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| Preview of Stamps Catalogue: VOLUME 1 |
Return To Catalogue - Mecklenburg Schwerin - 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.
Fournier sold two forgeries of these stamps, he offers them in his 1914 pricelist as 1st choice forgeries for 6 Swiss Francs (6 values, including the 4/4 Sch of the following issue) or second choice forgeries for 2 Swiss Francs:
Fournier forgery, first and second choice (twice). In my opinion,
the first choice Fournier forgery (left image) has the fourth row
of pearls on the crown different; there is too much white space
to the left of these pearls (the line to the left of it is placed
too far to the left). The second choice Fournier forgery has an
inverted "S" in "SCHILLINGE". The third
forgery has a 'Spiro' cancel.
(Inverted "S")
According to 'The forged stamps of all countries' by J.Dorn the tips of the horns should be open in the genuine stamps and there should be 4 dots between the tips of the horns. As far as I can see the tips of the horns are closed in the Fournier forgeries. Note, that the "S" of "SCHILLINGE" in the second stamp looks inverted. The following stamps are Fournier forgeries as well:
On the above Fournier forgeries a two-ring cancel can be found with cityname, but with no indication of the date. I have seen "SCHWERIN", "ROSTOCK" and "GUSTROW" (others might exist). Even though Fournier sold the above stamps, I don't think he was the producer of the above forgeries (I presume he might have gotten them from Spiro). I can be noted that many other forgeries of the German States have similar characteristics (a cancel with no date). For more information about such forgeries, click here.
A whole sheet of these forgeries.
One of these forgeries, enhanced with a "RIBNITZ 11 6"
cancel.
Also the following cancels were used by Fournier on his forgeries (the first choice ones, pictures taken from a Fournier album):
(Reduced sizes)
Reduced sizes
"ROSTOCK 21/2 BAHNHOF" in a double
circle
"DOMITZ 6 1" in a double circle
"BREITENSEE 17/12 52" in a single circle (probably not
used for Mecklenburg, but for Austrian newspaper forgeries)
"PETSCHAU 1/6 56" in a single circle
"WISMAR 13/11" in a double circle
"MALCHIN 3 6" in a double circle
"ROSTOCK15 6 3-4" in a double circle
"GUSTROW 22 10" in a double circle
"MIROW 17 8-67" in a rectangle
"NEUSTRELITZ 12 9" in a single circle
"WISMAR 13 11" in a double circle (second '1' in '11'
slanting backwards)
"SCHWERIN BAHNHOF 1 8" in a double circle
I expect the above stamps to be Fournier forgeries, they have the cancel "SCHWERIN 1 8 BAHNHOF" and can be found in a Fournier album. These 'first choice forgeries' were probably made by Fournier himself. He might also have applied these forged cancels to genuine stamps.
Left Fournier forgery, the lines around the fourth arch on the
crown are different from a genuine stamp. Right: genuine stamp
The forger Sperati made a forgery of the 5 S blue stamp (cancelled and uncancelled). He even made two different types of forgeries (reproduction 'A' and 'B'). Reproduction 'B' has a kink in the inner frameline just above the "M" of "FREIMARKE". See also: http://stampsx.com/ratgeber/ratgeber-sperati.php?PHPSESSID=f251fb6f8f9253ae223f2a355faa5d9d
Sperati reproductions 'A' (left) and 'B'(right), images obtained
from a Sotheby auction.
The cancels that Sperati is known to have used
are:
"MARLOW 13 1" in two straight lines
"ROSTOCK 17/6" in a double circle
"WISMAR 9/5"
"WISMAR 2/12"
In the next stamp, the crown almost touches the upper label with "FREIMARKE", I don't know who made this forgery:
Forgeries of the 2 Sch and 5 Sch values with the lettering very
badly done, see for example the "SCH" of
"SCHILLINGE". The dot behind "MECKLENB" is
placed too near to the label containing the value above it. I
presume this is the first forgery of Album Weeds. Note the bogus
postmarks.
There are not enough dots inside the shield in the above forgery. Also, the cross on top of the crown is too close to the frameline above it.
And some other forgeries. These are listed as Second Forgery in
Album Weeds. The head of the bull is too far to the left. The
outer two frame lines are almost merged together. Note the
typical cancels on these forgeries ("ZEITUNGS SPEDITION"? and other
bogus cancels).
Two other forgeries of the 5 S brown and 3 S yellow with the
"B" of "MECKLENB" too close to the upper left
value rectangle. The '5's in the 5 S are too small and the '3's
in the 3 S are too flat. I've seen the 3 S value, badly
perforated, with a cancel consisting of concentric circles (with
a blur number in the center?). The cancel consists of parallel
lines or dots. Forgery of the 2 S with the dots behind the shield
quite irregularly. I think this is the third forgery described in
Album Weeds. The trefoil on top of the head of the bull is too
large.
Primitive forgery of the 3 s yellow, with the '3's in the corners
misshapen and too narrow.
Another primitive forgery of the 5 Sch value.
Forgery with "WAREN 7/4" cancel.
Perforated forgery with huge margins. The word
"FREIMARKE" has been replaced by "FPEIMARKE"
(with a "P").
Possibly a Zechmeyer forgery. The
cancel "ROSTOCK" is always placed in the same location
(both in the 3 sch and the 5 sch values)
Three forgeries with a scratch in front of the upper left
"3".
Other forgeries and forged postmarks on genuine stamps exist.
