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DIEGO SUAREZ, Postage Due Stamps

Return To Catalogue - Diego Suarez - Madagascar

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Diego Suarez is a city in the north of Madagascar.

Postage due stamp of the French Colonies, used in Diego Suarez:

5 F with Diego Suarez cancel. The basic stamp is a forgery, as well as the cancel "DIEGO SUAREZ 25 NOV 92 MADAGASCAR". This appears to be the same cancel that also exists on the forgeries of the postage stamps. The basic forgery is a Fournier forgery.

1891 Stamps with inscription 'DIEGO-SUAREZ CHIFFRE TAXE'

  5 c violet
  50 c black

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

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

A forgery of the 5 c value in the wrong colors: black on violet.

It looks like the above forgery was based on an illustration in a Maury catalogue (or perhaps even made by Maury? images obtained thanks to Gerhard Lang, January 2018). Note for example the damaged outer frameline on the left bottom side (next to the "R").

A forgery of the 50 c can be found on Bill Claghorn's forgery site: http://www.geocities.com/claghorn1p/DiegoSuarez/DiegoJ2.htm. The forger Fournier offers forgeries of these stamps in his 1914 pricelist.

In my opinion, the above described forgery is the one shown here on the right. The first stamp is also a forgery, according to "The forged stamps of all countries" by J.Dorn, the cedilla of the "C" of "FRANCAISE" is missing in this forgery and the line under "PERCEVOIR" is straight instead of wavy.

Two 50 c stamps, both with the cancel "DIEGO SUAREZ 5 OCT 91 MADAGASCAR".

Block with four 50 c forgeries, with "DIEGO SUAREZ 3 OCT 91 MADAGASCAR" cancel. Not the strange "S" in the "MADAGASCAR" cancel. I presume the pair of 5 c stamps with the same cancel are also forgeries.

I've been told this is a forgery, it has the cancel "DIEGO SUAREZ 1 SEPT 92 MADAGASCAR" that can also be found in the Fournier Album.

Forgery of the 5 c in red with no background lines behind the "5".

Forgeries of the 50 c in different background shades. Note the break in the frameline over the "R" of "SUAREZ".

1892 Postage due stamps of the french colonies overprinted "DIEGO-SUAREZ"

  1 c black
  2 c black
  3 c black
  4 c black
  5 c black
  10 c black
  15 c black
  20 c black
  30 c black
  60 c black
  1 F brown

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

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

A red overprint, proof or forgery?

Forgeries, example:

Forged "DIEGO SUAREZ" on a perforated 1 c stamp of France.

The above stamp is a forgery of Carion. He made and sold 'proofs' of french colonies.

Two other forgeries from my personal collection.

Bogus block of four 3 c and 5 c stamps with forged "DIEGO SUAREZ", "TAHITI", "BENIN" and "OBOCK" overprints. The basic stamps are also forged. In the 1 c forgery, the upper part is badly done; especially above the "H" of "CHIFFRE". There appear to be at least two types of the 5 c, in one of the 5 c types there are some smudges below "PERC" and the central bar of the first "E" of "CENTIMES" is missing. This forgery type often appears with the blue "ANJOUAN COL FRANC." cancel. See French colonies, postage due stamps, primitive forgery type 1. The cancel on the 5 c appears to be "DIEGO SUAREZ 2E/18 JANV 92" which also appears on some Oneglia forgeries.

The forger Francois Fournier made forgeries of the postage due stamps of Diego Suarez. He offers 13 values for 5 Francs in his 1914 pricelist. Although I have not seen such cancels, but "DIEGO-SUAREZ 15 MARS 90 MADAGASCAR", "DIEGO-SUAREZ 28 SEP 91 MADAGASCAR" and "DIEGO-SUAREZ 1 SEPT 92 MADAGASCAR" were forged by him and possibly used on these forgeries. Also a cancel "DIEGO SUAREZ" with no date (but this might have been added later?).

Fournier forgeries, the stamp and the overprint are forged. See also French colonies, postage due stamps, forgeries

Forged overprints taken from a Fournier Album.

A different forgery of the 15 c value with the top of the "5" bent too much backwards. In my view, in all of these forgeries, the "C" of "PERCEVOIR" is too narrow. Also there appears always to be a break in the outer right frameline, just below the upper right corner. In the 60 c, the top of the "6" is too close to the label above it. Also a 1 F from the same forgery set with the top of the "1" different from a genuine stamp. I'm not 100% sure, but I think the 4 c and 5 c are also from the same forgery set. In the 1 c, the top left part of the "1" is too short. In my opinion, the 4 c always has a scratch through the "E" of "TAXE". The 20 c is probably also a forgery, it has the bottom left of the "2" more rounded than a genuine stamp. The accent on the "E" is more like a big dot. For more forgeries of this type see: France Postage Due Stamps, (primitive) forgery type 2

Forged French colonies stamp ("1 FRANC A PERCEVOIR" placed too far to the left) with forged "DIEGO SUAREZ" overprint and a forged "DIEGO SUAREZ 26 JUIN ..." cancel.

This 15 c stamp has a "FORT DE FRANCE MARTINIQUE" cancel, I guess the "DIEGO-SUAREZ" overprint is forged.

Forged overprint on a genuine stamp.

Another overprint that does look totally different from the ones above.

Forged "DIEGO - SUAREZ" overprint on a genuine 1 F stamp.

French colonies, postage due stamps, forgery type 7 (Oneglia?) with "DIEGO SUAREZ" overprint

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