Samoa Express 5 Shillings Or. ?

I believe this to be the Samoa Scott 8a.

It is perf 11 3/4

Any thoughts welcome.

I'm not an expert.

There are many forgeries of these stamps, but if this is a forgery it's a good one.

The only thing that makes me slightly suspicious is that the perforations may not be rough enough to be authentic.

But remember, I'm not an expert.

Thanks! I'm no expert on these either!!

There are forgeries and reprints out there so it could be the real thing or either of those.

The reprints are Type IV and have a dot of colour on the curved line below the center of the 'M' in SAMOA.

The originals are Type III which have no colour dot there and do have a roughly retouched arc above the word 'EXPRESS' - which this one does appear to have.

Real, reprint or forgery, I have no idea :-)

It is a reprint. The genuine 5-shilling stamp does not exist perforated on all four sides.

Thank you Rogdcam !!

I will include a note beside to that effect, then :-)

You typed while I was going to correct my post. It is a forgery.

https://bigblue1840-1940.blogspot.c...rgeries.html

Fascinating! I will then put it with my other forgeries, so noted.

I have a lovely Newfoundland Airmail forgery and some others including my favourite which is a love Austrian Levant stamp with a great cancellation from Tirane, Albania. Unfortunately the Austrian authorities inform me they never had an office there.....

The link is much appreciated, too!