Possibly genuine stamp.
Return To Catalogue - Part 1, Hamer, Krantz - Part 2, Lafrenz, Marz-Verein - Part 4, Charles van Diemen - Hamburg
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Issued by C.Hamer, H. Scheerenbeck, W. Krantz, Th. Lafrentz and Ch. van Diemen. Most of these stamps were only issued for stamp collectors. Forgeries have been made in large quantities of these stamps, I am not sure if the stamps shown here are genuine. Probably most of them are forgeries!
Possibly genuine stamp.
(1 Sch) black on coloured paper
These stamps were reprinted and six kinds of forgeries exist.
Genuine stamps have two six-rayed stars; one before and one after the word 'HAMBURGER'. The messenger carries a letter, this letter points towards the 'S' of 'SCHEERENBECK'. There is a small line in the bottom of the 'B' of 'BOTEN'.
(Reprint)
Reprints resemble the original stamps, with very
minor modifications. Reprints exist in three types:
a) There is a line through the 'OT' of 'BOTEN'
b) As in a), but an additional line goes from the 'H' of
'HAMBURGER' to the first 'E' of 'SCHEERENBECK'
c) As in b), but with an additional line towards the center
through the 'U' of 'HAMBURGER'.
Looks like a genuine stamp or reprint, but with no stars before
and after 'HAMBURGER'
This forgery does not have the two stars before and after the word 'HAMBURGER'. from the genuine stamp. Instead, only a hyphen can be found behind the word 'HAMBURGER'. The hand of the messenger does not cary any letter (it should in the genuine stamps). I've seen the Spiro forgeries in the colours: black, black on grey, black on yellow (shades), black on green (shades), black on blue, black on lilac and black on violet (shades). As with most Spiro products, they were printed in sheets of 25 (5x5).
This forgery has a misshapen 'S' in 'INSTITUT', it resembles more an '8'. The letter of the carrier is pointed too low (it should point towards the 'S' of 'SCHEERENBECK'). I have seen the following colours: black on yellow (shades), black on blue (shades), black on grey, black on brown, black on green and black on lilac. Some 'errors' seem to exist: printed on the wrong side of the stamp (gumside) and inverted stamps (mirror image).
Image obtained from Jamiel Stevens.
(reduced size)
This forgery has a very thick left leg of the 'U' of 'HAMBURGER'. The oval is more pointed below the 'B' of 'HAMBURGER'. I have seen the following colours: black on grey (shades), black on green and black on yellow.
(Reduced sizes)
This forgery was only printed in colours (not in black as the genuine!) or colour on colour (see pictures above).
(Reduced sizes)
This forgery has large six-rayed stars in front and behind 'HAMBURGER'. The 'M' of 'HAMBURGER' is very peculiar. The 'O' in 'BOTEN' is squarish. One foot of the messenger has a strange bottom part. These forgeries were printed in black on colour, but also in colour on white paper.
Scott made album pages of Hamburg, it has ten empty spaces for this issue. On the empty spaces the following colors are mentioned 'violet', 'green', 'rose', 'mauve', 'blue', 'yellow', 'orange', 'flesh', 'buff' and 'dark blue'. Such a page was send to me by Peter Brinkman (Australia).
(Two types of the genuine stamps, reduced sizes)
Most likely genuine
1/2 Sch black on coloured paper 1 Sch black on coloured paper
Both values exist in two types (having minor differences), the two types exists printed together on one sheet. I have seen the colours black on yellow, black on grey, black on green and black on blue. These stamps were also reprinted and five(?) kinds of forgeries exist.
Characteristics of the genuine stamps: There is a dot behind the '1/2' (in the 1/2 Sch) or '1' (in the 1 Sch). This dot is situated next to the letters 'OT' of 'BOTEN' and not next to the 'TE' or 'EN'. All stamps issued in colour on white paper are forgeries. There is a small rather crude cross before the word 'CORPORATIONEN'.
Reprints exist, they show many signs of worn out printing stones.
In the forgeries made by Spiro, there is a dot behind the word 'CORPORATIONEN' (not present in the genuine stamps). There should be a cross in front of this word, which is absent in the Spiro forgeries. The 1/2 Sch value does not have a dot behind the '1/2'.
Sheets of the 1 and 1/2 Sch Spiro forgeries; they were apparently
printed together.
(1/2 Sch reduced sizes)
1/2 Sch:
The oval is pointed at the top. The dot behind the '1/2' is
placed on the same level as the 'E' of 'BOTEN' (should be the 'O'
of this word).
1 Sch:
The inscription reads 'CORPORATIONER' with a final 'R' instead of
a 'N'. There is nothing in front of the word 'HAMBURGER'.
I have seen both values in the non-existing colour red.
