18 Comments to “Forgeries and Fakes Exposed”

1. Keimpe Leenstra says:

   May 16, 2010 at 5:37 am

   I get a lot of info from this site and helps me to find some forgerys in my collection
2. Audrius Brazdeikis says:

   May 16, 2010 at 8:51 am

   Hi Keimpe,

   Thank you for your comment – please visit us again. You can also email us your images of forgeries an fakes.
3. Maria Kanas says:

   June 14, 2010 at 6:30 pm

   I found this site very, very interesting. There are some names on it from whom I had purchased Baltic States items – now I wonder if they are genuine. It would help imensely if you could explain the forgeries against real ones. Is there a publication available re forged stamps?

   Maria Kanas
4. Audrius Brazdeikis says:

   June 15, 2010 at 3:40 am

   Hi Maria,
   Unfortunately, there is no comprehensive printed textbook on Lithuania forgeries. Such information is fragmented and scattered across specialized philatelic publications (LPS journals, Club Lituanica bulletins, etc.) or available only via personal contacts. An absolute majority of stamps sold via online auctions such as eBay marketplace is genuine. Sellers often rely on the buyers to be able to tell if the stamp they are buying is genuine item. Some dealers and collectors wisely seek expert advice to determine the status of a philatelic item. This is good practice and works well for expensive or rare items.
5. Greg Wilson says:

   August 4, 2010 at 7:06 pm

   Comment or request about Forgeries or Fakes
   Super helpful – thanks
   Could be even better if 1-2 lines could be added as to why it is fake that would help those of us to learn more –
   comments like:
   overprint lettering incorrect
   spacing between letter A and B too large
   canceller stolen or known to be used for fakes
   Color of overprint incorrect
6. Maria Kanas says:

   August 4, 2010 at 7:34 pm

   Greetings from Freezing Adelaide!
   Thought I better let you know that I bought a Lithuania C5a Imperf Pair MNH from lorripl (Lorri Platek) on July 5, nearly a month later I still did not receive my purchase. Sent him/her couple of e-mails, but did not get any reply. Had no choice but to inform eBay. After that I had my purchase price refunded with a lot of false Seller’s Note replies. One stated that he has sent me the stamps the next day, so that by the end of July I should already have them. No – nothing arrived. Now I wonder, as all of a sudden all these Imperf Lithuanian stamps appeared on the internet, where they forgeries? Has any other member of your club reported anything similar? Would dearly like to know.

   Maria Kanas
7. Audrius Brazdeikis says:

   August 4, 2010 at 8:16 pm

   Hi Maria,
   Greetings from hot and humid Washington DC. I am truly sorry to hear about problems with your ebay purchase. I occasionally sell my duplicates on ebay and personally know that letters mailed to overseas buyers are regularly lost. US Postal Service will lose a percentage of our stuff. Regretfully that is fact of life. Fortunately, ebay offers buyer protection. It takes time to get refund but it does work.

   I regularly see C5a offered on ebay but haven’t seen any C5a forgeries lately. I haven’t heard anything from other collectors. If you have any questions about specific ebay listing, do not hesitate to contact me by email with the auction number. I will respond within a day or two.
8. Audrius Brazdeikis says:

   August 4, 2010 at 8:30 pm

   Hi Greg,

   Thanks for your email. The intention of this section was to provide the “Buyer Beware” alerts to other collectors. Only very obvious fakes to the trained eye
   can be told from these scans because of poor resolution. We are working on expanding this section with more of information. Make sure you stick around because I am sure you wouldn’t want to miss it.
9. michel says:

   August 24, 2010 at 7:29 am

   Dear Mr. Brazdeikis,

   The sale you are reporting has been closed on our Delcampe. Thank you very much to have report this item. Do not hesitate to contact me for any other items you find suspicious. Continue your good work. You site is very interesting.
   Regards.
   Michel, Collectibles Manager for Delcampe.net
10. Audrius Brazdeikis says:

    August 24, 2010 at 8:12 am

    Dear Michel,

    Thank you for your response. We applaud you for taking a stance against fakes and forgeries on the Delcampe marketplace.
11. Simon says:

    November 12, 2010 at 9:30 am

    I would ask that the authors of this website take sometime to contact LPS members or even eBay sellers if at all possible to gather all the information pertaining to items listed as fakes/forgeries. In question is the Vilnius 80kp overprint cover I sold on eBay earlier this year. What’s annoyed me here is that the nothing is mentioned that the card IS EXPERTISED!

    This cover does have Krischke expert marks on the rear of the PSC. There is nothing written to state that the address or cancels are forged. Any BBP expert will print FALSCH on a card if the cancels are forged; I had such a PSC with a Neprik stamp that I sent to Prof. Klein for expertizing. The stamp and card genuine but the cancels, registration marks were forged, the card came back with FALSCH printed on it.

