Armenia First Yessayan Used Without Overprints

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The series of Armenian stamps known as "First Yessayan" were only issued in 1922 - 23 with overprints. However, since the overprints were all applied with single handstamps or in manuscript, it is inevitable that some stamps got missed. One should expect to find the occasional used stamp without an overprint.

In addition, both the Gibbons catalogue (following Tchilingirian and Ashford) and the Michel catalogue (following Zakiyan and Saltykov) list deliberate use of two values without surcharge.

Gibbons says that the 250 rouble perforated stamp was used without Manuscript surcharge " 1 k" ( in red or violet) at three post offices in March - May 1923. It lists those post offices as Delizhan, Karaklis and Keshikend.

Above are three used examples of the 250 r perforated stamp. Stefan Berger has studied all three of them with his microscope, telescope and goodness knows what else and can find no visible trace of a surcharge. The third stamp above has a readable ALEXANDROPOL cancel and I think the other two are also with Alexadropol cancels - the similarities are obvious. The first stamp in the row has an Agathon Faberge acquisition note from 1927, the second a MAISON ROMEKO mark. All three seem genuine in all respects to me and to Stefan Berger. So it looks like that at Alexandropol they also used this stamp without surcharge and probably deliberately since here we have three examples, not just a random one from a missed surcharge.

Michel says that the 25 rouble ( unspecified whether perforated or imperforate or both) which was later surcharged as a 4 kopeck stamp was also issued unsurcharged for use as a 1500 rouble stamp in the period January - May 1922. [This paragraph rewritten on the basis of a Comment from Alexander Epstein ] 

Anyway, the 25 rouble shown above with ERIVAN cancel of November 1922 does not appear to have any regular 4 kop surcharge. However, and just to complicate matters, there is a small violet ink mark under the day of the date line in the cancellation. This could either be randon or it could be a squiggle representing a number "4". Maybe this is a stamp from which the regular surcharge was accidentally omitted and a clerk made a manuscript correction. In the absence of other examples, who knows? All that is clear is that this stamp also lacks a regular surcharge. 

Armenia: First Yessayan set 1922 - Forged Overprints

Most forged overprints on First Yessayan stamps are easy to detect: either they are on forged basic stamps or the overprints are very different from the genuine ones. Of course, there is still a good market for these forgeries on ebay and all over the world there are people who have paid fifty dollars for a stamp I would sell them for fifty cents.

But there are also serious forgeries which always use genuine basic stamps and where the overprint handstamps have been made by forgers who have seen the genuine item.For example, there is a good forgery of the "50k" in black on 25 000 Ararat, imperforate in blue, which copies the fact that the overprint is normally centrally placed at the base of the stamp. Here it is:

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And now here is the genuine overprint:

There are numerous differences which you can see if you examine from left to right. Look at the shape of the "0" for example. In addition, and not so clear from my scans, is the fact that the ink is wrong on the forgery: it is a paler blue-black or grey-black. But the genuine overprint is always in a fairly intense black, not diluted.This is the difference I look for first and the left to right examination then confirms it.

And now here is a multiple with the genuine overprint, which will become relevant in a moment:

If you look at the bottom right stamp in this block you will see that because of the way the handstamp has been held on that occasion, the "k" has not printed properly. This is useful to see because here is a single used copy from ALEXANDROPOL 3 2 23 showing the same failure of the "k" to print properly. But by using the mint multiple for reference, we can be sure that this overprint is genuine, as one would expect from the genuine Alexandropol cancel. You can also see how intense is the black ink of the overprint compared to the ink of the cancelllation:

The stamps on this Blog are for sale as one group for 500 €uro

The block of six comes with a Stefan Berger Opinion

Armenia 1919 - 21 Dashnak overprinted stamps

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Armenia's 1919 - 21 Dashnak overprints are all made with single handstamps, the Z handstamps made of rubber and the rouble handstamps made of metal. Tens of thousands of stamps were overprinted, probably most of them sold to people emigrating. There was no point taking out Armenian currency - Armenia was in ruins, was not exporting anything and had no tourist trade - but stamps were a saleable commodity abroad. Domestic postal services were very restricted and outside Armenia some mail went to Georgia but beyond that almost nothing.

There are several types of ink used and these affect the look of the overprints. This is particularly the case for the metal rouble handstamps. 

Look at the top two block of six. Both have genuine overprints from the same handstamp, but one is made using a "dry" ink and the other with a "watery" (diluted) ink. The effect of the diluted ink is to eliminate the fine detail of the Monogram above the "10r" and to make the "0" in the "10r" appear more round. But if you put these overprints on top of each other, they match very well - the overall dimensions remain the same.

