France 2 Franc Merson Issue 1900

Hi
Could anyone help identify if this is the first Merson issue 1900 looks its on a newsprint sort of paper not sure.Any guess of the value for this used stamp?
Thank You,
Blackcat

2015 Yvert catalogue price is €90, which translates to about a tenner in the real world. This one is off-centre and looks toned.

At first glance I was thinking the 2 fr in question here could be on GC paper (greyish low quality wartime paper), however I do not recall this stamp was ever printed on GC paper. Anybody knows for sure? (I do not have my Maury available for the time being)

This site indicates the stamp was indeed printed both on newsprint and white paper:http://www.somestamps.com/pages-art...-colors.html



Again, I do not have my catalog here so I cannot check if any paper varieties are actually listed separately.

Hi Blaamand !
Checked this Merson Type France stamp of 1900 (pre-war) in the 2017 Spink/Maury. It is number 122 2fr violet et jaune (violet and yellow), valuation 90 Euros. What is puzzling is that Maury does not describe types of paper but does so for the 40c, 50c and 1fr. Why ? I do not know. That is what is in Maury, even though previous posts presents various papers as decribed in other denominations.

Blackcat; the 2Fr. seems to me a forgery.
athentic below



1)4 small pointed lines
2)small parallel brocken lines against the trunk
3)2 distict lines in the leaf

I have to agree that perf12's 2 fr stamp is similar to the one that appears in Maury 2017 (Spink/Maury)
An enhanced scan would be nice to have for comparison even though the upper right corner details do catch the eye.

Perf12 - thank you for the excellent link.

@Perf12 - very useful input, thanks I have a few mint mersons that I am suspecting to be reprints or forgeries - can you recommend a good reference for checking?



@Rene - Thanks for checking Maury concerning GC paper , as expected then.
Guess this is simply because the 2fr was not issued on GC paper then. Michel is supporting this as it's listings for GC paper is aligned with Maury.


@geoffha - What link - care to share?

Sorry - "illustration"! And your link, of course.

You can check out these links:
http://www.coppoweb.com/merson/fr.forbin.php

and
http://www.coppoweb.com/merson/fr.faux.php
air mail Mersons
http://www.ffap.net/Conseils/Expert...=Les_PA_1et2
and
http://www.coppoweb.com/merson/fr.faux-dent.php

I do not like the over lack of details but there are other design differences which are bothersome to me... did they have plate revisions for this stamp?
Don

Merci-Thanks perf12 for your links. As for most of the posts on this subject, how many show forgeries as their "example" of a true #122 Maury ???

THe Exposition le Havre Merson 1929 was a new Plate and is a study in it self.
The other Mersons with plate defects are rare.(2fr Broken line in the shield)mostly varieties in the link below.


http://www.coppoweb.com/merson/fr.varietes.php


It should be noted that Forged broken shields exist.THe paper is slightly removed as in the original.Only by holding it up to a light source and at an angle can one see the subterfuge.Buying on a computer screen is dangerous...even signed ;forgeries there also.

Perf12 - Thanks, great stuff!

Years ago I found a copy of "Timbres De France Au Type Merson" by Francon & Storch. An invaluable reference for Mersons. It says:

"The 2FR violet & yellow had only one printing in 1900. It replaced the 2FR Sage issue. The Merson 2FR Violet was abolished officially 22 June 1904, but remaining stocks were left to sell out over the course of many years.

There is a forgery of the 2FR Violet, it is called the Fiechter Forgery and appeared around 1970. Printed in photogravure, in an over inked impression. The colors are excessively bright red/lilac and orange-yellow. The Orange color is always off center, and the overall impression is hazy. The original Mersons were printed by typography. The Feichter forgery is printed in photogravure, and is what gives the forgery the hazy appearance."

You can confirm Genuine or Forgery by studying the printing, Typography produces solid colors on paper. Photogravure produces an image through a screen of dots. A forgery would be easy to confirm under magnification as it will show a grid of dots, and not solid color. This is the difference between Typography and Photogravure.

The 2FR Violet/Yellow would not be present on GC, as the issue/color had not been printed in 16 years. Another post shows a "possible" GC example, but it is just toning of the paper.

The 5FR Blue Merson is the only other forged France Merson I am aware of. Created in 1912 by the Stamp Dealer Forbin in Paris. These forgeries are excellent, and difficult to confirm. Forbin forgeries are always cancelled with forged cancels. The 5fr high value was not used much, and used examples were quite rare. By cancelling the forgeries Forbin prevented a counterfeiting charge from the French government. Deceiving collectors was considered not a problem!