A complete forgery of the 60 centas value stamp of definitive issue of 1924 exists on unwatermarked paper (Scott C34 unwmk; Michel 222Y; Yvert A36). Upon close inspection of recent stamp auctions (eBay, Aug 2009), we found this forged stamp of Lithuania Air Post issue of 1924 which has a backstamp SANABRIA. There are a number of distinguishing characteristics that help to identify forged Mi 222Y.
The key identifying characteristics
- “Sleepy eye”
- connected letters “LI” in LIETUVA
- others minor features are marked by arrows
The key distinguishing characteristics of the Michel 222Y (Scott C34 unwmk) genuine and forged stamp are illustrated below.
The usage of the expert mark “SANABRIA” on forged Lithuania Mi 222Y has not been previously reported.