Scott made album pages of Hamburg, it has twenty (10 for the 1/2 sch and 10 for the 1 sch) empty spaces for this issue. Two of the empty spaces has the above forgeries printed in black (with the above distinguishing characteristics). Such a page was send to me by Peter Brinkman (Australia).
The second 'N' of 'CORPORATIONEN' is placed more over the 'B' of 'BECK' in this forgery, in the genuine stamps the 'N' is placed between the 'N' and 'B' of 'SCHEERENBECK'. The second 'I' of 'INSTITUT' is very close to the following 'T'. The dot behind the figure of value is placed next to the 'TE' of 'BOTEN' while it is placed next to the 'OT' of this word in the genuine stamps.
(Reduced sizes)
These forgeries are very clearly printed. I have seen both values in the colours black on lilac, black on yellow, black on green, black on blue, black on grey and black on brown. The cross in front of 'CORPORATIONEN' consists of four seperate 'balls'. The 'H' in front of 'SCHEERENBECK' is very narrow. The 'O's of the word 'CORPORATIONEN' are too round.
Probably genuine
(Genuine stamps, last one with 'n' instead of 'u' in 'Institnt')
(1 Sch) black on coloured paper
Misprints exist with the 'u' of 'Jnstitut' inverted becoming 'Jnstitnt'. I have seen the colours black on yellow, black on orange, black on green, black on blue and black on lilac (violet). Specialist distinghuish between first and second printings (with a retouched 'u' of 'Jnstitut' where the erroneous 'n' used to be).
Reprints of these stamps exist, aswell as eight different kinds of forgeries. I've only managed to get information on seven of them.
In the genuine stamps, one of the 39 points forming the central ellipse touches the 'b' of 'Scheerenbeck'. The stars should have 8 rays. The word 'Boten' does NOT have a stop behind it. The 't' of this word has a straight foot. The word 'Jnstitut' is written with a 'J'.
A reprint-forgery
(Reprint-forgery made by Krantz, reduced size)
When Krantz took over the Boten institute, he wanted to make reprints to sell them to interested stamp collectors. However, the original stones were destroyed, thus he decided to make new ones. The official reprint-forgeries differ considerably in design from the genuine stamps.
They can be recognized by the fact that they have 48 long uneven points in the central oval (instead of 39). The stars are 8-rayed as in the genuine, but their shape is quite different. The lettering is also differnt from the genuine stamps.
Due to heavy printing of the stones, several
sub-types can be distinghuished:
a) A scratch joins the 'c' and 'h' of 'Scheerenbeck'.
b) As in a), but with additional stroke through the 'u' of
'Hamburger', also with several scratches around this letter.
c) As in b), but with additional scratch joining the 'J' of
'Jnstitut' to the dot below it.
(Reduced sizes)
In these Spiro forgeries, there are only 38 points in the central ellipse (should be 39). There are two very thick six-rayed stars at both side (should be eight-rayed). I have seen the following colours of these forgeries: black on yellow (shades), black on lilac (shades), black on green, black on blue, black on violet (shades) and black on grey.
A whole sheet of these forgeries.
(Scott forgery, sorry, only upper part of stamp available)
(Scott forgeries, reduced sizes)
In this forgery made by Scott, no circular windows exist in the main tower. The rays forming the central circle are very sharp. There are 42 of these rays (there should be 39 only). The star on the right hand side is very 'squeezed'. I have seen these forgeries in the colours: black on blue, black on lilac, black on yellow, black on grey, black on brown and the bogus colours: blue and brown.
Scott made album pages of Hamburg, it has ten empty spaces for this issue. One of them has this forgery printed in black (with the above distinguishing characteristics). The other empty spaces indicate the colors: 'dark yellow', 'orange', 'buff', 'mauve', 'green', 'pink', 'rose', 'blue' and 'dark blue'. Such a page was send to me by Peter Brinkman (Australia).
(Sorry, no picture available yet)
This forgery has the inscription'Institut', the genuine stamps have inscription 'Jnstitut' with a 'J'. The stars have six rays instead of eight.
(Reduced size)
In this forgery the inscription 'Jnstitut Hamburger Boten' is placed too high. I have seen this forgery in the colours: black on lilac, black on yellow, black on blue, black on grey, black on brown and black on green.
(Reduced sizes)
This forgery has the inscription 'H. Scheerer.beck'. There are 44 points in the central ellipse (instead of 39 as in the genuine). This is the only forgery I have seen with a cancel consisting of concentric circles. I have seen this forgery in the colours: black on grey, black on yellow (shades), black on lilac and black on blue.
(Picture taken from a photocopy, original colour: black on light
blue)
This seems to be a more modern American forgery. There are two six-pointed stars in this forgery. These points are very sharp. The foreground in front of the tower should have horizontal and vertical lines, however, this forgery only has horizontal lines. There is a stop behind 'Boten' (not present in the genuine stamps).