Home Catalogue index Volume 1 index Volume 2 index
Preview of Stamps Catalogue: VOLUME 1

OLDENBURG Forgeries of the first 1861 issue

Return To Catalogue - Oldenburg, forgeries of the 1859 issue - Forgeries of the second 1861 issue - Oldenburg 1859 issue etc - Oldenburg 1852 issue - miscellaneous - Other German States - Germany

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.


Forgeries of the 1861 arms issue, (couloured on white paper)

Examples of forgeries:

Forgery!

The letters of "OLDENBURG" in the above forgeries are all straight and not slanting with the label as in the genuine stamps. Note the French(?) "PORT DE CHERBOURG" cancel or some Russian cancel.

forgery!
The letters in 'OLDENBURG' are too tall in the above rather blur forgeries of the 2 g value.


Very primitive forgery of the 1 g value. At the back some other forgeries are printed.

Forgery!

Note the position of the word 'Ein' in the above forgery of the 1 g stamp, in the genuine 1 g stamps, there should be a small dot to the right of the left '1' (almost in the ellipse) and a similar dot to the left of the right '1'. These dots are absent in the above stamp. There is a row of 10 large pearls at the bottom of the stamps. The crown touches the oval. The lion looks more like a giraffe. The shield is much smaller than in the genuine stamps. This forgery is described in Album Weeds (second forgery of the 1 g blue). On Bill Claghorn's website a similar forgery can be found with these large pearls at the bottom (the 2 Gr black on red of the previous issue). In Album Weeds some forgeries of the 1/3 g green, 2 g red and 3 g yellow with 10 pearls at the bottom are described (presumably made by the same forger). Next to the 1 g stamp, a 2 g black on lilac is shown apparently made by the same forger as well.

Similar forgery, but with 'EIN' less slanting
Improved version of the 1 g forgery as shown above?

Spiro forgeries:

Image obtained from Bill Claghorn's forgery site

The above Spiro forgery is described in 'The Spud Papers'. It is exactly the same as the forgery of the previous issue (except for the colour). The point of the shield is too close to the bottom of the oval, the lion is badly shaped and appears to have one big eye (or mouth?). The lettering is different. Spiro forgeries exist for all values. I have often seen it cancelled "OLDENBURG IM GROSSHERZOGTUM".

The next stamps are Fournier forgeries

'ABBEHAUSEN 11/VI' cancel 'RASTEDE 18/11' cancel
(Fournier forgeries, images obtained thanks to Bill Claghorn's forgery site http://www.geocities.com/claghorn1p/Oldenburg )

Distinguishing characteristics:

The 'U' of 'OLDENBURG' is badly done (2 g only?)

An easy means to distinguish Fournier forgeries are the cancels: the cancels I have often seen on these forgeries are (I don't think the dates could be changed): 'OLDENBURG 16 10 1-2 N' in a double circle; 'VAREL 16/6' in a rectangle; 'ABBEHAUSEN 11/VI' in a rectangle and 'RASTEDE 18/11' in a rectangle. The 'FRANCO' cancel on the 2 g is not shown in 'The Fournier Album of Philatelic Forgeries'.


The Fournier cancels as shown in the 'Fournier Album of Philatelic Forgeries'.

 

I've been told that the next stamp is also a Fournier forgery. However, it does not resemble the forgeries in 'The Fournier Album of Philatelic Forgeries':

Other forgery with the crown too small:


(Other forgeries with 7 pearls at the bottom)


(Other primitive forgery of the 1 g stamp)


Other primitive forgeries of the 1/3 g stamp.


Forgery of the 1/3 g value with '1/3' too large. The lion in the bottom part of the arms is totally missing and instead two half circles separated by a vertical line have been put there. The crown is too large. I've also seen this forgery in 1/3 g blue (wrong color). I've seen it with a box cancel "OLDENBURG".


1/3 g forgeries with "1/3" too large and the "l" of "Drittel" slanting backwards.


Rather blur forgeries of the 2 g value


Other forgeries.

 


Other forgeries note that the "D" of "Drei" is slanting to the left in the first two forgeries! All forgeries have too many ornaments above the "r" of "Drei" and the "H" of "Groschen" (genuine 3 g stamps do not have these ornaments).


Other forgery of the 3 g value.


Forgery of the 1/3 g


2 g red forgery with very strange lettering.

Peter Winter forgeries:

Image obtained from Bill Claghorn's forgery site
(Peter Winter forgeries)


Forged letter with Peter Winter forgeries.


The cancel "ZETEL 11 12" was also used by Peter Winter.

Peter Winter made forgeries of all four values. I've seen the value 1/3 g with cancel "BREMEN 30 8 * 6-6" in a box.

Sperati forgeries:


(Sperati forgeries, reproduction 'C' with a dot outside the design above the "L" of "OLDENBURG")

The above forgery is a Sperati forgery. Sperati made 3 different forgeries of this stamp. The following distinguishing characteristics apply to these forgeries:
1) The "G" of "Groschen" has a white spot
2) There is a line above the "o" of "Groschen"
3) A dot outside the design of the stamps above the "L" of "OLDENBURG" (Reproduction C)
4) A dot outside the stamp left to the '2'
5) The left lower corner has several dots

Other Sperati forgeries:


First picture obtained from: http://www.seymourfamily.com/rfrajola/Sperati/speratiindex.htm

These stamps have the distinguishing characteristics 1 and 2 of the previous forgery:
1) The "G" of "Groschen" has a white spot
2) There is a line above the "o" of "Groschen"


Sperati forgery with blue "PEPPENS 30/6" in a box cancel and another with "BREMEN" cancel.


Another Sperati forgery, left image obtained from: http://www.seymourfamily.com/rfrajola/Sperati/speratiindex.htm


Sperati forgery 'B' of the 2 g stamp, with a forged "KLAGE" cancel.

It seems that the cancel "OLDENBURG 28 1 8-1 V" in a double circle has been used often. Other cancels that can be found above are "OLDENBURG 13/3" in a box and "WILDESHAUSEN 18/11" in a box. Examples of these and other Sperati cancels can be found here.

Sperati has also made forgeries of the other 3 values:


(Sperati forgeries)


Front and backside of a Sperati forgery 'A' of the 3 g


Sperati forgery of the 1/3 g with forged "OLDENBURG 27 8 1-4N" and "OLDENBURG 29 8 1-8 N" cancels


(1/3 g Sperati forgery, reduced size)

For forgeries of the second 1861 issue, click here


Copyright by Evert Klaseboer