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TAHITI, Postage Due Stamps with "TAHITI" overprint

Return To Catalogue - Tahiti, postage due stamps, with "1893 TAHITI" overprint and unoverprinted stamps - Tahiti - French Oceanic Settlements

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1893 Postage due stamps of the french colonies overprinted "TAHITI"

20 c black Certified genuine, image obtained from a Siegel auction Certified genuine, image obtained from a Siegel auction Image obtained from a Harmers auction Certified genuine, image obtained from a Siegel auction
There might be forged overprints in the above set of stamps....

  1 c black
  2 c black
  3 c black
  4 c black
  5 c black
  10 c black
  15 c black
  20 c black
  30 c black
  40 c black
  60 c black
  1 F brown
  2 F brown

This surcharge is normally from the upper left corner to the lower right corner. All these overprints are rare. In the 'France and Colonies Specialist' 267 of January 2002, https://www.franceandcolonies.org/philatelist/266.pdf the author, Christian Beslu, believes that: "no Tahiti letter was ever taxed with these stamps (or"vignettes" as I'd prefer) and that such letters and stamps are due to simple complaisance on the part of certain Tahiti postal functionaries.". In the same article, the auctioneer Alexandre Roumet fully agreed that the great majority of letters and canceled stamps of Tahiti are philatelically contrived.

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
All values RRR RRR  

Some remarks on forgeries can be found in Le Postillon Revue Philatelique of 1921, page 528, together with some images of forged stamps.


Letters addressed to Charles Georget were fabricated by Vallier, the postmaster of Tahiti. He pasted all postage due overprints on letters which were then offered to stamp dealers. Usually these letters were cut up and the individual stamps sold be the dealers. See https://www.franceandcolonies.org/philatelist/266.pdf for more details. Image obtained from the before mentioned journal.

Examples of forgeries:

Could be a forgery!
Very dubious items with a very neat "TAHITI" overprint. This looks like forgery type 04 of the above mentioned Le Postillon article.


Forgeries (Type 2 forgeries, both the basic stamps and the overprints). In my opinion, the top of the "5" curls too much backwards in the 15 c value. In the 2 forgery the "2" is placed too far to the right and the second "R" of "PERCEVOIR" is also too close to the ornaments besides it. In all values, there is a defect in the upper right corner. The cancelled stamp has a forged "PAPEETE 13 AOUT 9? TAITI", which I have also seen on forgeries of the next postage due issue, this appears to be a Fournier forged cancel.


Bogus block of four 3 c and 5 c stamps with forged "DIEGO SUAREZ", "TAHITI", "BENIN" and "OBOCK" overprints. The basic stamps are also forged.


The same forgeries as shown above. The printing is quite blur for all these forgeries. Also a pair of two stamps, one 40 c with a "TAHITI" overprint and a 5 F printed on top of each other. Note that there are two different sizes of the "TAHITI" overprint in this forgery type.


2 F forgery, the basic stamp is also forged (the "2" is placed too far to the right)

There might be two types of each of these forgeries. In my view, these forgeries have the following disinguishing characteristics (besides from being printed very badly):
1 c: In the 1 c forgery, the upper part is badly done; especially above the "H" of "CHIFFRE".
4 c: The top right part of the "4" has an extension in the genuine stamp, this is missing in this forgery.
5 c: There appear to be at least two types of the 5 c, in one of the 5 c types there are some smudges below "PERC" and the central bar of the first "E" of "CENTIMES" is missing, which also appear in the left stamp of the block of four.
15 c: In one of the types, there is a hole in the inner frame below the "I" of "CHIFFRE". The accent on the "A" is missing.


Very primitive forgery of the 10 c value.


A very dubious 1 c stamp, most likely the stamp and overprint are forged.


These stamps bear a forged "TAHITI" overprint, they have a cancel from Obock (even this might have been cancelled to order?)


Most likely a forged overprint, the stamp already appears to have been used in Mytho Cochinchine.


Stamps, overprint and cancels are all forged. Next to it some Obock overprints, apparently made by the same forger. Note the cancel "..ESTEMUN.." on all these forgeries ("GEESTEMÜNDE 4:9 7?"). In the 20 c there is a nick in the upper frameline above the second "F" of "CHIFFRE". The 2 F stamps have the upper left internal portion missing. For more information on these forgeries in this design click here: French colonies, postage due stamps, forgery type 8 "Geestemunde"

 

Tahiti, postage due stamps, with "1893 TAHITI" overprint and unoverprinted stamps

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