At the end of the Dashnak period, rouble surcharges were added to stocks of stamps with existing Z overprints. The bottom left block of 4 shows "10" added in black over a small Z in grey ink so the overall effect is not too bad. But on the right, I show a block of 4 where the Monogram above the "10r" has been obscured (Dr Ceresa suggests with a paper strip) so that the Z can still be seen. 

Importantly, the Monogram has not been removed from the 10r handstamp to create a new type: if you look at the stamp in position 1 in this block of 4, you can see traces of the Monogram below the Z. This effect is common on these stamps - though the stamps themselves are scarce or rare.

Armenia 1921 First Yesssayan Pictorial Stamps

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This page from the collection of the late Stephen Hornby nicely illustrates the two Plates made for the 15 000 rouble value of the First Yessayan / Essayan pictorials, lithographed in Constantinople  at the V.M. Yessayan Printing Works for the new government of Soviet Armenia. 

Though this value was never issued - perhaps because it showed a church - Yessayan did not know this when he was printing the stamps. The fact that he made a new Plate to replace an unsatisfactory first Plate shows simply that he took this contract seriously and wanted to produce good work.

We know that the designer of these stamps, Sarkis Khachaturian, visited Constantinople in 1921 as a representative of the Armenian government (see my Blog about 1921  First Star overprints). We do not know how long he stayed and we do not know if he involved himself in the production of the stamps. But if he stayed long enough, he could certainly have got involved in the production and taken responsibility for redesigning this stamp.

Armenia 1923 Yerevan Pictorials

Though the Michel catalogue has a generally good listing for Armenia, it breaks down for the last issue from the 1919 - 1923 period, the Yerevan pictorials listed as IVa to IVk in unoverprinted form and 171 - 180 for the issued, overprinted stamps.

Michel does not give separate listings for stamps overprinted with metal handstamps and those with rubber handstamps, nor does it distinguish overprint colours except in a footnote which values red overprints at a x 10 premium

Above I show the 1000 rouble stamp (Fisherman on Lake Sevan) with a 50 000 rouble metal overprint in black and then in violet (Top Row) and with a rubber handstamp in black, violet and red (Bottom Row). Chronologically, the rubber handstamps came into use first and you do not find mint remainder stocks for them as you do for the later metal handstamps.

In general, metal handstamps are normally found in black, occasionally (on some values) in violet and, to my knowledge, on only one value in red (the 200 000 handstamp). Dr Ceresa lists in his Handbook a Purple-Black and it is true that, quite often, on turning to the back of the stamp which looks black on the front one can see purple (or violet) pigments penetrating. But I am not sure that this variety can always be reliably distinguished.

When I first acquired from Dr Ceresa, about 20 years ago, his stock of Yerevan pictorial overprints, I tabulated the quantities with different colour overprints from the metal handstamps. I came across this listing, working today in my office, and it breaks down a total of 192 stamps as follows

139 stamps with Black overprints (many of these were from Mint remainder stocks)
30 definitely Purple-black (if in doubt, I assigned them to Black)
19 definitely Violet on just 3 of the ten values possible
4 definitely Red on just 1 value (the 200 000 handstamp - this red overprint may have been a philatelic late production)

For the rubber handstamp overprints, there is a different distribution. A total of 140 stamps broke down as follows:

81 stamps with Violet overprints
38 stamps with Red overprints
21 stamps with Black overprints

The 75 000 rouble handstamp, applied to the 3 000 rouble stamp, only exists in the metal version; there is no rubber handstamp for this value. It is probable that not all values can be found with Red or Black rubber overprints, but all (except the 75 000 just mentioned) can be found with Violet.

It follows that a "basic" collection of metal handstamps will show all 10 values in Black and a "basic" collection of rubber handstamps will show all 9 values in Violet.

An "advanced" collection will contain spaces where it is uncertain whether a particular value can or cannot be found with a particular colour overprint and in both mint and used condition.

Armenia 1922 Second Yessayan stamps: a short guide

This set of eight values, each value printed in either red (rose) or slate (grey) was prepared in Constantinople by the (Y)essayan printing works. There are three Yessayan printings and one Forgery of the series:

1. ORIGINAL Printing. Yessayan printed each value on a separate sheet (i.e., normally). As far as I know, no complete sheets now exist and the largest multiples are probably no larger than twenty or thirty stamps. Three values were not issued at all, and the other five values were only issued with surcharges. The values which were not surcharged are scarce and the issued values are rare without surcharge. There is some colour variation in this Original printing and for the grey stamps, there are two distinct papers - though it seems that only some values can be found with both papers. All the stamps were gummed and the gumming is the same as that found on First Yessayan stamps: done with a machine and with a clear gum stop at the sheet edges.

2. FIRST Reprint. Yessayan prepared these for the stamp trade. None were sent to Yerevan and none can exist with genuine surcharges: a surcharge on a Reprint is ALWAYS a forgery.

