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Preview of Stamps Catalogue: VOLUME 1

ONEGLIA FORGERIES, 1906 catalogue, "Datia" to "Fidji"

Return To Catalogue - Oneglia forgeries, introduction, part 1 - Oneglia forgeries, introduction, part 2 - Panelli - Spiotti - Venturini

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Erasmo Oneglia was an Italian forger in the late 19th century from Turin. He is famous for his engraved forgeries, but he also made photo-lithographed forgeries. Many of his forgeries were previously attributed to the forger Angelo Panelli. The engraved Oneglia forgeries are usually 'overinked'. When Oneglia applied a watermark on his forgeries, it is very clearly visible. His watermarks are impressed instead of being real watermarks. Oneglia also collaborated closely with A.Venturini and E.Spiotti. The exact relationships that these forgers had is not clear up to this day.

Oneglia forgeries, 1906 catalogue, "Canada" to "Cap Vert"

Since these Datia forgeries are marked "N", they were not made by Oneglia, but by another forger (as mentioned in the foreword of his catalogue).

Danemark. N
Number	Year	Description	Price in Fr.
1851 Armes:
1	1851	2 Rigsb., bleu..................................................................................................................................	Fr. -.50
2		16 Rigbs., gris	Fr. -.70
3		16 Rigbs., violet rouge	Fr. 1.--
Perché en lignes:
4		16 Rigbs., violet-rouge	Fr. 1.--

Since these Denmark forgeries are marked "N", they were not made by Oneglia, but by another forger (as mentioned in the foreword of his catalogue).
I think the above forgeries are indeed those sold by Oneglia based on the fact tha they bear a 4 ring cancel similar to those on other Oneglia forgeries and that the margins are very large.

Since these Danube forgeries are marked "N", they were not made by Oneglia, but by another forger (as mentioned in the foreword of his catalogue).

Deux Siciles. * Royaume de Naples.
Number	Year	Description	Price in Fr.
1854 - Trinacrie, cadres divers, gravure en cuivre
1	1854	1/2 grano, rose..............................................................................................................................	Fr. -.40
2		1 grano rose	Fr. -.10
3		2 grana, rose	Fr. -.10
4		5 grana, rose	Fr. -.10
5		10 grana, rose	Fr. -.15
6		20 grana, rose	Fr. -.40
7		50 grana, rose	Fr. -.80
Gouvernement Provisoire.
1860 - Trinacrie, bleu:
8	1860	1/2 tornese	Fr. -.50
1860 - Croix de Savoie, remplaçant la Trinacerie (gravure en cuivre)
9	1860	1/2 tornese, bleu	Fr. -.50

The book 'The Oneglia Engraved Forgeries' by Robson Lowe & Carl Walske (1996) states the 1854 forgeries were printed in blocks of 6, with 5 grano and 2 grano on top, then 20 grano and 1 grano in the center and 50 grano and 10 grano at the bottom. I have not seen such blocks.

Looks like a very similar forgery, but not engraved?

This forgery has the cancel "TORINO 19 MAGG ?". In the book 'Philatelic Forgers, their Lives and Work' from V.E. Tyler, a page from the 'Philatelisten Zeitung 18, 100 (1905)' is reproduced with cancels from Oneglia. Among them is the cancel "TORINO 19 MAGG 63 12 M". The above forgery however, looks more like a Fournier forgery.

Deux Siciles. *
Number	Year	Description	Price in Fr.
Gravure en cuivre, sur papier des vrais timbres de 2 grana évanouis, filigrane et oblitération, vraie (Mondial succès)
10	1854	1/2 grano, rose..............................................................................................................................	Fr. 1.50
10bis		5 grano rose	Fr. -.50
11		10 grana, rose	Fr. 1.--
12		20 grana, rose	Fr. 1.50
13		50 grana, rose	Fr. 5.--
Gouvernment Provisoire (Très joli, mondial succès):
1860 - Trinacrie
14	1860	1/2 tornese, bleu	Fr. 10.--
1860 - Croix de Savoie
15	1860	1/2 tornese, bleu	Fr. 5.--

These 'global succes' forgeries were made on genuine paper obtained from removing (bleaching) the image of a cheap 2 grana stamp and reprinting the desired design on it (very much similar to the way Sperati later made his forgeries).

