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BULGARIA 1879-1895

Return To Catalogue - Bulgaria 1896-1915 - Bulgaria 1916-1920 and miscellaneous

Some bogus stamps for Bulgaria exist, examples:

(Reduced sizes)

According to 'Les Timbres de Fantaisie' of Georges Chapier these stamps were issued when Bulgaria was first founded and they should have served for 8 days (I doubt they have ever been used genuinely however). The following values exist: 1 p black on white, 5 p black on orange, 10 p black on yellow, 20 p black on blue, 25 p black on violet, 25 p black on green(?), 50 p black on green and 80 p black on violet.

1879 Lion, value in Centimes or Francs

  5 c black and orange
  10 c black and green
  25 c black and lilac
  50 c black and blue
  1 Fr black and red

Surcharged

  '50' on 1 Fr black and red 

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

Forgeries exist of these stamps (see http://home.no.net/bhb1/stamps.htm for more details).The distinghuishing characteristics of the forgeries are (according to this website)
1. Line perforation (see the corners)
2. Missing or deformed triangle under the cyrillic letter 'W' (to the right of the tail of the lion)
3. Uneven or deformed star (5 ct, 10 ct, 50 ct, 1 fr)
4. Often missing background colour by the lion's hind leg
5. Left front leg touches the frame
6. Flat underside of head of 'T' in 'CENT.' (25 ct)
7. Narrow head of 'G' in 'BULGARSKA'
8. The colours are often different from the genuine stamps

Example of a Fournier forged surcharge (taken from a Fournier Album of Philatelic Forgeries):

1881 Lion, value in Stotinki or Lew

  1 st violet and yellow
  2 st green and yellow
  3 st red and grey
  3 st orange and yellow
  5 st black and yellow
  5 st green and yellowish green
  10 st black and green
  10 st red and lilac
  15 st red and green
  15 st lilac
  25 st black and lilac
  25 st blue (2 shades)
  30 st blue and brown
  30 st violet and green
  50 st blue and lilac
  1 L black and red (1887)

Surcharged

  '01' (red) on 2 st green
  '3' on 10 st red
  '5' (black or red) on 30 st blue and brown
  '15' (red) on 25 St blue

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

For the specialist: the values 1 st and 2 st exist with 2 different types of value inscriptions 'EDHA' and 'EDNHb' for the 1 st value, 'DBb' and 'DBA' for the 2 st value

Forgeries, example:

(Forged overprint)

Example of Fournier forged surcharges (taken from a Fournier Album of Philatelic Forgeries):

New values of this type were issued in 1927 and 1930:

(1927 issue)

1889 Smaller lion

  1 s lilac
  2 s grey
  3 s brown
  5 s green
  10 s red
  15 s orange
  25 s blue
  30 s brown
  50 s green
  1 L red
  2 L red and lilac
  3 L black

Surcharged

  '3' and text (green) on 1 s lilac (1916, issued for the Red Cross)
  '5' and bar on 3 s brown
  '10' on 50 s green
  '15' on 30 s brown

Overprinted '1909'

  1 s lilac
  5 s green

Overprinted '1909' and surcharged

  5 on 30 s brown
  10 on 15 s orange
  10 (red) on 50 s green

This issue exists with various perforations.

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
1 s	c	c
2 s	c	c
3 s	c	c
5 s	c	vc
10 s	*	c
15 s	c	vc
25 s	*	c
30 s	*	c
50 s	*	c
1 L	*	*
2 L	**	**
3 L	***	***
Surcharged
3 on 1 s	***	***
5 on 3 s	*	*
10 on 50 s	*	*
15 on 30 s	c	c
With '1909' overprint
1 s	c	c
5 s	*	*
5 on 30 s	*	*
10 on 15 s	*	*
10 on 50 s	*	*

For stamps of Bulgaria from 1896 to 1915 click here.

Websites

A very nice site on stamps of Bulgaria and its forgeries: http://home.no.net/bhb1/stamps.htm

Copyright by Evert Klaseboer

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