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Preview of Stamps Catalogue: VOLUME 1

ONEGLIA FORGERIES, 1906 catalogue, "Hambourg" to "Joniennes"

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, "France" to "Gwailor"

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

Since these Helgoland forgeries are marked "N", they were not made by Oneglia, but by another forger (as mentioned in the foreword of his catalogue).
In the 1898 Oneglia pricelist, the 1867-76 issues of Helgoland are list in a set of 15, for Fr. 1.--. This might not have been a commercial success, since excellent reprints are available (even today) in large quantities.

Hongrie. *
Number	Year	Description	Price in Fr.
1871 - Effigie dans un petit cercle, litographie très jolie:
Turin forgery, image obtained from http://www.arge-ungarn.de/forgeries.htm.
1	1871	2 Kreuz, jaune ................................................................................................................................	Fr. 0.50
2		2 Kreuz, jaune foncé	Fr. 0.50
3		3 Kreuz, vert	Fr. 1.--
4		5 Kreuz, rose	Fr. 0.10
5		10 Kreuz, bleu	Fr. 0.20
6		15 Kreuz, brun	Fr. 0.50
7		20 Kreuz, violet	Fr. 0.20

The book 'Vervalsingen van de eerste postzegels van Hongarije 1871' by J.Palmans Kon. Kring "Matador", Antwerpen, 1973, Nr.3 describes the distinguishing characteristics of these 'Turin-forgeries'. The perforation is 11 1/2 and the two lines forming the bottom of the shield consists of parallel lines, while genuine stamps do not show this, but a hump instead in the upper line right at the bottom.

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

Since these Haiti forgeries are marked "N", they were not made by Oneglia, but by another forger (as mentioned in the foreword of his catalogue). The cancel (bars with "G") confirms that these were indeed sold by Oneglia. These forgeries are also known to have been sold by Panelli.

These Hoi-Hao stamps are genuine, but with a forged overprint.

Hong-Kong. *
Number	Year	Description	Price in Fr.
1862 - Dent. 14, grav. en cuivre:
. These forgeries are sometimes attributed to Panelli. Panelli most likely sold Oneglia forgeries
1	1862	2 cent. brun.......................................................................................................................................	Fr. -.50
2		8 cent. jaune	Fr. -.50
3		12 cent. bleu clair	Fr. -.50
4		18 cent. lilas	Fr. -.50
5		24 cent. vert	Fr. -.50
6		48 cent. rose	Fr. 1.--
7		96 cent. gris	Fr. 1.20
1863-76 - Fil. C. C. dent. 14
8	1871	2 cent.brun	Fr. -.30
9		4 cent. gris	Fr. -.20
10		6 cent. violet	Fr. -.30
11		8 cent. orange	Fr. -.20
12		12 cent. bleu	Fr. -.20
13		16 cent. jaune	Fr. -.40
14		18 cent. violet	Fr. 1.25
15		24 cent. vert	Fr. 0.30
16		30 cent. vermillon	Fr. 0.40
16bis		30 cent. lilas	Fr. 0.10
17		48 cent. rose	Fr. 0.30
18		96 cent. bistre jaune	Fr. 2.--
19		96 cent. gris	Fr. -.40
Dent. 12 1/2:
20		4 cent. gris	Fr. 1.20
1876-80 - Timbres du 1863-76 avec surcharge:
21		5 c. sur 8 orange	Fr. 1.--
22		5 c. sur 18 violet	Fr. -.30
23		10 c. sur 12 bleu	Fr. -.20
24		10 c. sur 16 jaune	Fr. 1.--
25		10 c. sur 24 vert	Fr. -.30
26		16 c. sur 18 violet	Fr. 1.--
27		28 c. sur 30 lilas	Fr. -.40
1880 - Id. fil. C. C. dent. 14:
Image obtained from Stampsboard.com
28		48 c. brun	Fr. 1.--
1882-1902 - Id. fil. C. C. dent. 14
29		12 cent. bleu	Fr. -.40
1885-99 - Fil. C.A. dent. 14 surcharge:
30		14 c. sur 30 lilac	Fr. -.40
31		20 c. sur 30 rouge	Fr. -.10
32		20 c. sur 30 gris	Fr. -.40
33		30 c. sur 48 brun	Fr. -.40
34		50 c. sur 48 lilas	Fr. -.60
35		1 $ sur 96 gris	Fr -.50
36		1 $ sur 96 brun sur rouge	Fr. 1.--
1898 - Timbres 1862 fil. C. A. dent surcharge:
37	1898	10 c.sur 30 vert	Fr. 2.-
38		1 $ sur 96 noir	Fr. 1.50
		Toutes les 38 pieces	Fr. 20.--

The book The Oneglia Engraved Forgeries by Robson Lowe & Carl Walske (1996) says an oval cancel consisting of bars with a large "2" exists on one of these forgeries, but I think it is actually the barred "G" cancel that was used on other forgeries by Oneglia.

Here Oneglia forgeries of the 30 c and 96 c pasted on pieces of paper. Images obtained from stampsboard.com These forgeries also exist with a "B62" cancel (this cancel also exists genuine and was also used extensively by Spiro/Fournier).

The 10 c 1864 forgeries are described in 'De vervalsingen van Nederland & O.G.' by F.P.A. van de Loo (in Dutch). It is there refererred to as a 'Oniglia' forgery. The margins of these forgeries are often very large. They can be found with cancels that were also used on other Oneglia forgeries (bars with "G" cancel or 5 concentric rings).
A forgery of the 5 c postage due stamp is also described in the van de Loo book, with smudges in the "P" and "R" of "PORT".. It is cancelled with a numeral "3" cancel. I do not know if this is the same forgery as the one from Oneglia, (there are two forgery types listed in the van de Loo book). Further confirmation of this would be that I've seen a large Russian Levant stamp with a numeral "3" cancel (see there).

