Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Most of the forgeries were either propaganda efforts to undermine faith in the Nazi regime (usually with obvious parodies or anti-Nazi messages on the face of the stamp), or attempts to replicate German postage so fake mail bearing anti-Nazi material could be introduced into the postal system. As these aren't subversive on their face, the plan was likely to use them to introduce fake Feldpost mail into the system.
I will mention the stamps one by one from the MICHEL catalog in the next posts.
Most stamps are from my collection.......
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Michelnumber 1
Silver Jubilee Forgery
The Germans created this parody forgery of the 1935 Great Britain 1/2 Penny Silver Jubilee stamp.
Changes to the design include Stalin in place of King George V, and "This war is a / Jewsh war" in place of "Silver Jubilee / Half Penny." The dates have also been changed from the original 1910¬1935 to 1939-1944.
The Star of David and hammer and sickle also appear throughout the design.
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Michelnumber 2
Coronation Forgery
The Germans created this parody forgery of the 1937 Great Britain 11/2 Pence Coronation stamp.
Changes to the design include Stalin in place of Queen Elizabeth, and "S.S.S.R. Britannia / Teheran 28.11.1943" in place of "Postage Revenue / 12 May 1937". The text "G E R" has also been replaced with "S S S R".
The Star of David and hammer and sickle also appear throughout the design.
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Nice sheet with number 1 and 2
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Michelnumber 3 - 8
King George VI Forgeries
The Germans created these forgeries of the 1937 Great Britain King George VI issues
Changes to the design include the Star of David atop the crown at top center, and a hammer and sickle inserted in the flower at top left and in place of the pence symbol.
These issues were also overprinted (MiNr 9-14) in many different varieties.
(See one of the next posts)
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Michelnumber 9 -14
King George VI Forgeries with different imprints
I = Imprint “MURDER / RUIN” between bombs
a) = “CATHEDRAL of ROUEN”
b) = "CASTELLE CANDOLFO"
c) = "MONTE CASSINO"
d) = “SCHAFFHAUSEN (SWITZERLAND)”
e) = "SAN MARINO"
f) = "CATHEDRAL of COLOGNE"
II = Extremes of World politics
a) "14.8.1941 THE BLUFF-CHARTA"
b) "EMPIRE'S LIQUIDATION 28.11/1.12.1943 AT TEHERAN"
c) "WORLD-SLAVERY"
d) "WORLD-BOLSHEVISM"
e) "WORLD-CAPITALISM"
f) "WORLD-JUDAISM"
III = Imprint initials “AAA O”
a) "BUT WHO WILL RETURN ?"
b) "ON ORDER OF STALIN"
c) "ENGLAND BLEEDS ON THE ORDER OF MOSCOW"
d) "COME ON GERMANY EXPECTS YOU !"
e) "ENGLAND HAS LOST THE WAR"
f) "A MILITARY ADVENTURE !"
IV = imprint “LIQUIDATION OF EMPIRE” Serie 1
a) "HONG KONG"
b) "SINGAPORE"
c) "ST. LUCA""
d) "BARBADOS"
e) "JAMAICA"
f) "TRINIDAD"
g) "BAHAMAS"
h) "BERMUDA"
V = imprint “LIQUIDATION OF EMPIRE” Serie 2
a) "RABAUL"
b) "BORNEO"
c) "GRENADA"
d) "RANGOON"
e) "BOUGAINVILLE"
f) "ST VINCENT"
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Michelnumber 15 – 16
American Hitler Head Forgery
The forgeries are of the 6 and 12 pfennig Hitler head stamps of 1941-1944. Several printings exist with minor differences. The stamps were printed at various times in both Rome and Bern, on different paper, with different perforations, with slight changes in color and the texture of the gum. The forgeries can be immediately recognized by their perforations, anywhere from 11 up to 13. The genuine stamps are perforated 14.
Michelnumber 17
The Hitler Skull stamp.
A 12-pfennig parody was altered to show Hitler's head as a skull. This stamp is normally identified as "the Hitler skull stamp" or "the Hitler deaths-head stamp." The text at the bottom of the stamp was altered from DEUTSCHES REICH to FUTSCHES REICH ("LOST EMPIRE"). The OSS printed 1,138,500 of these parody postal stamps and shipped them to their agents al over Europe.
The forgeries were printed in sheets of 50 (five down, ten across). Because of the perforation difference, there is no need to provide a detailed description of the minor variations used to identify the frauds.
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Michelnumber 18 A/B
On 5 April 1937, Germany issued a souvenir sheet in honor of the 48th birthday of Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler. In the center were four identical dark green 6-pfennig stamps showing the face of the German leader. An inscription at the bottom of the sheet read "WER EIN VOLK RETTEN WILL KANN NUR HEROISCH DENKEN" ("He who wants to save his people must think heroically").
The OSS produced a propaganda parody of this sheet meant to attack and ridicule Hitler and the Nazi Party.
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Michelnumber 19
The spittler Forgery
Forgery of deutsches Reich Michelnumber 744 is a private trader product.
This is not an official government parody; it was made by civilians for profit. It is actually what we call a "Cinderella."
The parody was produced in America by Lawrence & Graves, Los Angeles stamp dealers, in miniature sheets of four (2x2). The sheets have full margins bearing the small inscription "Copyright 1943 / Lawrence & Graves" beneath the left label and "Hollywood / California" beneath the right label.
