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Preview of Stamps Catalogue: VOLUME 2

TURKEY 1863 issue

Türkei - Turquie

Return To Catalogue - Turkey overview

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1863 Signature of the sultan, imperforated, various frames

20 pa Misprint? 

  20 pa black on yellow, red border
  1 Pi black on lilac, red border
  2 Pi black on blue, red border
  5 Pi black on red, blue border

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
20 pa *** *** Also seems to exist with blue border
1 Pi *** *** Also seems to exist with blue border
2 Pi *** ***  
5 Pi R R  

All values exist on thin paper, the 20 pa and 1 Pi also on thick paper. They can be found printed 'tete-beche' (only a minority of stamps has been printed in the 'normal' way). The arabic incription at the bottom of the stamp (a control overprint) extends on several stamps.

Image reproduced with permission from: http://www.sandafayre.com
Tete-beche: image reproduced with permission from: http://www.sandafayre.com

Postage due stamps, same design, but colours changed

Wrong color of the security overprint 1 Pi 2 Pi 5 Pi 

  20 pa black on brown, blue border
  1 Pi black on brown, blue border
  2 Pi black on brown, blue border
  5 Pi black on brown, blue border

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
20 pa *** ***  
1 Pi *** ***  
2 Pi R R  
5 Pi R R  

Cancels:

2 Pi black on blue, red border

The first cancels to be used on stamps of Turkey are the above stripes and dots cancels. They consist of four squares filled up with lines (upper left and lower right) and dots (upper right and lower left). These cancels were used in 1863 and 1864. Three varieties exist differing in the size (25 x 19 mm, 26 x 20 mm and 26 x 18 mm).


('Battal' cancels)

A second cancel used on these stamps is the 'Battal' cancel (which means 'cancelled'), the word 'Battal' is written in arabic (looks like some kind of 'M'), surrounded by a rectangular pattern of dots. Eight different types exist (also mainly differing in size): 25 x 20 mm (2 types, text and dots slightly different), 27 x 19 mm, 26 x 18 mm, 25 x 18 mm (3 types with text slightly different) and 26 x 19 mm.

Forgeries:

Genuine stamps have secret marks:
20 pa: a short line joins the inner rectangle to the top frame (about 3/4 to the right).
1 Pi ?
2 Pi: In the lower frame line with the pearls, the 4th pearl counted from the right has a dot in it.
5 Pi: A small dot appears in the upper left corner, in the white space between the arabesque ornament and the triangles. It is level with the second triangle from the top.


Forgeries, note the strange '2' cancel on the 20 pa stamp. The 'tughra' (the design above the moon) is slightly different from the genuine stamps.

1 Pi black on lilac.
Another forgery set, note the cancel 'C' with two dots. Also note the value inscriptions, notably the '20' and '2' (both in Arabic) in the 20 paras and 2 Pi which are different from the genuine stamps. The '5' (in Arabic) is also different on the 5 Pi.


Other forgery of the 5 Pi value.


Very primitive forgery.


A forgery of a proof.

 

For stamps of Turkey issued from 1865 to 1875, click here.

Copyright by Evert Klaseboer