Greece-Crete Id.

Food for thought...

Michel says that the trident stamp was printed in Athens by Grundman. Six colors, without stars, were issued on May 27th, and four colors, with stars, were issued on June 8, 1899. The service was very short-lived, from May 13 to July 29.

I would guess that these were not overprinted on stamps of Crete, but were printed for intentional use by the Russian offices, with a control mark. I'm out of my league in saying that this is the case, but it makes sense to me.

For what it is worth, my Michel lists about a ten-fold premium for the issues without stars.

My 2 Metalik.

Collin

Yes, I would have to agree Collin,
on reading further, I was not aware of the range of influence
by the Russians in that area.
I had heard of the French PO's in Port Lagos (thrace) and others at Mt Athos but reading wiki's broad range of Russian offices, was quite a surprise, but adds to the assumption they were well accustomed to the organisation of designing and printing postage in the area.

I am assuming a large trading area Tobacco, olive oil and med produce etc.

Hello everyone - here's my first attempt at a post. :)

I collect the Russian post offices in Crete and am always pleased to see these designs.

Cjd has given a good summary of these issues. Unfortunately, as with the British post offices in Crete, there are lots of forgeries on the market and I'm afraid this Russian stamp is one of the forgeries. :(

It's getting late here in the UK so I'll try and post a picture of a genuine one tomorrow so you can see the difference.

Best wishes,
Nigel

welcome Nigel to the family,
we look forward to your images on the morrow.

Yes, Welcome Nigel!

We will await your pics!


By the way, will Nigela and Nigelb join you at Stamp Community Forum?

k

Nigela....Ahh I get it
for a moment I thought you were referring to Nigela Watson Lawson the English Cook.
I was expecting some mouth watering recipes

Meals on stamps...there's a new one.

haha, yes, food of course!

Actually, it was a private joke regarding a post I made to him at another place.

Nigel is really big on Crete. Definitely one of the go-to-guys if you have any questions. I'm still smarting from the couple of times he outbid me on some Crete stamps!

k

Thanks rod22 and Kim! I really like the welcome smiley.

Here's a genuine SG R28 / Scott #40 used on piece for comparison:

Wow, bit of a difference in the overprint. I assume the stamp is kosher on the fake?

Hi jubilee,

I'm afraid not. The stamp, control mark and cancellation were all fake.

Interesting. Can someone with better skills than me mount them side by side?

Ah, thanks Nigel, ignorance was bliss
The fakes are worth more than the genuine stamp?
Hope springs eternal.

Good idea jubilee.

Here're two more examples, with the genuine one the on left and the forgery on the right:



Key differences include:

Control mark:

Genuine: often incomplete, always centred left.
Forgery: usually complete and well centred.

Postmark:

Genuine: Rethymnon CDS, with double outer ring and one inner ring (or straightline cancel).
Forgery: Rethymnon CDS with single outer ring.

Perforations:

Genuine: clean (although rarely doubled).
Forgery: usually rough.

Stamp:

Genuine: each value comes in four types which can be identified by minor design flaws.
Forgery: do not reflect design type flaws, and usually have a distinctive white leaf on the right side.

The two original posts:

Nicely done Puzzler!