Number is redrawn by MICHEL
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Michelnumber 20
Hermann Göring Forgery
Hermann Goering, the commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe, was also featured in a falsified stamp, which depicted him imprisoned behind a wire fence under the date of his 51st birthday. It parodies a 1943 stamp that commemorated Hitler’s 54th birthday ( Michelnumber 848)
The difference with the Goering image is that it is not an officially produced work by the US or Britain. While some put it down as a British forgery, other stamp experts believe it was privately produced by someone keen to make a profit.
There are 2 version of this stamp, one WITH wire fence and one WITHOUT wire fence.
Number is redrawn by MICHEL
WITHOUT and WITH fence
Sheet WITH fence
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Michelnumber 21
Number is redrawn by MICHEL
Unkown which stamp this was
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Michelnumber 22
Hindenburg Medallion Forgery
In 1944 the British Special Operations Executive created this forgery of the Deutsches Reich number 519. The forgery is printed by typography on unwatermarked paper in sheets of 4 (2x2), and possibly in sheets of 15 (3x5) or 20 (4x5). They were perforated 14 x 14 1/4 comb, very close to the genuine. The forgery is excellent, but may quickly be distinguished from the genuine since the unshaded area of the throat is wider in the forgery, and the forgery shows a red border around the head (particularly the face) that is absent in the genuine.
The forgeries are believed to have been used to distribute propaganda through the German mail system.
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Michelnumber 23 - 26 A/B
British Hitler Head Forgeries
From January 1944 till 1945 the British Special Operations Executive printed these forgeries of the Deutsches Reich Michelnumbers 782,783,785 and 786
These stamps were of better quality versus the Americans' attempt at forgery because the British used actual stamp production facilities whereas the Americans did not have access to quality ingredients such as paper, ink or engravers. The American forgeries focused much of their efforts on the 12 Pfennig stamp which hosted Hitler’s head and exposed skull.
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Michelnumber 27
Feldpost Airmail Forgery 1943
The Feldpost Airmail stamp was used by German forces to get mail home more quickly than the normal Feldpost system.
In late 1943, The British printed this forgery of the German feldpost airmail permission stamp
They delivered over 200,000 to the British Special Operations Executive and 12,500 to the Free French. However, no evidence has come to light that they were ever actually used within the German Feldpost system.
The stamps are of good quality printing, but are easily distinguishable from the original German issues. They differ in paper, perforation, and have several noticeable printing differences:
- Open loop antenna
- Dashes behind the rudder
- Incomplete door lines
There's no indication in the reference materials of exactly what the intent was, though it's reasonable to infer from other forgery efforts.
It is not known to have been used.
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Michelnumber 28 I/II
The Himmler Forgery
The PWE produced two black "Himmler" parodies of the Germany 1941-1944 6 pfennig violet Hitler-head stamp that depicted SS Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler full-face. Both were printed typographed in violet in sheets of 20 (5x4), perforated 14:14 1/4 comb.
The first, (December 1942), has facial shading of narrowly spaced lines that are rough and ill-defined with white uncolored patches around the eyes, cheek, and chin. The hair is poorly defined and appears to run into the background.
This is type II
The second, (April/May 1943) has facial shading of widely spaced lines, sharp and clear; the hairline is well defined and stands out clearly from the background. The wide-line variety is by far the more handsome parody, and resulted from a redesign of the narrow-line variety. Because the wide-line item was reported first, it was designated Type I
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Michelnumber 29
Field Marshal von Witzleben Forgery
In 1944, the British created this propaganda forgery depicting Field Marshall Erwin on Witzleben, a senior plotter of the July 20 1944 assassination attempt on Hitler. The stamp design is an immitation of the German Michel number 863, released in 1943 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Beer Hall Putsch.
Text is "Gehangt am 8 Aug 1944: und ihr habt doch gesiegt," ("Hanged on 8 August 1944: and despite all you were victorious.").
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Michelnumber 30 - 31
1943 Winterhilfswerk forgeries
In January 1943, the British printed this parody of the annual German Winterhilfswerk issues from 1938. The printing consisted of 10.000 stamps in booklet form, with each booklet containing a single pane of 10 stamps. The booklets were delivered tot he Special Operations Executive and 100 booklets to the free French in April 1943
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Michelnumber 32 A/B
Himmler & Civilian Forgery
A less-classic British PWE parody of Himmler depicts him shackling a civilian. This parody of the German 9 November 1944 red Hitler Putsch stamp shows Himmler leading a manacled civilian man, who represents Germany in the chains of Fascism. The stamps were printed offset in sheets of 20 stamps (5x4). They are known both perforated and imperforate, although the latter are quite rare. Postwar forgeries exist. The parody was probably produced in December 1944.
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Michelnumber 33 A/B
In January 1943, the British created this propaganda forgery depicting Hans Frank, The Governor-General of the Polish General Gouvernement. The stamp design is an immitation of the 1941 General Gouvernement 20 Groschen Hitler Issue (Michel number 77). The stamps were airdropped tot he Polish Restitance in the period January - April 1943. The resistance mailed a small quantity of covers, each containing a propaganda leaflet, bearing the stamp and two genuine 2 Groschen stamps to various addresses in occupied Poland.
