Update 11/30/2013
National Assembly Special issue on a domestic registered cover. I think this cover is a backdated cancellation forgery. This recently surfaced cover was created sometime after the cancellation date using a backdated cancellation.
A close examination indicates this cover is using genuine stamps of National Assembly Special Issue (Sc 92-92D, Mi 78I-83I) and backdated cancellation “KAUNAS SENMIESTIS b” applied on the added stamps.
There is no doubt that this cancellation was in private hands as other examples exist of this cancellation applied to WW2 occupation issues.
Thanks to Dr. Vytautas Doniela for providing additional information that helped to identify this fake cover.
I’ve seen one too many forgeries listed in a single sale at a reputable auction house so I’m going to finally break my silence.
It’s fairly easy to spot these fake Lithuanian covers many of them cancelled with forged “KAUNAS centr. C”, “KAUNAS Vilijampole a” cancellations. Similar fake covers recently were spotted at the Status International – Auction 299. Also we have seen many similar fake covers regularly sold on eBay by sellers like “polmar48”.
All these and many other fake covers are listed in the Fakes and Forgeries Database. Please visit frequently for new updates.
Vitaly says
December 1, 2013 at 2:01 pmHere are a few additional pointers to support Audrius’ post:
Follow this link to see a WWII occupation cover with the forged Alsedziai overprint set and Kaunas-SENMIESTIS cancel.
Just to put the nail in the coffin, here are a few words of wisdom from the professor of Lithuanian philately Dr. Doniela in my earlier correspondence with him:
The postmarker in question was indeed in use in the 1920s, and its spelling had the old version SENMIESTIS . In the 1930s the spelling of [Old Town] was changed to SENAMIESTIS, with change in corresponding postmarkers. The early postmarker SENMIESTIS was “borrowed” from the archives in the détente period. Moreover, the forger seems to have got mixed up (or failed to notice the difference) and so the National Assembly cover has not the registration cachet SENMIESTIS but the newer version SENAMIESTIS.
My WWII scan of the cover with the forged Alsedziai overprint set has the same mismatch between the cancel and the Registration marker, but the date on this cover of course is 22.VII.41
Audrius Brazdeikis says
December 1, 2013 at 4:07 pmThanks Vitaly for providing additional information related to the registration cachet and scan of fake 1941 Alsėdžiai cover. Hopefully, this strong evidence will make folks at Raritan to reconsider their previous position and remove this fake National Assembly Special issue cover from their sale.