Mercier forgeries of Fiji
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pictures can not be seen! They are of course present in the cd's;
contact me if you want to purchase them: evert@klaseboer.com.
According to 'Philatelic Forgers, their Lives and Works' Louis Henri Mercier was a stamp forger (his real name was Henri Goegg). He started in Geneva in 1890 forging stamps. He offered Swiss Cantonals and Rayon stamps. Just after 1900 his business went bankrupt and his stock was bought over by another forger: Francois Fournier.
Some of his forgeries:
Mercier forgeries of Fiji
Mercier made forgeries of all three unsurcharged
stamps.
In his 1 p forgery, there are too many pearls (65 instead of 55),
and the base of the crown is rounded instead of being flat. The 1
p forgery also exists imperforate (without cancel).
In his 3 p forgery, the correct pattern for the circle is used,
but the base of the crown is rounded instead of being flat (I've
also seen the 3 p forgery without any overprint).
In his 6 p forgery there are pearls in the circle instead of the
zig-zag pattern of the genuine stamps (similar to the Spiro
forgeries, the Spiro forgeries have 55 pearls, Mercier's
forgeries have 56 pearls). I've also seen the 6 p forgery with a
'VR' overprint only.
Forgeries of the Providence
Postmaster issue of the USA made by Mercier:
According to The American Philatelist 31, 205-220, 1918, the
forger L.H.Mercier of Geneva (wrongly spelt as 'Mersier') made
forgeries of these stamps. They are made from a photograph of a
genuine stamp. They can be found with a New York postmark or a
bar cancel. The left and top is heavily outlined (the genuine
stamps only have heavy outlines at the right and bottom). These
forgeries were also sold in London.
Sorry, no image available yet of this forgery.