Alsace And Lorraine Stamps

I inherited my Grandfather's (born in 1883)boyhood stamp collecting album and, in going through it, found some interesting stamps that I would like to ask a question about: Are these considered "points up" or "points down" versions? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

There are reprints of these stamps so first you must determine if they are originals or reprints.
The reprints were made with the original background pattern, however the text was newly made. They were made in Hamburg. Reprints can be recognized by the position of the 'P' of 'POSTES', if we draw a line connecting the upper left corner of the containing rectangle to the lower right corner, the line should go through the bottom part of the 'P'. However, in the reprints it will go through just below the center of the 'P'.

This should be a good starting point.

I have used your test and clearly these are originals. The line goes through the bottom of the "P" as it should. I suspected as much since they are in a stamp album from the 1800's which has not been added to since 1899. Thanks for your help. Any ideas as to "points up" or "points down" variety?

I believe all but the 10 centimes are points down. Also, the year will not make a difference as the reprints were done in Hamburg in the 1800's.

Thanks for your help. Also, thanks for setting me straight with regards to the reprints, I guess it shows how much of a neophyte I am.

not the best ,but a reader can get the idea of what is being discussed.
the first stamp is the fake ,the second one is real.

Here is another picture to test the difference between a real stamp and a fake .

sorry guys ,the art work isn't the best ,but hope this gives a simple way to identify the originals from the reprints .

Thanks floor trader good illustrations

floortrader,

any chance of a single scan of the used 5c.

Okka

floortrader,

the 5c. used that you showed as a reprint is a damaged original,

Okka

Note to Mr Floortrader & anyone reading the thread
Your diagonal line explanation is Reversed

NOTE to Mr nl1947 & anyone reading the thread ,this was discussed in Nov. 2013 and corrected on 11-13-2013 with my scan with plastic overlays [see my posting of that date]. My collection and reference books were in Chicago and I was in Florida . Learn my lesson not to discuss stuff that I worked on 25 years earlier without my reference books to refresh my memory .

Couple of posts above on this topic, including hand-drawn illustrations and scans, are misleading. Let us bring some clarity to this issue, once and for all. I do not pretend to be an expert but I collect German Occupation of Alsace fo some 40 years. Besides, Michel catalog has a clear, illustrated explanation.

IF THE DIAGONAL FROM THE UPPER LEFT CORNER TO THE LOWER RIGHT CORNER:
1) CROSSES THE BASE OF "P" IN "POSTES", IT IS AN ORIGINAL STAMP;
2) CROSSES THE MIDDLE OF THE FOOT OF "P" IN "POSTES", IT IS A REPRINT.

Reprints have practically no value.

Found my scan from 11-13-2013 correcting my earlier posting and this is the best picture of the difference .