    This leads to an important concern for any seller/buyer, that even expertized items may not be what they seem.

    I fully support these pages highlighting forgeries, but if the LPS is going to list them and have taken their info from a known live auction page, then you have a responsibility to contact the seller and provide evidence and a request to change the auction and/or delete the auction – that is inline with eBay stamp selling policy anyway.
12. Audrius Brazdeikis says:

    November 27, 2010 at 9:40 am

    Hi Simon,

    Thank you for your post. The intention of this section is to inform unsuspected collectors about large number of forgeries found on ebay and other auction websites. I am responsible for posting this information, but often rely on other experienced collectors who are expects in their fields of specialization. Their names are listed above. We decided not to police every auction by actively contacting every seller. It only leads to confrontation. Instead, we decided to collect and display such information for personal use. Please note that the LPS is not connected in any way with collecting and displaying such information.
13. Janis Erins says:

    March 2, 2011 at 4:15 pm

    I just recently, discovered your site.
    Although my primary collection is Latvia, I also collect the other two Baltic countries.
    I think in my case, you offer a valuable service since I am not as familiar with the postal history of Lithuania.
    Latvia collectors have similar problems with forgeries.
    Even blatant forgeries are offered on the Ebay as the real thing.
    Some to try to hide the forgery with fuzzy scans.
    The German Ebay will permit the sale of forgeries if the are listed as reproductions.
    Some of this is due to the ignorance of the seller. ( I have purchased Latvia stamps listed under Lithuania)
    Since the total number of forgeries of the Baltic stamps is not that great, a guide would be very usefull to all.
    The question of fake covers and postmarks is far more complex.
    Keep up the good work.
14. Audrius Brazdeikis says:

    April 2, 2011 at 11:37 am

    Dear Janis,

    Thank you for your visit and kind comment.
15. contisubastas says:

    June 9, 2011 at 3:12 am

    A very interesting site, but right in these cases is to contact the seller to remove them, and do not purchase the lots on ebay, build and commission charges of selling false expectations.

    Since Lithuania is very easy to know these details, as we see them on stamps of Spain, and also denounced in http://www.agoradefilatelia.org, but first advised the seller.

    This public denunciation of a company is completely illegal and cause serious damage.

    A greeting from Barcelona Continental Auctions.

    Una pagina muy interesante, pero lo correcto en estos casos es avisar al vendedor para que los retire, y no comprar los lotes en ebay, generar gastos de comisión y falsas espectativas de venta.

    Desde Lituania es muy facil conocer esos detalles, al igual que los vemos nosotros en los sellos de España, y los denunciamos tambien en http://www.agoradefilatelia.org, pero primero avisamos al vendedor.

    Esta denuncia publica de una empresa es del todo ilegal y causa perjuicios importantes.

    Un saludo de Continental Subastas de Barcelona.
16. Audrius Brazdeikis says:

    June 9, 2011 at 9:07 am

    Dear contisubastas,

    Thank you for your visit and comment. The intention of this “Forgeries and Fakes Exposed” section is to inform unsuspected collectors about large number of forgeries found on ebay and other auction websites. We decided not to police every auction by actively contacting every seller. It only leads to confrontation. Instead, we decided to collect and display such information for personal use. Often, we identify forgery only after auction ended.

    Selling fakes and forgeries is illegal on many auction sites (e.g. ebay, delcampe). We only display ebay ID and auction ID and do not comment on business practices.

    Many stamp dealers regularly contact us about Lithuania philatelic items before placing these items for sale. We respond promptly to all inquires. Let’s work together to reduce philatelic forgeries offered to unsuspected collectors.
17. continentalsubastas says:

    June 10, 2011 at 5:57 am

    “Selling fakes and forgeries is illegal on many auction sites (e.g. ebay, delcampe). We only display ebay ID and auction ID and do not comment on business practices.”

    It is only illegal in ebay/Germany, on ebay/Spain sold hundreds of fake stamps every day and do nothing to avoid, as much as the denounce on ebay.

    In Spain also showed him a similar page, but never use it to harm, as I said, first notices, and then act if you do not respond adequately.

    I beg to differ in their methods but their goals seem laudable.
18. Audrius Brazdeikis says:

    June 10, 2011 at 6:43 am

    Dear continentalsubastas,

    Many thanks for your follow up comment. I completely understand your concerns. Ebay doesn’t do anything to stop flood of fakes and forgeries. I personally tried several times contacting eBay to address this problem. Instead, I was referred to the American Philatelic Society to raise my concerns there about the forgeries and fakes. Delcampe, on the other hand, takes matter very seriously and immediately delists such listings.

    Perhaps the most important question here when dealing with such fake items and listings is which side we choose. Both the collector’s and the seller’s sides are important. We obviously sided with unsuspected collectors.