New Caledonia 1892-1906 - New Caledonia 1907-1920 - New Caledonia miscellaneous

Note: on my website many of the pictures can not be seen! They are of course present in the catalogue;
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1859 Head of Napoleon III, inscription "CALEDONIE", so-called "Triquerat issue" (Triquera?), imperforated

  10 c black

There exist 50 different types of this stamp. Click here to see a full sheet of all 50 types (kindly obtained with permission of Richard Frajola, this sheet and more on New Caledonia was found on: http://www.rfrajola.com/nceindex.htm). Reprints from the original plates also exist.

This stamp was used very little and some confusion on if it was used at all exists. For example, still in 1912, in Le Postillon Revue Philatelique the following text can be found:
"NOUVELLE-CALÉDONIE. M.Ph.Kosack a vu récemment sur lettre un exemplaire du n° 1, Napoléon III, lithographié, ce qui l'a convaincu définitivement que ce timbre ait eu vraiment cours."

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

Unfortunately many forgeries exist as well! Genuine stamps were printed with black separating lines, and thus only the borders can have white margins. Many forgers made forgeries with too many white margins. Examples of forgeries (some of the above stamps could be forgeries as well):

In the Catalogue Descriptif des Timbres-Poste crees de 1840 a 1870 by Arthur Maury, a similar illlustration is given on page 85.

Forgery, reduced size. Genuine stamps cannot have 4 white margins all around (at most 2 white margins).

White margins all around this forgery type..... One has a large blue "30" cancel (I've seen this cancel on forgeries of other countries, for example Uruguay).

Several forgeries with the same cancel.

Again, a forgery type with impossible white margins.

Another highly dubious stamp (even with a 1892 cancel: "NOUVELLE CALEDONIE 2E/26 FEVR 92").... Possibly made by Oneglia (forgeries of the later issues from Oneglia have the same cancel).

Some kind of reprint sheet? The inscription is in English instead of in French!

Moens forgeries:

Some illustrations that appear in the Moens catalogue ('Les Timbres-Poste Illustres' by J.-B.Moens 1864, plate 42). Some forgeries appear to have been inspired by the above Moens illustrations.

Forgery, I have seen a block of four of these forgeries (all the same type). Next to it a forgery with "25" overprint, also with a "20" overprint. This appears to be the same image as the first one in the Moens catalogue. Again, there are too many white margins around these forgeries.

Very similar forgery, but with extra dots around the circles in the left and right hand side.

Other forgeries based on the Moens design.

This forgery appears to be the same as the 8th illustration in Moens.

In 1960 a 13F commemorative stamp was issued in a similar design. It is perforated and has the inscription "NLE CALEDONIE ET DEPENDANCES 13F POSTES 13F". Also a stamp on a stamp based on the same design from 1986. This design does not seem to correspond to any of the genuine types by the way.

For stamps issued issued later, click here.

Copyright by Evert Klaseboer