Pardon my question, but are the Chinese counterfeiting stamps yet?  

 

I've been looking around on eBay, just wondering if any of these stamps are counterfeits?

There are many private reprints of many new valuable Chinese stamps that are on sale online such as the year of the monkey 1980 red stamp.

I was referring to the Chinese copying old US stamps, like they do the coins.

I'm aware of some less than ethical folks repairing, misrepresenting, and sometimes outright forging US classics, but none of the ones I know of are Chinese. Americans, Canadians, and UKians: yes. (Some, you might find, are even ASDA members!)

For the most part people are not trying to create phony old stamps since doing that well requires specific types of paper and ink that are just not going to happen. What you do see is cheap or damaged old stamps being modified to make them look like more valuable stamps. Take a look at lot 15 at this auction that just concluded. https://stampauctionnetwork.com/v/v7001.cfm#4 Most of these stamps look like unused valuable old stamps but are actually stamps where someone lightened the cancellation to make them look more valuable. Frankly the selling price for this lot makes no sense. Someone either didn't look carefully or they might try to pass them off on someone as authentic. They were sold at auction with all the certificates stating they are modified and/or faulty.

According to this article from Linn's from earlier this year, contemporary stamps are being forged in China and sold here as postage. I understand that some of the postage lots are being sold on eBay and Amazon in bulk lots.

http://www.linns.com/news/us-stamps...-stamps.html

Haven't heard any rumors yet. Printing truly engraved designs from scratch is possible but not likely. Correct ink and paper would still be major problems. Collector-experts, dealer-experts and expert groups would detect fakes rather quickly. Plus fakes of valuable modern lithographed stamps are easier to do.

I would be more wary about repairs, adding margins or piecing together a stamp from two or more faulty ones. I've examined covers in the past that were extensively repaired, with or without a "before" photo on hand. Some were really amazing works, even under magnification, blacklight, fluid, though there was typically something "off" enough that the item became suspicious. That something could be just looking too good to be true for a 100 to 150-year-old cover.