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Michelnumber 34 – 35
Marocco Forgeries
One of the more interesting British propaganda operations involved a PWE black propaganda overprint on the French Morocco 50 centimes and 1 franc stamps of 1939-40 overprinted "Deutsches Reichspost in Marokko". The overprinted items were produced in May/July 1942 in an attempt to persuade Petain and Laval that their Nazis masters were deceiving them and were preparing to occupy French possessions in North Africa. The overprint exists on two stamps, in both thick (Type I) and thin (Type II) forms; the two types are usually found vertically setenant. One authority maintains that proofs of the thick and thin overprints were prepared, with the thin overprint being chosen for production. The story is that 1 sheet each of the two denominations were sent to the United States Embassy in Paris, who then showed the stamps to Petain or Laval.
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Michelnumbers 36 - 38
Mercury and Iris Forgeries
During World War II, the British printed propaganda leaflets and newspapers and inserted them into the French postal system using counterfeit French postage stamps printed by the British Political Warfare Executive
The counterfeit stamps are of four designs - Mercury, Iris, Petain with hat, and Petain without hat
The Mercury designs ( number 36 and 37) can be distinguished from the originals by the presence of two horizontal "cuts" across the forehead of the forgeries. Number 37 also differs in perforation
The Iris design ( Number 38) can be distinguished from the original by the lack of an accent over the first "E" in "RÉPUBLIQUE", a series of five dots in a horizontal line under the lip of the torch, and different perforation.
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Michelnumber 39 - 46
ResistanceForgeries (Petain)
Number 39,40,41,43,44,45 and 46
The Petain forgeries feature numerous discrepanceies which distinguish them from the originals, though the discrepancies generally vary from issue to issue. Most common are a lack of detail in the eye, moustache, ear and around the mouth and chin.
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Michelnumber 47
Laval Forgery
In late 1942, The British also prepared a propaganda parody of the France 1941-43 30 centimes scarlet Petain bareheaded. They added a sinister Nazi-collaborating Prime Minister Pierre Laval peering around from behind Petain. The vignette implies that Germany is running the French government. It was probably produced in November/December 1942. It is perforated 14 and printed in a sheet of 20. Pierre Laval met an ironic death. As the end grew near, he fled first to Germany, then to Spain, then to Austria, where he was arrested and sent back to France to be tried on the charge of treason. He was sentenced to be shot by firing squad on 6 October 1945, but swallowed cyanide before the sentence could be carried out. A physician saved his life so that he could be stood up in front of the firing squad and executed a little less than two weeks later.
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Michelnumber 48 A/B
King Viktor Emanuell III Forgery
The British PWE forged the Italian 1929-42 25 centesimi green Victor Emmanuel III stamp in sheets of 20 (5x4), perforated 14 3/4:14. The genuine stamp is perforated 14. Prepared by Ellic Howe, probably in 1942 or the first half of 1943, but possibly as late as summer or fall of 1943. It is possible that this stamp was prepared to assist in the dissemination from Italy of the so-called "Naples letters" (PWE No. H.298) in the first week of January 1943, although this has not been confirmed.
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Michelnumber 49-50
Hitler and Mussolini Forgeries
In 1943, the British produced these parodies of Italian issues featuring Hitler and Mussolini
On number 49, the faces are changed to a snarling Hitler and cowering Mussolini, and the tekst is changed from "Duo popoli / Un Guerra" ( Two peoples / One War) to "Duo popoli / Un führer" ( Two people / One leader)
On number 50, the tekst is changed from "Poste Italian." To the German tekst "Zwei Volker / Ein Krieg" ( Two peoples / One War). The color is also changed, from the original purple to green.
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Michelnumber 51
The Dutch "Seagull" forgery
The British forgery of the Netherlands 1935 1 1/2 cent slate "seagull" stamp was produced in sheets of 20 (5x4). The round head and point eye of the seagull (really a carrier pigeon) and the short height of the letters are similar to those in the redesigned series of 1941 (Mi.380-391), which does not contain a 1 1/2 cent item.
The time of production of this forgery is not definitely known, but is surely between April and November 1941: the redesigned series of Dutch stamps did not come into existence until April, and the quality of the work is too poor to attribute it to PWE's Ellic Howe, who began his work in November.
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Fakes made by resistance organizations
Michelnumber 1-2
December 1941
There is a private patriotic overprint Houdt Goeden Moed ("Have Good Courage") on two values of the Netherlands Queen Wilhelmina issue of 1940. The stamps are known in various arrangements of canceled and uncanceled, on and off cover, and on cover with or without address. They were produced by Mr. Pieter Jacob van den Ban, a Schiedam stamp dealer, using his remnants of two values of the still-valid Wilhelmina issue. To lessen the likelihood of casual detection, the overprints are applied with a light shade of the basic color of the stamp.
These stamps fall into a gray area. They were privately produced and that makes them suspect, but apparently van den Ban was a member of the Dutch Underground and as far as is known he never sold a stamp for profit. The copies on the market turned up after the war when his belongings were sold to pay his taxes. As a result, although made by a private individual. They probably can be considered legitimate propaganda parodies.
Allegedly, the Dutch used the phrase "houdt goeden moed" as a test to detect German agents, since the Dutch "g" in "goeden" is pronounced with a harsh glottal "h" that was difficult for Germans to voice.
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Fakes made by resistance organizations
Michelnumber 3 I and II – 14 I and II, 15 and 16
November 1942
I think that MICHEL made an error here.
They talk about the French resistance organisation but I think that has to be the Belgian pro-nazi party (The flemish Legion)
The base stamps are the french PETAIN with an imprint of a black lion ( from Belgium? ) with the words “Vlaamsche Staat” ( = Flemish State) and a new value in German pfennige.
