Rare stamps and covers (January 2012)
by Audrius Brazdeikis | Dec 28th, 2011 | Category: rare stamps and coversEvery week we compile list of rare stamps and covers on the market. These are some of the most interesting philatelic items that we felt are interesting enough for collectors to browse.
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Lithuania 1926 air post inverted center
MNH rare in this condition. The Air Post Issue of 1926, Mi 245 K. Only 200 known in existence.
eBay listing – Ended Jan 29, 2012. Sold: $153 (17 bids)
Lithuania 1940 Soviet occupation inverted overprint
Soviet occupation issue – inverted “LTSR 1940 VII 21″ overprint on a 10 cent stamp. Only 100 known in existence. Klein certificate.
eBay listing – Ended Jan 29, 2012. Unsold: $299
Lithuania 1941 Vilnius cover
A nice express cover sent from Vilnius to Germany with mixed franking. German censor on reverse.
eBay listing – Ended Jan 21, 2012. Sold: $191 (20 bids)
Lithuania 1927 cover Borneo (Dutch Indies)
An interesting item of postal history. A registered cover sent from town Seirijai to Borneo via Munich (per train to Genova Italy).
eBay listing – Ended Jan 17, 2012. Sold: $96 (3 bids)
Lithuania 1935 Vaitkus Flight Cover Lituanica II
The 1935 flight registered cover No 949 carried on the second transatlantic flight from New York to Kaunas by a Lithuanian-American aviator Felix Waitkus (Feliksas Vaitkus). Franked with Mi 404. Similar cover No 731 addressed to ALTASS in Chicago, recently sold for $800.
eBay listing – Ended Jan 05, 2012. Sold: $958 (34 bids)
Lithuania 1933 Darius-Girenas Overprinted Issue (a reprint)
Tobias Hyulmans (BPP expert) informed us that this set is a reprint (please see comments below) – An overprinted issue on 5 stamps of the Lithuanian Child 2nd Air Post issue for the benefit of the transatlantic flight. Klein certificate.
eBay listing – Ended Jan 05, 2012. Sold: $795 (19 bids)
Lithuania 1924 New Currency Air Post Issue fantail
Rare – fantail bottom 40 Cent of the New Currency Air Post Issue of 1924, Mi 221 (Sc C33).
eBay listing – Ended Jan 02, 2012. Sold: $127 (15 bids)
Hi Audrius,
the “Lithuania 1933 Darius-Girenas Overprinted Issue” are “reprints” – not the original stamps.
Prof. Klein states “in dark-green overprint-color – the size of the overprint is a bit smaller than the genuine one…”
Dear Tobias,
Thanks for taking your time to write about this D-G set. I have corrected the above information.
Best wishes, Audrius
The certificate clearly says they are reprints. Problem is, just because you get a certificate, right away if it doesn’t say fake, people think it’s real. And it doesn’t help if it’s in another language. No one bothers to try to translate it. The great thing is, the seller is not trying to “fool” anyone. He shows the certificate, looks like nobody bothered to either read or translate it.
At the basic level, I have scanned the certificate for most obvious keywords such as Falsch and Fälschung but it’s no substitute for carefully reading a document.
In this case, I think the certificate should have said ‘fake’, ‘reprint’ or whatever at the top and then gave his opinion. Because if you read the certificate it is very long and it can mislead you easily. The bidding now on the lot is over $500 and I only imagine that they think they are buying one of the 500 sets. Its a shame that two of these extremely rare sets are going to end up in someone’s collections, thinking that they are originals. This is happening on ebay, and remember that the raritan stamps auction had a fake set too for sale, which sold.
Some general information for active bidders: You can retract a bid if you have a valid reason for doing so as defined by eBay policy and you retract the bid within the required time period. Bid Retractions form can be found at http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?RetractBidShow&guest=1
Dear Collectors,
If the certificate by Prof. Klein stated “a little bit smaller” overprint, everybody (especially those with enough money to buy these stamps) must notice that this cannot be the original overprint. The technique of stereotype copies with fluid lead is used since a long time ago, so this overprint is produced with a stereotyped printing plate. The number is unknown.
This facts are described with full details in the second part of my Handbook of Lithuanian Stamps 1922-1940/41, which is out now and can be ordered by interested collectors. It contents an article relating on this subject by Prof. Klein, too.
Due to this problem I think certificates should generally contain an short English translation.
Dear Martin,
Many thanks for your comment. I totally agree with you – all expert certificates should include a short summary in English.
Best wishes, Audrius
I personally don’t think Certificates of Authenticity should be issued for Reprints or Forgeries. What are they certifying? The fact that a particular item is an authentic fake?
Here it is offered on eBay by the same seller again. This time appropriately mentioned in the item description that it is a forgery :
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lithuania-1933-Darius-Girenas-New-York-Overprints-5-Expert-Cert-F631-/170774659999?pt=UK_Stamps_ROWStamps&hash=item27c2f6839f
could not see anything in heading to say it was a fake and it made £143!