Deux Siciles. * Gouvermenment Provisoire comme les numeros précédents.
Number	Year	Description	Price in Fr.
1860 - Trinacrie:
16	1860	1/2 tornése, bleu..............................................................................................................................	Fr. 15.--
1860 - Croix de Savoie:
17	1860	1/2 tornése, bleu	Fr. 10.--
Idem, sur papier commun:
18	1860	1/2 tornése, bleu Trinacrie	Fr. 1.50
19		1/2 tornése, bleu Croix de Savoie	Fr. 1.--

The book 'The Oneglia Engraved Forgeries' by Robson Lowe & Carl Walske (1996) mentions two types of these blue forgeries; with secret sign "G" in the margins below the "1/2" or without. I am not sure if this difference is what makes this set different from the previous ones?

Since these Dominican Republic forgeries are marked "N", they were not made by Oneglia, but by another forger (as mentioned in the foreword of his catalogue).

Presumably Oneglia forgeries of the French Colonies with Diego Suarez cancels "DIEGO SUAREZ 2E/18 JANV 92", which was also used on the above forgeries.

A genuine French Colonies stamp with a forged "DIEGO SUAREZ" overprint and a forged cancel "DIEGO SUAREZ 2E/18 JANV 92" identical to the ones shown above.

Égypte. *
Number	Year	Description	Price in Fr.
1866 - Ornaments divers:
1	1866	Série de 7 pièces toutes différentes..................................................................................................	Fr. 7.--
1867 - Sphinx, de trois quarts à gauche et Pyramide:
2	1867	Série de 7 pièces toutes différentes...	Fr. 2.--
1872 - 75 - 79 - Typo analogue, inscription italienne dans le bas, compris les deux avec valeur en surcharge noir:
3		Série de 14 pièces toutes différentes...	Fr. 4.--
Taxe.
1884 - Chiffres dans un rectangle:
4	1884	Série de 5 pièces toutes différentes, rouge	Fr. 2.--
1886 - Id.
5	1886	Série de 4 pièces toutes différentes...	Fr. 1.--
1888 - Id.
6	1888	Série de 5 pièces toutes différentes, couleurs variés	Fr. 3.--
1888 - Taxe:
7		Les 5 piastres gris seul	Fr. 2.--
		Toutes les 43	Fr. 16.--

All of these egypt forgeries have a "POSTE EGIZIANE PORTO SAID 3 GEN 78 T1". I am not 100% certain that these are indeed Oneglia forgeries, but they do appear to on the same 'primitivity' level than many of his other forgeries. Also, all of the forgeries listed with the above cancel appear in his 1906 catalogue. And some of the above forgeries appeared in a lot with many other Oneglia forgeries.
In his 1898 pricelist, Oneglia only offers an 'Essai authentique sur papier commun piques 13 neuf, 5 paras, gris-vert' for Fr. 2.--.

État de l'Église. *
Number	Year	Description	Price in Fr.
1	1852	7 baiocchi, bleu...............................................................................................................................	Fr. -.10
1858 - Timbres grands, couleur sur blanc:
2	1858	50 baiocchi bleu	Fr. -.20
3		1 scudo, clair	Fr. -.30
(Réimpressions authentiques garanties):
4	1867	2, 3, 5, 10, 20, 40 e 80 centimes, la série	Fr. -.50
5	1868	Idem, dentelés	Fr. -.50
6		1 scudo, clair	Fr. 1.50

1) At first sight, it is not immediatelly evident that the 7 Baj forgery was indeed made by Oneglia. However, on page 15 of the book 'The Oneglia Engraved Forgeries' by Robson Lowe & Carl Walske (1996), a letter from Oneglia is shown which has an image of exactly the forgery shown above. It has the "7" very different from a genuine stamp. It has some 'strange' cancels for an Oneglia forgery though. This forgery type is also shown in the Levitsky book ('Roman States Forgeries the Issues of 1852' by F.J. Levitsky), but it is attributed there to the stamp forger Senf (which also does not seem obvious to me).