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Fakes made by resistance organizations
Michelnumber 17
Resistance Forgeries (Charles de Gaulle)
In June/July 1943, the French Resistance (Forces Françaises de l'Intérieur, or FFI) printed this forgery depicting General Charles de Gaulle in profile. The stamps are generally of poor quality printing on poor quality paper
They are commonly known as the "Nice Forgery" (in German, Nizza-Hlschung) after the city of Nice, France.
Copies are known to have been used on mail transported within France during 1943-44.
They were printed in perforated or imperforate sheets of 9.
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Fakes made by resistance organizations
Michelnumber 18 – 41
1943/1944
the French Resistance (Forces Françaises de l'Intérieur, or FFI) also prepared a stamp showing General Charles DeGaulle in full face. This was a much more ambitious operation and the patriotic labels were placed between genuine stamps. Once again the propaganda stamp is a parody of the France 1941-1943 1.50 francs Petain bareheaded. It depicts Charles DeGaulle full-face, printed 10 per sheet in the vertical gutter between the central columns of genuine French Petain or Mercury stamps, thereby emerging "pre-per¬forated." The denomination of the parody is 1.50 francs, as in the original model; however, the text in the central oval of the parody is "Republique Francaise" rather than "Postes Francaise." The parody appears on 4 different Mercury sheets and on 20 different Petain sheets. These parodies are of much higher quality than the left-profile DeGaulle production. They were prepared in May 1943 by the FFI in Marseilles. The full-face DeGaulle parodies were heavily used on mail in the Alps-Maritimes, which was under German occupation at the time, and in Paris, Lyon, Marseilles, and other centers of population. However, these parodies are quite rare, and covers are extremely scarce. One complete set exists in Europe.
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Fakes made by resistance organizations
Michelnumber 42
In February 1944, the French Resistance (Forces Françaises de l'Intérieur, or FFI) printed this forgery of the French 1.50 Franc Petain issue to mail clandestine leaflets and anti-German propaganda inside France and then boldly used the Vichy Government's Postal Service that was loyal to Hitler and the Nazis to deliver their message!
The stamp is of significantly lower quality than the original, and features a different perforation (11.5 instead of the original 14:13.5) It can also be found in multiple shades.
This remarkable forgery went undetected during the war. Had this operation been discovered, any individual caught with these stamps would have certainly been interrogated by the Gestapo and likely executed, so secrecy and trust within the French Resistance was essential
The stamps were printed in sheets containing four panes, each 6x4. The rear of esch pane contains a rubber handstamp of the printers, the Direction Atelier des Faux.
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I have updated the post 2 posts back.
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Counterfeit war and propaganda
The war and propaganda forgeries of the First and Second World Wars were made by secret services or governmental resistance groups to send propaganda material and messages in enemy territory or to provoke the enemy. One speaks of war forgeries if the originals are reproduced as deceptively as possible, of propaganda forgeries if the original motif was deliberately modified to a greater or lesser extent and / or printed.
These expenses were distributed partly by agents who smuggled them into enemy territory, partly by dropping them off planes in the hope that the war and propaganda expenditure would be mistaken for normal letters or postage stamps and slipped into the postal traffic. The aim was to damage the enemy in postal traffic and to bring about the demoralization of enemy soldiers and the civilian population.
Counterfeiting of war and propaganda by non-governmental resistance groups or of purely private origin are not cataloged.
Of all war and propaganda counterfeits, there are dangerous counterfeits and reprints to the detriment of collectors.
All prices only apply to (BPP) tested pieces!
Literature:
W. Baldus: "Black Post - A philatelic documentation on stamps, postcards and field post letters in the
War Propaganda Use ", two volumes, New York, 1999.
"OSS Hitler Stamps", Munich, 2005.
"German Propaganda Parodies Against Great Britain", Munich, 2007.
"Die Himmler-Marke", Munich, 2013 (bilingual German / English).
W. Baldus and Michael Schweizer: "The Frank brand", Munich 2008.
Joachim Hosang: "Serrated war propaganda", manual and catalog of counterfeiting and propaganda forgeries, part 1-3.
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World War 1
Britisch forgery for Germany
Michel nr 1 and 2 (I do not own number 3)
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World War 1
Britisch forgery for Germany
Michel number 4 and 5
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World War 1
Britisch forgery for Austria
Michel number 6 to 8
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09:54:25am
I have seen a few of these before, but never this many. What an interesting article. Thanks for posting these forgeries.
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Well guys untill yesterday I never ever seen the stamps below.
I talked about it in one of the earlier posting but still........
Michel 4 II
Michel 5 I
Michel 7 I
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The following stamps are now under auction in germany.
The stamps are on auction for about 3 months and nobody is buying them.
Beginning price :
The green one : 500 euros
The red one :800 euros
I personally think they are forgeries.
I mailed the auctioneer and asked him if they were certified.
He told me ( after one week) they were NOT.
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During WWII, the Germans, British, Americans, and Russians all created forged stamps or postcards of the opposing forces. Some were strictly for local propaganda purposes, while others were designed for introduction into the enemy postal systems. The Allies went so far as to devise and implement elaborate plans to introduced forged postal items into Germany
Most of the forgeries were either propaganda efforts to undermine faith in the Nazi regime (usually with obvious parodies or anti-Nazi messages on the face of the stamp), or attempts to replicate German postage so fake mail bearing anti-Nazi material could be introduced into the postal system. As these aren't subversive on their face, the plan was likely to use them to introduce fake Feldpost mail into the system.
I will mention the stamps one by one from the MICHEL catalog in the next posts.
Most stamps are from my collection.......