To economise on lithographic plates, Yessayan RESET the eight values onto just two plates of unequal size. These two plates yield 147 stamps in total providing stamp dealers with 18 sets and 3 spare stamps .... Most sheets were cut up for the packet trade and se-tenant multiples are rarely seen. The paper is always white. About half the sheets were not gummed, and the other half are with white gum which has a different appearance to that used on the Originals.

A pair of First Reprint sheets are in the April 2012 Corinphila auction (Lot 1764). They are from me.

3. SECOND Reprint.. Again to supply the stamp trade, Yessayan made a Second Reprint (probably a couple of years after the First)and this time used just one plate for all values. There are 74 stamps on this plate, yielding 9 sets and 2 spare stamps ... Most of the sheets were cut up for the packet trade and se-tenant multiples are rarely seen. None were sent to Yerevan and a surcharge on a Second reprint stamp is ALWAYS a forgery.

This second reset plate shows the stamps with worn impressions - there are more white areas. The colour of the stamps looks pale in comparison to the First reprint but actually the colours are very similar - it is just the extra white areas which make the stamps look pale.The paper is again white. It seems that most of the sheets were gummed. The gum is yellowish and gives the paper a yellowish appearance.

4. The Forgery. There appears to be only one Forgery type. The designs are crude, the paper grey, and the gum thick and yellow. The Forgeries copy the Reprints: the different values are printed se-tenant, but I do not know if one or two plates were used.Examples can be found with the gum washed off and from these copies you can see that the paper is normally grey and coarse. For some reason, red Forgeries appear to be scarcer than grey forgeries.

The consequence of this printing history is that a complete collection of this issue WITHOUT SURCHARGES - excluding shade, paper and gum varieties and se-tenant groups comprises 16 Originals, 16 First Reprints, 16 Second Reprints, 16 Forgeries ...

The listing of surcharged stamps in the Michel catalogue is good, but the pricing of the unsurcharged stamps is not sensible.

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(Note: the used copy of the red stamp about has a Georgian arrival cancellation at top)

I am Still in Business...

Though I don't work so hard these days, I do still sell stamps and postal history. I don't make Lists, I don't have an Auction, but if you send me an email, I will tell you if I can help! I am trevor@trevorpateman.co.uk

I am good at Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine 1918 - 23; Imperial Russian stamps (including Fiscals) and postal history; RSFSR and Soviet postal history (but NOT stamps); classic Romania, stamps and covers; Finland before 1918 postal history.

I still have stocks for Baltic States, Old German States, Hungary, Poland.

Collect Transcaucasian Federation Stamps!

I am sure that some collectors avoid the areas I specialise in just because there are so many fakes and forgeries. And I have been Blogging a lot about fakes and forgeries.

If you want to collect something in my area where there are few or no forgeries, try the neglected Transcaucasian Federation pictorial issues of 1923. Just 17 stamps in the Stanley Gibbons listing.

There are no forgeries of the basic stamps or (to my knowledge) of the two overprints, since the overprints are on basic stamps which are at least as scarce without overprints as with.

I haven't yet seen a forged cancellation, presumably because there is no stamp which is really common mint and really scarce used.

However, there are challenges. Not all the stamps are equally common. Some are very scarce mint (for example the 3 kopeck) and some are quite scarce used (for example the 40 000 rouble or the 1 kopeck).

There are imperforates, ungummed, from remainder stocks but these turn up in very unequal quantities - making the three sets is hard!

Finding stamps with Georgian and Azerbaijan postmarks is easy; with Armenian cancellations, it's much harder - here a forger might be tempted. But Georgian cancellations are almost always of TIFLIS/TBILISI in Cyrillic or Georgian script and Azerbaijan cancels are 90% + BAKU. So there is a challenge in finding and identifying other cancellations. There is NO favour cancelled (CTO) material. The Bolsheviks were hostile to the idea at this period, associating it with speculation.

Covers will cost you 100 euro upwards and often look attractive. There are virtually no philatelically-inspired covers.

Sound attractive? Well, I have decided to bring my entire Transcaucasian stock to London STAMPEX where you will find me up in the Gallery area from 15 to 18 September inclusive. Or you can email me: trevor@trevorpateman.co.uk

Armenia again - the ARTAR catalog

I just acquired my first copy of the ARTAR Stamps of Armenia catalog; $100 from Loral Stamps. It's the work of a lifelong, dedicated collector

One of the things I learnt early on in my career as a dealer is that most collectors do not look at their stamps. That is why most collections - in the areas in which I specialise in - are full of fakes. As someone once said, when you buy one of these collections in auction, you know that somewhere in it there will be a genuine stamp.

