COLOMBIA 1859-1863

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1859 Octoganal picture, arms, inscription "CONFED. GRANADINA", with diamond shaped ornament on top middle of the stamp

Genuine, image obtained from http://www.sandafayre.com

  5 c lilac
  10 c yellow
  20 c blue

Value of the stamps
vc = very common c = common * = not so common ** = uncommon		*** = very uncommon R = rare RR = very rare RRR = extremely rare
Value	Unused	Used	Remarks
5 c	***	***
10 c	***	***
20 c	R	R

Cancels: most stamps are cancelled with a penstroke:

Forgeries, examples:

Forgeries with white background behind the shield.

I think this is the forgery of the 5 c mentionned in 'Album Weeds'; the diamond above the upper '5' is too large, the 'D' of 'GRENADINA' is placed higher than 'INA'. The shield behind the arms is white instead of coloured. the 20 c stamp beside it is probably from the same forger, though it is not mentioned in Album Weeds.

Album Weeds mentions forgeries of the 10 c and 20 c with inscription '10 CENTS' and '20 CENTS' instead of '10 CENT 10' and '20 CENT 20' as in the genuine stamps.

There also exist two bogus issues of 2 1/2 c green and 1 P red:

(Bogus issues)

1860 Octoganal picture, arms, inscription 'CONFED. GRANADINA', as 1859 issue, but with 8-pointed asterix ornament on top of the stamp

  2 1/2 c green
  5 c lilac to violet
  10 c orange (to brown)
  20 c blue
  1 P red

Value of the stamps
vc = very common c = common * = not so common ** = uncommon		*** = very uncommon R = rare RR = very rare RRR = extremely rare
Value	Unused	Used	Remarks
2 1/2 c	***	***
5 c	***	***	Misprint 5 c blue: RRR
10 c	***	***	Also exists in other shade (brown to orange)
20 c	**	**
1 P	***	***

Tete-beche stamps of the 5 c value.

An old reprint of the 1 P exists. According to the Ohrt book of reprints, the reprint has no guidelines between stamps and the print is more blur than in the originals.

Modern reprints made in 1959; two 5 c tete-beche stamps in a mini-sheet.

Zoom-in of the above minisheet.

Forgeries

Examples:

The bottom inscriptions in the above forgeries are '10 CENTS' and '1 PESO', it should be '10 CENTS 10' and '1 PESO 1'. In the 1 P the two '1's above and below the circle are standing. I think in the genuine stamps they should be lying down.

Second forgery of the 20 c in Album Weeds

The above forgery is probably the second forgery of the 20 c value as described in the book 'Album Weeds'. It has the central circle too larger, also the values '20' above and below this circle are different from the genuine stamps. The pearls of the central circle are too small.

I presume the above stamp is a forgery too. It might have been made by the same forger as the above 20 c forgery.

1861 Arms inscription 'Estados Unidos de Nueva Granada'

2 1/2 c black
(Reduced size)

  2 1/2 c black
  5 c yellow
  10 c blue
  20 c red
  1 P red

There seem to be 54 varieties of the 5 c, 20 c and 1 P stamps.

Value of the stamps
vc = very common c = common * = not so common ** = uncommon		*** = very uncommon R = rare RR = very rare RRR = extremely rare
Value	Unused	Used	Remarks
2 1/2 c	RR	RR
5 c	R	R
10 c	R	R
20 c	R	RR
1 P	R	RR

Typical cancels:

('0' cancel in red and blue)

"BOGOTA" cancel.

Forgeries, there are at least 8 different forgeries of these stamps, examples:

Forgery of the 2 1/2 c with the '2's too flat at the bottom.

5 c forgery with 'O' of NACIONALES' too rounded.

Third/fourth forgery of Album Weeds (most common)

This forgery seems to be quite common and can be recognized by the fact that there are only eight asterisks in the lower part of the oval, instead of nine in the genuine stamps. There are many more differences, for example the 'T' of 'ESTADOS' has a very large top stroke. Also note that the shield contains things that are quite different from the genuine stamps. They often have the line cancel 'BOGOTA'. Other cancels exist, such as 'STA.CATHAR..' (larger size), 'ANTIOQUIA' or a cancel consisting of dots.