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re: War - Propaganda forgeries / Krieg - Propaganda fälschungen
Michelnumber 1
Silver Jubilee Forgery
The Germans created this parody forgery of the 1935 Great Britain 1/2 Penny Silver Jubilee stamp.
Changes to the design include Stalin in place of King George V, and "This war is a / Jewsh war" in place of "Silver Jubilee / Half Penny." The dates have also been changed from the original 1910¬1935 to 1939-1944.
The Star of David and hammer and sickle also appear throughout the design.
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re: War - Propaganda forgeries / Krieg - Propaganda fälschungen
Michelnumber 2
Coronation Forgery
The Germans created this parody forgery of the 1937 Great Britain 11/2 Pence Coronation stamp.
Changes to the design include Stalin in place of Queen Elizabeth, and "S.S.S.R. Britannia / Teheran 28.11.1943" in place of "Postage Revenue / 12 May 1937". The text "G E R" has also been replaced with "S S S R".
The Star of David and hammer and sickle also appear throughout the design.
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re: War - Propaganda forgeries / Krieg - Propaganda fälschungen
Nice sheet with number 1 and 2
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re: War - Propaganda forgeries / Krieg - Propaganda fälschungen
Michelnumber 3 - 8
King George VI Forgeries
The Germans created these forgeries of the 1937 Great Britain King George VI issues
Changes to the design include the Star of David atop the crown at top center, and a hammer and sickle inserted in the flower at top left and in place of the pence symbol.
These issues were also overprinted (MiNr 9-14) in many different varieties.
(See one of the next posts)
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re: War - Propaganda forgeries / Krieg - Propaganda fälschungen
Michelnumber 9 -14
King George VI Forgeries with different imprints
I = Imprint “MURDER / RUIN” between bombs
a) = “CATHEDRAL of ROUEN”
b) = "CASTELLE CANDOLFO"
c) = "MONTE CASSINO"
d) = “SCHAFFHAUSEN (SWITZERLAND)”
e) = "SAN MARINO"
f) = "CATHEDRAL of COLOGNE"
II = Extremes of World politics
a) "14.8.1941 THE BLUFF-CHARTA"
b) "EMPIRE'S LIQUIDATION 28.11/1.12.1943 AT TEHERAN"
c) "WORLD-SLAVERY"
d) "WORLD-BOLSHEVISM"
e) "WORLD-CAPITALISM"
f) "WORLD-JUDAISM"
III = Imprint initials “AAA O”
a) "BUT WHO WILL RETURN ?"
b) "ON ORDER OF STALIN"
c) "ENGLAND BLEEDS ON THE ORDER OF MOSCOW"
d) "COME ON GERMANY EXPECTS YOU !"
e) "ENGLAND HAS LOST THE WAR"
f) "A MILITARY ADVENTURE !"
IV = imprint “LIQUIDATION OF EMPIRE” Serie 1
a) "HONG KONG"
b) "SINGAPORE"
c) "ST. LUCA""
d) "BARBADOS"
e) "JAMAICA"
f) "TRINIDAD"
g) "BAHAMAS"
h) "BERMUDA"
V = imprint “LIQUIDATION OF EMPIRE” Serie 2
a) "RABAUL"
b) "BORNEO"
c) "GRENADA"
d) "RANGOON"
e) "BOUGAINVILLE"
f) "ST VINCENT"
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re: War - Propaganda forgeries / Krieg - Propaganda fälschungen
Michelnumber 15 – 16
American Hitler Head Forgery
The forgeries are of the 6 and 12 pfennig Hitler head stamps of 1941-1944. Several printings exist with minor differences. The stamps were printed at various times in both Rome and Bern, on different paper, with different perforations, with slight changes in color and the texture of the gum. The forgeries can be immediately recognized by their perforations, anywhere from 11 up to 13. The genuine stamps are perforated 14.
Michelnumber 17
The Hitler Skull stamp.
A 12-pfennig parody was altered to show Hitler's head as a skull. This stamp is normally identified as "the Hitler skull stamp" or "the Hitler deaths-head stamp." The text at the bottom of the stamp was altered from DEUTSCHES REICH to FUTSCHES REICH ("LOST EMPIRE"). The OSS printed 1,138,500 of these parody postal stamps and shipped them to their agents al over Europe.
The forgeries were printed in sheets of 50 (five down, ten across). Because of the perforation difference, there is no need to provide a detailed description of the minor variations used to identify the frauds.
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re: War - Propaganda forgeries / Krieg - Propaganda fälschungen
Michelnumber 18 A/B
On 5 April 1937, Germany issued a souvenir sheet in honor of the 48th birthday of Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler. In the center were four identical dark green 6-pfennig stamps showing the face of the German leader. An inscription at the bottom of the sheet read "WER EIN VOLK RETTEN WILL KANN NUR HEROISCH DENKEN" ("He who wants to save his people must think heroically").
The OSS produced a propaganda parody of this sheet meant to attack and ridicule Hitler and the Nazi Party.
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re: War - Propaganda forgeries / Krieg - Propaganda fälschungen
Michelnumber 19
The spittler Forgery
Forgery of deutsches Reich Michelnumber 744 is a private trader product.
This is not an official government parody; it was made by civilians for profit. It is actually what we call a "Cinderella."
The parody was produced in America by Lawrence & Graves, Los Angeles stamp dealers, in miniature sheets of four (2x2). The sheets have full margins bearing the small inscription "Copyright 1943 / Lawrence & Graves" beneath the left label and "Hollywood / California" beneath the right label.
