Talk:Postage stamps of Batum under British occupation

Common forgery

The 50 rubles overprint stamp is one of the common forgeries of this overprint (Scott no. 43). As R. J. Ceresa notes, "This is the most highly forged of all Batum issues ..." The Postage Stamps of Russia, 1917-1923, Vol. 4, Transcaucasia, Parts 13-16, British Occupation of Batum, Section A, page 142. Genuine overprints have (among other characteristics) stops (or periods) after БАТУМ and after ОБЛ and also have dots over the letter "i" in the English text, which reads "BRiTiSH OCCUPATiON". Ceresa, supra, page 142. This has none of these and is clearly one of the common forgeries. User:Ecphora (talk) 13:09, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Another forgery

The 1 ruble "aloe tree" also is a forgery. Ceresa, see above, describes six series of forgeries of these stamps. There are a number of small differences that distinguish the genuine from the forgeries. As shown in the images below (the central one is an enlargment of the 1 ruble stamp in the article), the bottom line of the numeral one in the lower left is straight, but bent downward in the forger. The dots surrounding the value tablets, lower right and left, also differ. This is pehaps most obvious in the upper right corner of the left value tablet; in the genuine there is a round dot. In the forgery, there are two dots run together to form a long, misshapen oval. See Ceresa, pp. 26, 41-42. Ecphora (talk) 00:12, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

Genuine

Forgery

Forgery

British Occupation forgeries

It should not be surprising that the group of four aloe tree stamps overprinted "BRITISH OCCUPATION" also are forgeries. They belong to a group described by Ceresa, see above, which have the "S" (and "H") slightly larger than the other letters and the "N" too small. See Ceresa, id., p.p. 101-102. Ecphora (talk) 01:03, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

Assessment comment

The comment(s) below were originally left at Talk:Postage stamps of Batum under British occupation/Comments, and are posted here for posterity. Following several discussions in past years, these subpages are now deprecated. The comments may be irrelevant or outdated; if so, please feel free to remove this section.

the pictures show forgeries, one picture has very bad quality >Despite the short period of British rule, the tree stamps exist in large numbers (probably additional ones were printed after the >occupation was over), but the overprinted Russian stamps are not common, and in 2003 some commanded prices of over $500 USD. that is not true, the first set is quite scarce, the third was printed in much higher numbers, but even those stamps are not common. also, all devices were destroyed when the british left batum after 2 years, no stamps were printed at a later time correct is: most of the overprinted russian stamps are scarcer than the tree stamps all stamps (tree and russion overprints) have been forged quite intensively. most of the stamps you see on ebay these days are forgeries. phialtelic literature exists from Dr. R.J.Ceresa as well as from Mr. Barefoot. Also the rossica society published an article. hth sb 145.253.2.29 12:28, 8 June 2007 (UTC)

Last edited at 12:28, 8 June 2007 (UTC). Substituted at 03:17, 30 April 2016 (UTC)