Since these India forgeries are marked "N", they were not made by Oneglia, but by another forger (as mentioned in the foreword of his catalogue). I am actually not entirely sure which stamps are actually offered here. India did not emit any stamps in 1864, or are the provisional overprints of 1866 being offered here?

Italie. * Sardaigne.
Number	Year	Description	Price in Fr.
1850 - Effigie de Victor Emmanuel II, à droite dans un ovale, sans relief, couleur sur blanc:
1	1850	5 cent., noir.................................................................................................................................	Fr. -.30
2		20 cent., bleu	Fr. -.10
3		40 cent., rose	Fr. -.30
1853 - Même effigie en relief sur papier de couleur:
4	1853	5 cent., vert	Fr. -.50
5		20 cent., bleu	Fr. -.25
6		40 cent., rose	Fr. -.40
1854 - Même effigie en relief blanc dans cadre de couleur:
7	1854	5 cent., vert	Fr. -.10
8		20 cent., bleu	Fr. -.25
9		40 cent., carmin	Fr. -.40
1855-62 - Même genre avec inscriptions blanches dans cadre de couleur
10	1855-62	5 cent., vert	Fr. -.05
11		5 cent., vert jaune	Fr. -.05
12		10 cent., bistre	Fr. -.05
13		10 cent., brun	Fr. -.05
14		10 cent., brun noir	Fr. -.05
15		10 cent., brun violet	Fr. -.05
16		10 cent., ocre	Fr. -.05
17		15 cent., bleu	Fr. -.05
18		20 cent., bleu pâle	Fr. -.05
19		20 cent., bleu foncé	Fr. -.03
20		40 cent., rouge	Fr. -.10
21		40 cent., carmin	Fr. -.10
22		80 cent., jaune	Fr. -.10
23		80 cent., jaune bistre	Fr. -.10
24		3 lire, bronze	Fr. -.40
1862-63 - Idem, dentelé
25	1862-63	5 cent., vert	Fr. -.10
26		5 cent., vert jaune	Fr. -.10
27		10 cent., bistre	Fr. -.05
28		10 cent., brun	Fr. -.10
29		10 cent., brun violet	Fr. -.10
30		20 cent., bleu pâle	Fr. -.10
31		20 cent., bleu foncé	Fr. -.05
32		40 cent., carmin	Fr. -.20
33		80 cent., jaune	Fr. -.30
34		3 lire, bronze	Fr. -.50
34 bis	1889	5 lire, vert-rouge	Fr. -.50

The Serrane guide says: "Le 5 lire de 1889, no 45, a été grossièrement falsifié. Comparez l'effigie; sans filigrane; dentelure non conforme.". This is probably the 5 Lire stamp listed above. I have not seen a copy yet.
One of the cancels I've often seen on the 1855/1862 issue is "TODI 5 LUG 6?" and "TODI 10 APR. 62 UMBRIA". Also "DA ANCONA A BOLOGNA 12 APR. 60 (1)", which can also be found on forged postage due stamps of Italy..
I found the 1853 and 1854 forgeries, pasted on small pieces of paper in a collection with many more Oneglia forgeries.

Forgery 80 c with forged "CUNEO 19 MAGG 61 12 M" cancel. Also the words "C.OTTANTA" are placed too high.

The 5 c with inverted head and Cuneo cancel was obtained from https://www.ilpostalista.it/falsi/domande_199.htm It is said there that Cuneo only used cancels with the month in 3 characters (not 4 as here).
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 "CUNEO 19 MAGG 61 12 M", identical to the one on the 5 c inverted head forgery.

Italie.
Number	Year	Description	Price in Fr.
Timbres de Sardaigne 1858 vrais, dentelure, oblitérations imitées comme ceux du 1862 d'ITALIE:
45		5 cent., vert jaune.........................................................................................................	Fr. 1.--
46		5 cent., vert bleu	Fr. 1.--
47		10 cent., bistre	Fr. -.30
48		40 cent., rouge	Fr. -.40
49		80 cent., orange	Fr. -.40
Timbres-taxe.
1863 - Valeur dans un ovale:
50	1863	10 cent., jaune	Fr. -.60
51		10 cent., jaune brun	Fr. -.50

Some of the above stamps of Italy bear the forged cancel "ORBETELLO 2 GEN 63 *" (even pasted on small pieces of paper)
The 80 c with Cuneo cancel was obtained from https://www.ilpostalista.it/falsi/domande_199.htm It is said there that Cuneo only used cancels with the month in 3 characters (not 4 as here).
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 "CUNEO 19 MAGG 61 12 M", however, the cancel is slightly different here "16" instead of "19" and the "O" rounder. The cancel "TORINO 19 MAGG 63 12 M" is also listed in the Tyler book as belonging to Oneglia.
The "DA ANCONA A BOLOGNA 12 APR. 60 (1)" cancel also appears on stamps of Sardinia (genuine postage due stamps weren't even supposed to be cancelled).
The forged cancel "TODI 10 APR. 62 UMBRIA" as found on the 10 c was also used on forgeries of Sardinia.

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

Part of a pricelist of Oneglia from 1898, with an image of a Jhalawar stamp.The text (in French) elsewhere in this pricelist reads "JHALAWAR 1891 - 1 paisa vert Fr.-.05"

Oneglia forgeries, 1906 catalogue, "Luxembourg" to "Mauritius"

Copyright by Evert Klaseboer