Number is redrawn by MICHEL
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re: War - Propaganda forgeries / Krieg - Propaganda fälschungen
Michelnumber 20
Hermann Göring Forgery
Hermann Goering, the commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe, was also featured in a falsified stamp, which depicted him imprisoned behind a wire fence under the date of his 51st birthday. It parodies a 1943 stamp that commemorated Hitler’s 54th birthday ( Michelnumber 848)
The difference with the Goering image is that it is not an officially produced work by the US or Britain. While some put it down as a British forgery, other stamp experts believe it was privately produced by someone keen to make a profit.
There are 2 version of this stamp, one WITH wire fence and one WITHOUT wire fence.
Number is redrawn by MICHEL
WITHOUT and WITH fence
Sheet WITH fence
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Michelnumber 21
Number is redrawn by MICHEL
Unkown which stamp this was
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Michelnumber 22
Hindenburg Medallion Forgery
In 1944 the British Special Operations Executive created this forgery of the Deutsches Reich number 519. The forgery is printed by typography on unwatermarked paper in sheets of 4 (2x2), and possibly in sheets of 15 (3x5) or 20 (4x5). They were perforated 14 x 14 1/4 comb, very close to the genuine. The forgery is excellent, but may quickly be distinguished from the genuine since the unshaded area of the throat is wider in the forgery, and the forgery shows a red border around the head (particularly the face) that is absent in the genuine.
The forgeries are believed to have been used to distribute propaganda through the German mail system.
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re: War - Propaganda forgeries / Krieg - Propaganda fälschungen
Michelnumber 23 - 26 A/B
British Hitler Head Forgeries
From January 1944 till 1945 the British Special Operations Executive printed these forgeries of the Deutsches Reich Michelnumbers 782,783,785 and 786
These stamps were of better quality versus the Americans' attempt at forgery because the British used actual stamp production facilities whereas the Americans did not have access to quality ingredients such as paper, ink or engravers. The American forgeries focused much of their efforts on the 12 Pfennig stamp which hosted Hitler’s head and exposed skull.
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Michelnumber 27
Feldpost Airmail Forgery 1943
The Feldpost Airmail stamp was used by German forces to get mail home more quickly than the normal Feldpost system.
In late 1943, The British printed this forgery of the German feldpost airmail permission stamp
They delivered over 200,000 to the British Special Operations Executive and 12,500 to the Free French. However, no evidence has come to light that they were ever actually used within the German Feldpost system.
The stamps are of good quality printing, but are easily distinguishable from the original German issues. They differ in paper, perforation, and have several noticeable printing differences:
- Open loop antenna
- Dashes behind the rudder
- Incomplete door lines
There's no indication in the reference materials of exactly what the intent was, though it's reasonable to infer from other forgery efforts.
It is not known to have been used.
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Michelnumber 28 I/II
The Himmler Forgery
The PWE produced two black "Himmler" parodies of the Germany 1941-1944 6 pfennig violet Hitler-head stamp that depicted SS Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler full-face. Both were printed typographed in violet in sheets of 20 (5x4), perforated 14:14 1/4 comb.
The first, (December 1942), has facial shading of narrowly spaced lines that are rough and ill-defined with white uncolored patches around the eyes, cheek, and chin. The hair is poorly defined and appears to run into the background.
This is type II
The second, (April/May 1943) has facial shading of widely spaced lines, sharp and clear; the hairline is well defined and stands out clearly from the background. The wide-line variety is by far the more handsome parody, and resulted from a redesign of the narrow-line variety. Because the wide-line item was reported first, it was designated Type I
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Michelnumber 29
Field Marshal von Witzleben Forgery
In 1944, the British created this propaganda forgery depicting Field Marshall Erwin on Witzleben, a senior plotter of the July 20 1944 assassination attempt on Hitler. The stamp design is an immitation of the German Michel number 863, released in 1943 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Beer Hall Putsch.
Text is "Gehangt am 8 Aug 1944: und ihr habt doch gesiegt," ("Hanged on 8 August 1944: and despite all you were victorious.").
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Michelnumber 30 - 31
1943 Winterhilfswerk forgeries
In January 1943, the British printed this parody of the annual German Winterhilfswerk issues from 1938. The printing consisted of 10.000 stamps in booklet form, with each booklet containing a single pane of 10 stamps. The booklets were delivered tot he Special Operations Executive and 100 booklets to the free French in April 1943
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Michelnumber 32 A/B
Himmler & Civilian Forgery
A less-classic British PWE parody of Himmler depicts him shackling a civilian. This parody of the German 9 November 1944 red Hitler Putsch stamp shows Himmler leading a manacled civilian man, who represents Germany in the chains of Fascism. The stamps were printed offset in sheets of 20 stamps (5x4). They are known both perforated and imperforate, although the latter are quite rare. Postwar forgeries exist. The parody was probably produced in December 1944.
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Michelnumber 33 A/B
In January 1943, the British created this propaganda forgery depicting Hans Frank, The Governor-General of the Polish General Gouvernement. The stamp design is an immitation of the 1941 General Gouvernement 20 Groschen Hitler Issue (Michel number 77). The stamps were airdropped tot he Polish Restitance in the period January - April 1943. The resistance mailed a small quantity of covers, each containing a propaganda leaflet, bearing the stamp and two genuine 2 Groschen stamps to various addresses in occupied Poland.