Part of the Oneglia letter mentioned above with an image of the 7 Baj Papal States forgery reproduced from the Lowe and Walske book

2) I've been told that the above 1 Scudo forgeries were made by Oneglia. They seem to be engraved.
3) The 1867/1868 reprint issues might have been cancelled with the cross cancel of Ferrara (since this cancel is shown in V.Tyler's book 'Philatelic Forgers, their Lives and Works' as one of Oneglia's forged cancellations)

In V.Tyler's book 'Philatelic Forgers theirs Lives and Works' a page of the Philatelisten Zeitung 18, page 100 (1905) is reproduced. It has the following Oneglia cancel for Eritrea: "MASSAUA 14 5-94 *(ERITREA)*". I presume this cancel was used on these forgeries.

Espagne. *
Number	Year	Description	Price in Fr.
1851 - Effige à droite dans un ovale:
1	1851	2 reales, rose....................................................................................................................................	Fr. 2.--
2		6 reales, bleu	Fr. 5.--
1853 - Effige à droite dans un cercle:
3	1853	6 cuartos, carmin	Fr. -.10
4		12 cuartos, violet	Fr. -.50
5		2 reals, rouge	Fr. 1.--
6		5 reals, vert	Fr. -.50
7		6 reals, bleu	Fr. -.70
Armoires fond blanc.
8	1854	2 cuartos, vert	Fr. 1.50
9		1 real, bleu foncé	Fr. 1.--
10		1 real, bleu pâle	Fr. 1.50
1865 - Effige de Isabelle II; lion et tour aux angles:
11	1865	2 cuartos, rose	Fr. -.20
12		4 cuartos, bleu	Fr. 1.--
13		12 cuartos, bleu et rose	Fr. -.20
14		19 cuartos, brun et rose	Fr. -.50
15		1 real, vert	Fr. -.30
16		1 real, vert foncé	Fr. -.30
17		1 real, lilas	Fr. -.30
18		2 real, saumon	Fr. -.30
19		2 real, bistre	Fr. -.30
Erreur, centre renversé:
20		12 cuartos, bleu et rose	Fr. 1.--
21		Les mêmes dentelés
22		2 cuartos, rose	Fr. -.20
23		4 cuartos, bleu	Fr. -.20
24		12 cuartos, bleu et rose	Fr. -.40
25		10 cuartos brun et rose	Fr. 1.--
26		1 real, vert	Fr. -.50
27		2 real, violet	Fr. -.30
28		2 real, saumon	Fr. -.30
29		2 real, bistre	Fr. -.30
30		12 cuartos, blue et rose	Fr. 1.--
31		19 cuartos, brun et rose	Fr. 1.50
32		4 cuartos, bleu	Fr. 1.50
Timbres de Madrid. 1853 - Écusson couronné
33	1853	1 cuartos, bronze	Fr. 1.--
34		3 cuartos, bronze	Fr. 2.--
1872-73: N
35		5 cuartos, rose	Fr. -.10
36		10 cuartos, lilas	Fr. -.50
37		12 cuartos, violet	Fr. -.05
38		20 cuartos, lilas	Fr. -.40
39		25 cuartos, brun	Fr. -.50
40		40 cuartos, bistre	Fr. -.10
41		50 cuartos, vert	Fr. -.10
42		1 peseta, lilas	Fr. -.40
43		4 peseta, brun	Fr. -.50
44		10 peseta, vert	Fr. 1.50

These forgeries (at least the ones I have seen) are cancelled with a "4" numeral cancel (the so-called Rueda de Carreta type).
The 1862 King Amadeus forgeries appear to be of the same type as the Cuba forgeries in this Ongelia catalogue. These Amadeus forgeries also have the "4" numeral cancel.
The 1 reales green perforated stamp has very wide margins, as often the case in Oneglia forgeries.

