Contents:
What is the purpose of this section
Definitions
Forgeries of First Day Canceled Stamps
Forged Varieties
Forged Stamps on Covers
Forged Varieties
The Christmas 1998 Missing Blue Color Variety
What is the purpose of this section
During the collection of Israel Klussendorf stamps I have been offered some strange variations of the basic stamps. These offerings were labeled as "rare items", and accordingly came with a relatively high price. The question if a stamp is indeed genuinely rare item or a forgery is sometimes a difficult one to answer. The resolution is serious process which involves close observation and information gathering about the origin of the stamp. This information is not always available at real-time, and often becomes available only as a result of matching several pieces of evidence that allow to make conclusions.
The Israel Klussendorf domain, was not immune from being subject to forgery and manipulation. In the section below I have listed some instances that the stamps in question are, to my best judgment, forgeries resulting from human manipulation. I have also listed some instances of doubtful varieties, that their classification as genuine is yet unresolved. The collecting public can judge and classify them as they please.
Collectors are invited to send comments, questions and contributions to this
section. I have received reactions from some collectors on the information
presented in this section in the previous release (Version 5), and included it
below, alongside the original text. It is for the need to maintain an open
discussion on this topic, that I decided to name this section "Collector's
Watch".
But before we progress, let's pick up some definitions from the philatelic
experts...
In "Fakes Forgeries Experts" No. 1, Oct. 1998, Published by F.F.E. Paolo Vollmeier, Switzerland, Ronald Butler gave the following definitions:
A faked stamp is a genuine stamp that has been altered with
a view to enhancing its philatelic value by changing, for example, its
inscribed denomination, watermark, color, the method of separation from
its neighboring stamps or its postal obliteration.
A forged stamp is a fraudulent imitation of a genuine stamp,
of a genuine overprint or surcharge which might be applied to a stamp or
of a genuine postal obliteration used to invalidate a stamp on usage.
Forgeries of First
Day Canceled Stamps
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| Definitive Issue 2nd Printing: 022 machine located at Herzelia with Herzelia local Post Office postmark dated 9.7.90 | Definitive Issue 3rdPrinting: 031 machine located at Ashkelon with Ashkelon local Post Office postmark dated 9.7.90 |
It is a well established fact that all the machines that operated on the first issue date (9.7.90) were equipped with the Definitive Issue of the first printing type. The 2nd and 3rd printing types were observed only in 9/90. The samples above, of later printings, but with the FD cancellation, are a result of subsequent production. In fact, there exists evidence to that fact. Hence according to the definition quoted above, these samples constitute forgeries.
I was requested to examine a stamp of the 4th Definitive Type (MiNr 3.4, Bale K1D) with machine code 036, that was a clearly a forgery. It was created by altering a stamp produced by the 035 machine. The quantity existing of this forged variety is unknown.
The Christmas 1994 end of sale date was 10.1.95. The official postal rates at that time were 0.90 (Inland), 1.40 (Europe), 1.70 (Overseas). It is known that manipulative production was executed beyond that date, hence resulting in sets with values that were effective as of 19.3.95. Thus the sample above could be considered a forgery on two counts: the imprinted value and/or the postmark.
Mr. Rainer Reimund (Germany) contested this observation, and provided the
following details. According to his report, he received such items as result of
his mail orders from the Nazareth Post Office on 3 different occasions (20.6.95,
4.8.95, 20.8.95). Covers exist from the first date (the image above) and from
the last date (registered covers), as well as samples of mint and cancelled
stamps. The fact that the stamps received included not just the Nazareth Tourist
issue, but the Christmas 94 issue was described by him as an unexpected
surprise!
As many other philatelic domains, the Israel Klussendorf stamps have had their share of forgeries as well. Unfortunate instances in which the machines were manipulated to produce "rare" varieties are known to have occurred. When interviewing collectors and dealers as to origins of some of these varieties it was very hard to tell were the boundary lay between fact and fiction. Hence the classification of "Doubtful Variety" is given to the following items for which there is considerable doubt if they originated as result of normal philatelic consequences.
Bethlehem 023 NP (mint)
Bethlehem 026 WP
Yafo 026, 025
Akko 029
Haifa 029
Christmas 1993 004
Christmas 1992 039
Definitive issue with two phosphor stripes: 019, 026, 023, 029
Mr. Rainer
Reimund (Germany) provided the following report as to the genuine nature of the
Bethlehem 023 NP (cancelled).
The original order he submitted in October 1994 to the Bethlehem Post office,
was for the up-coming Christmas 1994 issue and for the Bethlehem Tourist issue
(even though it was known at the time that the Tourist issue was not available
from the on-site machine). The Bethlehem Post Office returned to him the
Christmas 1994 portion of his order, and forwarded to the Philatelic Service
main office the request for the latter stamp. To his surprise he subsequently
received from the Philatelic Service his order for the Bethlehem Tourist issue,
but printed on a without-phosphor paper, and with the imprint of the 023 machine
and a cancellation dated 27.11.94 (image below).
The
setting is of the 023-W machine (10mm), which was the second 023 machine,
located at the Philatelic Service offices in Yafo. The shipment was accompanied
by a formal letter advising him that further orders of this stamp will not be
possible.
Subsequently, do to pressures from dealers, the Philatelic Service did
accept requests for production of the Bethlehem stamp with the 023 machine
imprint. However, this production was executed on the with-phosphor paper type.
Hence the relative rarity of of the without-phosphor variety!
The Mystery of the Christmas 1998 Missing Blue Color Variety
An instance of a missing plate color was observed on the Christmas 1998
issue.
The picture above includes two samples of "Missing Colors" variety and
a genuine sample pulled out of the 023 machine in Tel-Aviv (left) for comparison.
A close investigation of these items leads to a conclusions that this
might be a possible case of forgery. Three observations lead to
this theory:
First, one can notice that there are Brown color variations between
the left and center samples. It is assumed that is these items were pulled
out of a machine, it would probably have to be a continuous sequence, with
the same color. It seems likely that this samples resulted of some trial
printing samples.
Second, the center stamp measurements are different than the left and
right stamps (see below). This suggests that it was cut in a manual procedure.
Third, the distance between the holes is not according to the specification
of Klussendorf.
Measurements of the Christmas 1998 Missing Blue Color Variety:
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| Right stamp |
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| Klussendorf Specification |
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The table displays the rounded measurements of the three stamps: the
left reference stamp pulled from the 023-W machine, and the center and
right stamps - specimens of the variety. Measurements were conducted by
using Microsoft Photo shop measurement ruler. The accuracy of the measurement
was +0.016 cm (~5 pixels). The units in the table are in cm.
From studying the measurements one can see clearly that the center
stamp top-left hole is 0.08 cm to the right of the reference. On the right
stamp it is 0.02 cm to the left of the reference. One can also see that
the center stamp is wider by 0.02-0.03 cm than the reference. Notice the
top is slightly wider than the bottom. This leads to the conclusion that
the “Missing Blue Color Variety” specimens were not a result of standard
arbitrary usage of the 023-W machine, but rather a manual process, perhaps
with some trial paper prints.
The original specification by Klussendorf is brought for general information
only. It is known that the Israeli printed stamps were a bit smaller in
size, hence the valid comparison is only to the reference stamp.
So is it a forgery, or perhaps it is a rare sample of the pre production
phase? It is hard to tell upon observation alone. I ask collectors who
have an opinion on this matter, or who have been offered these (or similar
items) in the past to write to me:
e-mail: chelouch@inter.net.il
or
snail mail: Evyatar Chelouche, P.O.Box 67, Reut 71908 Israel