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Michelnumber 34 – 35
Marocco Forgeries
One of the more interesting British propaganda operations involved a PWE black propaganda overprint on the French Morocco 50 centimes and 1 franc stamps of 1939-40 overprinted "Deutsches Reichspost in Marokko". The overprinted items were produced in May/July 1942 in an attempt to persuade Petain and Laval that their Nazis masters were deceiving them and were preparing to occupy French possessions in North Africa. The overprint exists on two stamps, in both thick (Type I) and thin (Type II) forms; the two types are usually found vertically setenant. One authority maintains that proofs of the thick and thin overprints were prepared, with the thin overprint being chosen for production. The story is that 1 sheet each of the two denominations were sent to the United States Embassy in Paris, who then showed the stamps to Petain or Laval.
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Michelnumbers 36 - 38
Mercury and Iris Forgeries
During World War II, the British printed propaganda leaflets and newspapers and inserted them into the French postal system using counterfeit French postage stamps printed by the British Political Warfare Executive
The counterfeit stamps are of four designs - Mercury, Iris, Petain with hat, and Petain without hat
The Mercury designs ( number 36 and 37) can be distinguished from the originals by the presence of two horizontal "cuts" across the forehead of the forgeries. Number 37 also differs in perforation
The Iris design ( Number 38) can be distinguished from the original by the lack of an accent over the first "E" in "RÉPUBLIQUE", a series of five dots in a horizontal line under the lip of the torch, and different perforation.
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Michelnumber 39 - 46
ResistanceForgeries (Petain)
Number 39,40,41,43,44,45 and 46
The Petain forgeries feature numerous discrepanceies which distinguish them from the originals, though the discrepancies generally vary from issue to issue. Most common are a lack of detail in the eye, moustache, ear and around the mouth and chin.
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Michelnumber 47
Laval Forgery
In late 1942, The British also prepared a propaganda parody of the France 1941-43 30 centimes scarlet Petain bareheaded. They added a sinister Nazi-collaborating Prime Minister Pierre Laval peering around from behind Petain. The vignette implies that Germany is running the French government. It was probably produced in November/December 1942. It is perforated 14 and printed in a sheet of 20. Pierre Laval met an ironic death. As the end grew near, he fled first to Germany, then to Spain, then to Austria, where he was arrested and sent back to France to be tried on the charge of treason. He was sentenced to be shot by firing squad on 6 October 1945, but swallowed cyanide before the sentence could be carried out. A physician saved his life so that he could be stood up in front of the firing squad and executed a little less than two weeks later.
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Michelnumber 48 A/B
King Viktor Emanuell III Forgery
The British PWE forged the Italian 1929-42 25 centesimi green Victor Emmanuel III stamp in sheets of 20 (5x4), perforated 14 3/4:14. The genuine stamp is perforated 14. Prepared by Ellic Howe, probably in 1942 or the first half of 1943, but possibly as late as summer or fall of 1943. It is possible that this stamp was prepared to assist in the dissemination from Italy of the so-called "Naples letters" (PWE No. H.298) in the first week of January 1943, although this has not been confirmed.
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Michelnumber 49-50
Hitler and Mussolini Forgeries
In 1943, the British produced these parodies of Italian issues featuring Hitler and Mussolini
On number 49, the faces are changed to a snarling Hitler and cowering Mussolini, and the tekst is changed from "Duo popoli / Un Guerra" ( Two peoples / One War) to "Duo popoli / Un führer" ( Two people / One leader)
On number 50, the tekst is changed from "Poste Italian." To the German tekst "Zwei Volker / Ein Krieg" ( Two peoples / One War). The color is also changed, from the original purple to green.
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Michelnumber 51
The Dutch "Seagull" forgery
The British forgery of the Netherlands 1935 1 1/2 cent slate "seagull" stamp was produced in sheets of 20 (5x4). The round head and point eye of the seagull (really a carrier pigeon) and the short height of the letters are similar to those in the redesigned series of 1941 (Mi.380-391), which does not contain a 1 1/2 cent item.
The time of production of this forgery is not definitely known, but is surely between April and November 1941: the redesigned series of Dutch stamps did not come into existence until April, and the quality of the work is too poor to attribute it to PWE's Ellic Howe, who began his work in November.
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Fakes made by resistance organizations
Michelnumber 1-2
December 1941
There is a private patriotic overprint Houdt Goeden Moed ("Have Good Courage") on two values of the Netherlands Queen Wilhelmina issue of 1940. The stamps are known in various arrangements of canceled and uncanceled, on and off cover, and on cover with or without address. They were produced by Mr. Pieter Jacob van den Ban, a Schiedam stamp dealer, using his remnants of two values of the still-valid Wilhelmina issue. To lessen the likelihood of casual detection, the overprints are applied with a light shade of the basic color of the stamp.
These stamps fall into a gray area. They were privately produced and that makes them suspect, but apparently van den Ban was a member of the Dutch Underground and as far as is known he never sold a stamp for profit. The copies on the market turned up after the war when his belongings were sold to pay his taxes. As a result, although made by a private individual. They probably can be considered legitimate propaganda parodies.
Allegedly, the Dutch used the phrase "houdt goeden moed" as a test to detect German agents, since the Dutch "g" in "goeden" is pronounced with a harsh glottal "h" that was difficult for Germans to voice.
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Fakes made by resistance organizations
Michelnumber 3 I and II – 14 I and II, 15 and 16
November 1942
I think that MICHEL made an error here.
