Madeira 1871-1880 Reprint -- Need Help With Cancel

Pagoda, it was APS. And I think I've been an idiot -- swept up in the letter and history that accompanied it.

As long as we're all talking about cancels, though... I just re-read the other thread (linked above), and had a look at another of my Madeira's.

Just like the OP in the other thread, the cancel on mine has a number "45", rather than the "51" that's been referenced. I'm about to revive that thread I guess.

Edit: Nope. #45 would be the correct cancel. I'm bound to find something else wrong with this, but it will be something different I'm sure -- haha!

If the APS asked you to donate it, it must have been deemed to be a forgery and they asked it for their reference collection.

" I sent it off to be authenticated not long ago. The opinion stated that the stamp / overprint are genuine, but that the cancel was faked ".


You have already stated what was their opinion. Accept it is a forged cancel and move on,



Pagoda

Polimom: sorry to be a bit late getting back with you. I have an idea who the authenticator for your stamp is; but it isn't necessary to contact them. If it is who I think, they are very, very good at their craft. And, don't let someone arbitrarily tell you to "move on." That sort of message takes some of the fun out of a quest to learn more about a stamp.

The numeral '45' in barred circle is actually a valid cancel. According to the Serrane Guide (published by the APS and a master guide to early forgeries of stamps), it was used in Funchal after 1869 as a cancel on Portuguese stamps. Funchal happens to be the capital of Madeira and issued its own stamps at nearly the same time period as Madeira issued. But, the Serrane Guide also states that these cancels are very rare. Prior to 1869, Funchal also used the '51' numeral in cancellations. As an aside. Funchal did not issue its own stamps until 1892.

The D.J. Davies book, that I referenced in the other thread, says the following about the Madeira reprints: "Many reprints have found their way into collections of the Islands, the most troublesome being the ones with forged or "by favour" postmarks. The 1885 reprints shown here (he has quite a few illustrations) all have a '45' postmark very similar to that on the total forgery #2 and may have been made by the same hand."

Another poster on the thread speculated that the cancel was done by someone at the post office, or was created as a CTO (cancelled-to-order). I don't think it really matters how it was done, or by who. What you end up with is an interesting stamp for your collection. If it was me, I wouldn't donate it to the APS. Keep the stamp and give them a little cash as a donation. Hope this has helped. Steve

Steve, thank you very very much. This information lifted quite a lot of the fog for me about my Madeira stamps (not just the one posted originally). As someone who knows very little about early Portuguese philately, I was having a lot of trouble wrapping my mind around these for some reason.

Your reply was a huge help -- with many things...

Good evening




Dear Polimon,

Your stamp is perf. 13 ½ and, as far as I know what is published in specialized literature, there are no originals of 240 réis, Madeira surcharge, with this perforation.

So, at first sight, it is a reprint. Probably it is a 1905 perf. 13 ½ reprint (and not 1885 perf. 13 ½) according to the yellowish colour of the paper we can see on screen and also because of the shape/contour of the horizontal low teeth.

In this case the cancellations will be fake or apocryphal.

Specialized bibliography

1 - Catalogs
Simões Ferreira/1981
Afinsa/2013
Mundifil/2018.

2 - Monographs. Portuguese language.
a - LAMAS, José da Cunha (1948). Estudo das Reimpressões de Selos Portugueses. Lisboa: A. Molder.
b - VIEIRA, Armando Mário O. (1983). Selos Clássicos de Relevo de Portugal. Porto: Núcleo Filatélico do Ateneu Comercial do Porto.