États Unis d'Amérique.
Number	Year	Description	Price in Fr.
1860 - Gravure en cuivre, très jolie:
1		90 cent, bleu (Washington) .................................................................................	Fr. 1.--
2	1860	24 cent., vert et violet (Declar)	Fr. 1.--
3		90 cent., carmin et noir (Lincoln)	Fr. 1.--
Idem, erreurs, avec centre renversé:
4		24 cent., vert et violet (Declar)	Fr. 1.--
5		90 cent., carmin et noir (Lincoln)	Fr. 1.--
6	1870	Facsimile, timbres pour journaux, série de 4 timbres	Fr. 1.--
7	1873	Facsimile, timbres de service, série de 4 timbres	Fr. 1.--
8	1870	Facsimile, timbres pour journaux, série de 24 timbres	Fr. 1.--

Fernando-Po. *
Number	Year	Description	Price in Fr.
1896-98 - Tim. Fiscaux surch.
1	1896-98	5 cent., sur 10 cent., carmin.......................................................................................................	Fr. 1.--
2		10 cent., carmin	Fr. 1.--
Avec surch. renversée.
3		5 cent., sur 10 cent., carmin	Fr. 5.--
4		10 cent.	Fr. 6.--
1899 - Dent. 14. N
5	1899	60 cent., noir	Fr. 1.--
6		80 cent., brun-lilas	Fr. 1.--
7		1 pesos vert	Fr. 5.--
8		2 pesos bleu prusse	Fr. 5.--

Since the 1899 Fernando Po forgeries are marked "N", they were not made by Oneglia, but by another forger (as mentioned in the foreword of his catalogue).
Since the above 5 c on 10 c is the only forgery I am aware off, I presume this is the forgery Oneglia sold. The overprint is too small and the letters of the overprint don't correspond to a genuine overprint I've seen. Also, the basic stamp appears to have been photolithographed (details all a bit blur) and the crossbar of the "F" of "F DO" is placed too high.

Fidji. *
Number	Year	Description	Price in Fr.
1871-77 - Cadre variés dent. 12 1/2.
1	1871-77	1 pesos, bleu...............................................................................................................................	Fr. -.50
2		3 pesos, vert (note the wrong currency: pesos instead of pence)	Fr. -.50
		6 pesos, carmin	Fr. 1.--
1872 - Idem, surch.
4	1872	Two cents. sur 1 p.	Fr. -.50
5		Siy cents. sur 3 p.	Fr. -.50
6		Twelve cents. sur 6 p.	Fr. 1.--
1874 - Idem, surch. V. R. floroné sur le T. du 1872
7	1874	2 cent., sur 1 p. blue	Fr. 2.--
8		6 cent., sur 3 p. vert	Fr. 5.--
9		12 cent., sur 6 p. carmin	Fr. 3.--
10		2 d., sur 6 cent., sur 3 p.	Fr. 5.--
11		2 d., sur 6 cent., sur 3 p. (s. rouge)	Fr. 5.--
12		2 d. sur 12 cent., sur 6 p. (s. rouge)	Fr. 10.--
V. R. plus petit.
13		2 cent., sur 1 p., bleu	Fr. 3.--
14		6 cent., sur 3 p., vert	Fr. 10.--
15		12 cent., sur 6 p., carmin	Fr. 3.--
16		2 d., sur 6 cent., sur 3 p.	Fr. 10.--
17		2 d., sur 6 cent., sur 3 p. (s. rouge)	Fr. 5.--
18		2 d., sur 12 cent., sur 6 p. (s. rouge)	Fr. 8.--
		Série de 18 pièces	Fr. 65.--

I've been told these are Mercier forgeries, but I think they are probably made by the forger Oneglia. Oneglia offered these forgeries for the first time in his 1906 catalogue.
In the 1 p forgery, there are too many pearls (65 instead of 55), and the base of the crown is rounded instead of being flat. The 1 p forgery also exists imperforate (without cancel). The "C" is too close to the circle.
In the 3 p forgery, the correct pattern for the circle is used, but the base of the crown is rounded instead of being flat (I've also seen the 3 p forgery without any overprint).
In the 6 p forgery there are pearls in the circle instead of the zig-zag pattern of the genuine stamps (similar to the Spiro forgeries, the Spiro forgeries have 55 pearls, Mercier's forgeries have 56 pearls). I've also seen the 6 p forgery with a 'VR' overprint only.
Although I'm not entirely sure, it looks like these forgeries have the typical bars with "G" cancel as can be found on many other Oneglia forgeries.

Imperforate 1 p forgery and 6 p with "VR" overprint only

Oneglia forgeries, 1906 catalogue, "France" to "Gwailor"

Copyright by Evert Klaseboer