The 1 p and 2 1/2 c of this forgery can be recognized very easily:

('1 PESO' instead of 'UN PESO')

The inscription of the 1 P should be 'UN PESO' and not '1 PESO' as in the above forgery!

'2 1 2' instead of '2 i 1/2'; the stamp on the right is an improvement with '2 1/2'.

In the 2 1/2 c the inscription should read '2 i 1/2' and not '2 1 2' as in the above forgery. The fourth forgery of Album Weeds is identical to the third one, except that the 'comma' in the shield has been redrawn (sorry, no image available yet).

Fifth forgery of Album Weeds:

Another forgery set (fifth forgery of Album Weeds). The 'S' of 'UNIDOS' is placed under the 'N' of 'NACIONALES'. The word 'DE' is placed too far to the right. Note the two different types of the 2 1/2 forgery, written as '2 1 2' and '2 1/2'.

Eight forgery of Album Weeds:

Eight forgery of Album Weeds; the 'T' of ESTADOS' is slanting. This forgery is printed on yellowish paper. According to Album Weeds, this forgery exists with the above shown 'O' cancel in red or black color.

Oswald Schroeder forgeries:

The forger Oswald Schroeder made forgeries of all values. They are quite deceptive.

I've been told that this is a Schröder forgery. I'm not sure if this information is correct.

I've seen 'Schroeder die proofs' consisting of 2 stamps printed together, but with a huge coloured border around each stamp.

Sperati forgeries:

The forger Sperati made at least one forgery of the 2 1/2 c, one of the 10 c and two forgeries of the 1 P value (reproduction 'A' and 'B'):

Sperati forgery, reproduction 'A'

In Sperati's reproduction 'B' of the 1 P value, there is a white space just above the 'U' of 'UN'.

Sperati reproduction 'B'.

Sperati 'proof' forgeries of the 5 c and 10 c values.

1862 Octogonal, inscription 'E.U. de Colombia', arms in a circle

(Reduced size)

  10 c blue
  20 c red
  50 c green
  1 P lilac

Value of the stamps
vc = very common c = common * = not so common ** = uncommon		*** = very uncommon R = rare RR = very rare RRR = extremely rare
Value	Unused	Used	Remarks
10 c	R	R
20 c	RR	RR
50 c	R	R
1 P	RR	RR

Forgeries, examples:

Genuine stamps should have 45 pearls in the circle (the top ones hardly visible), there should also be white dots in the stars (according to 'The Forged Stamps of all Countries' by J.Dorn).

(Other forgeries)

(Forgery with overprint 'FALSCH' = forged in German, made by Senf)

Forgeries of the 10 c value.

Forgery of the 20 c value.

50 c Sperati forgery, this forgery has 'SPERATI REPRODUCTION' printed on the backside, together with '256' written manually.

I've seen 'Schroeder die proofs' with a huge coloured border around each stamp.

1863 Arms in an octagonal, new design

Typical cancel With 'BOGOTA' cancel

  5 c yellow
  10 c blue
  20 c red
  50 c green

There are 10 varieties of each of these stamps.

Value of the stamps
vc = very common c = common * = not so common ** = uncommon		*** = very uncommon R = rare RR = very rare RRR = extremely rare
Value	Unused	Used	Remarks
5c	***	***
10 c	***	***
20 c	***	***
50 c	***	R	Reprint: **

Forgeries, there are at least eight different kind of forgeries, examples:

The 'E' of 'E.U.' and the 'S' of 'NACIONALES' should be on a horizontal line. In the above forgeries the 'S' is clearly lower than the 'E'. There are also two stars in front and behind the '20 CENT' (copied from the previous issue?). These forgeries were possibly made by the forger Spiro (judging from the cancels).

Forgeries with first two stars at the left almost on top of each other; in the genuine stamps the top left star is much farther to the left than the bottom star.