You know that there is going to be a problem with the ARTAR catalog when you look at the cover. Ten stamps from the 1919- 23 period of classic Armenian philately are illustrated, in colour. If I was looking at these in an auction catalog, I would count at least one as a fake.

Inside the catalog, there are beautiful illustrations of fascinating material, well presented. But the high quality of the production also allows you to see much that is doubtful or bad. Two examples:

The most common Armenian cancellation of the 1919 - 23 period is ERIVAN "b". It came into use some years before and it remained in use until 1924 - 25. Not surprisingly it has been forged: Tchilingirian and Ashford illustrate four different forgeries, Ceresa lists six. Since they wrote their books, new forgeries have been made.

The ARTAR catalog contains at least 25 colour illustrations which include strikes of ERIVAN "b", the first ones on page 9 and the last on page 183. I count 11 illustrations which show genuine examples of this cancellation; 7 which show forged cancellations; and 7 which I would not want to determine on the basis of a visual inspection of the catalog page - some are cancellations on dark stamps and so on. Some of the faked cancels I have seen before, outside the pages of this catalog.

If you want to see how I am doing it, compare the cancellation shown on page 12 with that shown as a receiver cancellation on page 49. Pay espcial attention to how the serial "b" is formed (I am sorry; I do not have Cyrillic on Blogger). The item on page 12 is the one with a forged cancellation. The item on page 49 shows an example of the genuine cancellation.

In my view, the author of a specialist catalog - someone with over 40 years' collecting experience - ought to have weeded out most of these fake cancels - they are not so hard to detect.

It is even easier to detect the faked ALEXANDROPOL "zhe" cancellation which seems to be of just one recent type and which I have seen before outside the pages of this catalog. I count at least 7 illustrations showing ALEXANDROPOL "zhe", of which 2 are genuine, 4 are fakes, and 1 not possible to determine.


Go to page 17 to see a very clear example of the fake, and page 166 to see a clear example of the genuine item on a lovely piece. Look at the serial "zhe" ; on the fake, this is a very poor copy indeed and its thin and elongated form has nothing to do with ageing or inking. The shape is completely wrong.

I use the word "fake" partly because I have been able in the past to carefully examine examples of actual faked cancellations rather than just illustrations and have been able to discuss with other collectors and dealers the provenance of such material. I have written about this in such articles as "Is this cover genuine in all respects?" (British Journal of Russian Philately, number 87, December 2001, pages 38 - 42; "The Sad Fate of Armenia's Archives", Rossica, No 137, Fall 2001, pages 8 - 13 where due to an editorial mix-up Figure 5 is labelled "genuine" when it should be labelled "Fake" ...). If I was working from the ARTAR illustrations alone, I should probably use the word "doubtful" pending the actual examination of the material, though in most cases the illustrations are clear enough for a verdict to be given

From this brief survey, I exclude the item on page 153 which requires separate discussion. But if you want to use your eyes, try looking at the enlargement of the 50r stamp and find the Karaklis cancellation under the Alexandropol cancellation of 9 5 23. Then compare the two strikes of the 9 5 23 cancellation with the apparently identical 8 5 23 cancellation. There is a rather important difference.I'll give you a clue: you'll be star-struck.....

To be continued ....

Good News for Armenia Collectors!

There is a new website
This is the work of a serious collector who has read the serious books and is now providing well-grounded guidance on Forgery detection and other aspects of classical Armenian philately.
Bookmark this site!

www.stampsofarmenia.com

Stamps of Armenia, Stamps of Azerbaijan, Stamps of Georgia

Quite often, I am asked who can expertise stamps from the 1919 - 1923 period like those listed above.

The short answer, at present, is No One. There are very knowledgeable collectors and dealers who can give reliable opinions, but there are no accredited experts with - for example - AIEP or DBPP status. And because there are no major collector societies uniquely dedicated to these areas, there is some risk that the AIEP or DBPP will end up recognising someone who actually can't do the job properly. It has happened before.

The expert opinions which can be generally relied on are those of dealers or collectors or experts who are dead or retired. None of them can help with the new forgeries which have appeared in the past twenty years, some of which are dangerous and have even been written up in collector journals and given medals. They also appear in serious auctions and not just on ebay.

My own practice is to consult knowledgeable collectors where I am not sure. But when I am sure, I will give my own opinion in writing and, if asked, I will (rather reuluctantly) sign in pencil.

I was lucky as a novice dealer that I was able to acquire much of Tchilingirian's Armenia from Ray Ceresa, who bought it all when it was auctioned at Robson Lowe; much of Ceresa's and Voikhansky's Azerbaijan; and much of Ceresa's Georgia, which included ex - Faberge material. Studying these collections helped me understand what to look for when I was trying to add to my stock.

As a novice dealer, I was also the victim of travelling salesmen selling new forgeries. But I studied them, and I wrote up my findings in the journals. I am more careful now!