They talk about the French resistance organisation but I think that has to be the Belgian pro-nazi party (The flemish Legion)
The base stamps are the french PETAIN with an imprint of a black lion ( from Belgium? ) with the words “Vlaamsche Staat” ( = Flemish State) and a new value in German pfennige.
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Fakes made by resistance organizations
Michelnumber 17
Resistance Forgeries (Charles de Gaulle)
In June/July 1943, the French Resistance (Forces Françaises de l'Intérieur, or FFI) printed this forgery depicting General Charles de Gaulle in profile. The stamps are generally of poor quality printing on poor quality paper
They are commonly known as the "Nice Forgery" (in German, Nizza-Hlschung) after the city of Nice, France.
Copies are known to have been used on mail transported within France during 1943-44.
They were printed in perforated or imperforate sheets of 9.
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Fakes made by resistance organizations
Michelnumber 18 – 41
1943/1944
the French Resistance (Forces Françaises de l'Intérieur, or FFI) also prepared a stamp showing General Charles DeGaulle in full face. This was a much more ambitious operation and the patriotic labels were placed between genuine stamps. Once again the propaganda stamp is a parody of the France 1941-1943 1.50 francs Petain bareheaded. It depicts Charles DeGaulle full-face, printed 10 per sheet in the vertical gutter between the central columns of genuine French Petain or Mercury stamps, thereby emerging "pre-per¬forated." The denomination of the parody is 1.50 francs, as in the original model; however, the text in the central oval of the parody is "Republique Francaise" rather than "Postes Francaise." The parody appears on 4 different Mercury sheets and on 20 different Petain sheets. These parodies are of much higher quality than the left-profile DeGaulle production. They were prepared in May 1943 by the FFI in Marseilles. The full-face DeGaulle parodies were heavily used on mail in the Alps-Maritimes, which was under German occupation at the time, and in Paris, Lyon, Marseilles, and other centers of population. However, these parodies are quite rare, and covers are extremely scarce. One complete set exists in Europe.
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Fakes made by resistance organizations
Michelnumber 42
In February 1944, the French Resistance (Forces Françaises de l'Intérieur, or FFI) printed this forgery of the French 1.50 Franc Petain issue to mail clandestine leaflets and anti-German propaganda inside France and then boldly used the Vichy Government's Postal Service that was loyal to Hitler and the Nazis to deliver their message!
The stamp is of significantly lower quality than the original, and features a different perforation (11.5 instead of the original 14:13.5) It can also be found in multiple shades.
This remarkable forgery went undetected during the war. Had this operation been discovered, any individual caught with these stamps would have certainly been interrogated by the Gestapo and likely executed, so secrecy and trust within the French Resistance was essential
The stamps were printed in sheets containing four panes, each 6x4. The rear of esch pane contains a rubber handstamp of the printers, the Direction Atelier des Faux.
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I have updated the post 2 posts back.
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re: War - Propaganda forgeries / Krieg - Propaganda fälschungen
Counterfeit war and propaganda
The war and propaganda forgeries of the First and Second World Wars were made by secret services or governmental resistance groups to send propaganda material and messages in enemy territory or to provoke the enemy. One speaks of war forgeries if the originals are reproduced as deceptively as possible, of propaganda forgeries if the original motif was deliberately modified to a greater or lesser extent and / or printed.
These expenses were distributed partly by agents who smuggled them into enemy territory, partly by dropping them off planes in the hope that the war and propaganda expenditure would be mistaken for normal letters or postage stamps and slipped into the postal traffic. The aim was to damage the enemy in postal traffic and to bring about the demoralization of enemy soldiers and the civilian population.
Counterfeiting of war and propaganda by non-governmental resistance groups or of purely private origin are not cataloged.
Of all war and propaganda counterfeits, there are dangerous counterfeits and reprints to the detriment of collectors.
All prices only apply to (BPP) tested pieces!
Literature:
W. Baldus: "Black Post - A philatelic documentation on stamps, postcards and field post letters in the
War Propaganda Use ", two volumes, New York, 1999.
"OSS Hitler Stamps", Munich, 2005.
"German Propaganda Parodies Against Great Britain", Munich, 2007.
"Die Himmler-Marke", Munich, 2013 (bilingual German / English).
W. Baldus and Michael Schweizer: "The Frank brand", Munich 2008.
Joachim Hosang: "Serrated war propaganda", manual and catalog of counterfeiting and propaganda forgeries, part 1-3.
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re: War - Propaganda forgeries / Krieg - Propaganda fälschungen
World War 1
Britisch forgery for Germany
Michel nr 1 and 2 (I do not own number 3)
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World War 1
Britisch forgery for Germany
Michel number 4 and 5
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World War 1
Britisch forgery for Austria
Michel number 6 to 8
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Collecting King George VI from all countries, and King Edward VII and King George V from the West Indies.
14 Mar 2020
09:54:25am
re: War - Propaganda forgeries / Krieg - Propaganda fälschungen
I have seen a few of these before, but never this many. What an interesting article. Thanks for posting these forgeries.
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Well guys untill yesterday I never ever seen the stamps below.
I talked about it in one of the earlier posting but still........
Michel 4 II
Michel 5 I
Michel 7 I
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re: War - Propaganda forgeries / Krieg - Propaganda fälschungen
The following stamps are now under auction in germany.
The stamps are on auction for about 3 months and nobody is buying them.
Beginning price :
The green one : 500 euros
The red one :800 euros
I personally think they are forgeries.
I mailed the auctioneer and asked him if they were certified.
He told me ( after one week) they were NOT.
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