Preview of Stamps Catalogue: VOLUME 1

DIEGO SUAREZ, forgeries of the 1890 issue

Return To Catalogue - Diego Suarez - Diego Suarez, postage due stamps - Madagascar

Note: on my website many of the pictures can not be seen! They are of course present in the catalogue;
contact me if you want to purchase it.

Diego Suarez is a city in the north of Madagascar.

1890 Various designs, large sizes, imperforate

I presume the above stamps are genuine, but I am not 100 % sure....

  1 c black (ship)
  5 c black (two persons)
  15 c black (two persons)
  25 c black (person with helmet)

Value of the stamps
vc = very common c = common * = not so common ** = uncommon		*** = very uncommon R = rare RR = very rare RRR = extremely rare
Value	Unused	Used	Remarks
1 c	RR	RR
5 c	RR	RR
15 c	RR	R
25 c	RR	RR

Cancels: besides circular "DIEGO-SUAREZ MADAGASCAR" cancels with date in the center (almost all with September and October 1890 dates, of which many could be forged), I have also seen some "CORPS D'ARMEES DIEGO SUAREZ" in an octogonal shape.

Forgeries exist of these stamps. Many of them are rather deceptive (photo-lithographed?). The Serrane guide says that the color of the genuine stamps should be greyish instead of black. It also says that the genuine stamps have white spots in the black lines (due to thick ink or the quality of the paper). The site http://www.geocities.com/claghorn1p/DiegoSuarez/index.htm also provides useful information.

Fournier Forgeries:

Example of a block of forgeries sold by the forger Fournier as they can be found in 'The Fournier Album of Philatelic Forgeries':

Fournier forgeries. As taken from a Fournier Album. On the back the words "FAC-SIMILE" are printed. On Bill Claghorn's forgery site a similar album is pictured, but now each stamp is cancelled with a forged cancel "DIEGO-SUAREZ 15 MARS 90 MADAGASCAR".

I've seen these Fournier forgeries with cancel "DIEGO SUAREZ MADAGASCAR 15 MARS 90", for a picture of such a cancel from a Fournier Album click here. The forged cancels that can be found there are "DIEGO-SUAREZ 15 MARS 90 MADAGASCAR", "DIEGO SUAREZ 28 SEP 91 MADAGASCAR" and "DIEGO-SUAREZ 1 SEPT 92 MADAGASCAR"
Distinguishing characteristics of the Fournier forgeries:
1 c: The mast just above the "1" should have an (almost) vertical left part. In the Fournier forgery, it is clearly slanting. The highest wave should touch the ship (there is no opening between the wave and the ship) in the genuine stamps.
5 c: If my information is correct, there is a dot above the "R" of "REPUBLIQUE". The hair of the second woman should have a hole in the front part (which is lacking in the Fournier forgeries).
15 c: The bottom of the "R" of "SUAREZ" is too close to the bottom of the "E" of this word. The hair of the person on the left has openings in the top (the hairline should not be a continuous line).
25 c: The left bottom part of the "2" should have a vertical part. The Fournier forgery is sharply pointed here instead of being blunt. In the above Fournier forgeries the "-" between "DIEGO" and "SUAREZ" is missing. The genuine stamp has only 8 shading lines on the helmet, the Fournier forgery has more shading lines (about 11). The bottom of the "C" of "FRANC" (almost) touches the bottom frameline (it is quite far from the frameline in the genuine stamps).

A Fournier forgery of the 1 c; this stamp has the "DIEGO SUAREZ MADAGASCAR 15 MARS 90" cancel

Maury Forgeries:

These forgeries appear to have been inspired by images in the Maury catalogue (or perhaps even made by Maury?):

Made by "Saul50"
Set of primitive forgeries, made by or inspired by Maury. Note the badly done lettering and the dented upper left and lower right corner of the 25 c value. I've seen these forgeries printed in blocks of four (one of each value), the 1 c and 5 c on top and the 15 c and 25 c printed below.

Some scans from the Maury catalogue (images obtained thanks to Gerhard Lang, January 2018)

Poirier forgeries:

According to Timbres Magazine of May 2005, page 50, the postmaster Poirier photographed the original stamps and made imitations with these. He also used genuine cancelling devices. I suspect the above stamps might be such forgeries. Source: http://www.timbresmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Classique-II.pdf Poirier forgeries are in general darker in color (genuine stamps are more greyish). These forgeries are deceptive.

Rather deceptive forgeries of the 1 c, there is an opening between the back of ship and the uppermost wavy line just beside it. The cancels "DIEGO SUAREZ 27 SEPT 90 MADAGASCAR" (mentioned in the Serrane guide) and "DIEGO SUAREZ 3 OCT 90 MADAGASCAR" are highly suspicious. The left hand vertical side of the value label (with 1 c.) appears too thick in this forgery (if I understand correctly this is a distinghuishing characteristic of Poirier forgeries?)

Highly suspicious item, the '2' has a pointed left bottom part (it should be blunt). Possibly a Poirier forgery.

Presumably a 5 c Poirier forgery with a thicker tear in the eye of the white woman.

Another Poirier forgery of the 15 c? It has the 3 OCT 90 cancel.

The 5 c Poirier forgery has a thicker tear in the eye of the white woman.
In the 15 c Poirier forgery the eye-socket of the right woman touches the frame with the value inscription.

Other forgeries:

Could be a forgery....
In my opinion, the cancel "DIEGO SUAREZ 26 SEPT 90 MADAGASCAR" is also highly suspicious. Many stamps (forgeries?) appear with this date.

Most likely a forgery, sail too rounded, "c" of "1 c." slanting, "R" of "REPUBLIQUE" too far to the left, waves different etc.

Forgery of the 5 c, with a continous hairline of the left person (it should have breaks). The lines above the "EP" of "REPUBLIQUE" are different as well. This forgery exists with cancels "28 FEV 91" or "15 MARS 90" as well (see Claghorn's forgery site for an example).

Two forgeries with the "O" of "DIEGO" too round, they both have a "DIEGO SUAREZ 29 DEC 90 MADAGASCAR" cancel.

25 c forgery with the person smiling?

Reduced size; the central mast is much lower than in the above stamp (forgery?)

Some 'proofs'. In the 25 c value, the "C" of "FRANCse" is slanting too much backwards.

Other primitive forgery