Albania - Unlisted?

I am working pages for Albania and run across a stamp that is not in my Scott catalog. It is stamp number 4 overprinted like stamp number 19 with new value. Am I missing something or does my stamp not exist or a fake? Take a look, thanks.





I have the image uploaded but it will not show for some reason. It is a 5pa ocher overprinted with the black eagle as normal, then overprinted with 2pa in blue with additional writing at the top in blue.

There, I got the image.

Really need a picture, because of the large number of overprints/surcharges on the early Albania.

Many of the first 200 stamps were heavily counterfeited.

That "sounds" like an unissued newspaper stamp. If so, Scott [usually] does not list unissued stamps.

An interesting area to collect during the Balkan war & WW1.

If you can take another try at loading the photo, I can see if it is listed in Michel.

Collin

I got the photo to work running it a different way. Take a look. I would say it should be a #18 1/2.

For what its worth, here is the Michel excerpt from 2004 that may contain a reference to your stamp.



Might it be the second listing? As k says, counterfeits abound, and I have no idea about the spotting features for them.

Hope it turns into something.

Collin

I think you are right. It must be the second listing. What do you think? Can you see the picture?

Just to clarify things a bit. The stamp WITHOUT the Albanian overprint is Turkey #P67 in the Scott catalog -- a very common stamp.

The stamp you have pictured, I believe is a forgery of Michel A3 (forged Albanian overprint applied to very common Turkish newspaper stamp). However, do not hold me to that, as I am not an expert in Albanian stamps -- so hang on to it.

Like some of the early Belgian semipostals, over 90% of the Albanian eagle overprints are fake. Below is a pic of what I believe may be a genuine copy, pilfered from Klaseboer.



k

Interesting thread. I have an Albania Scott Specialty album and have been wanting to get at least one bicephalous eagle overprint....ideally real and not fake. I would especially like to know either way. The uncertain aspect of stamp validation is a bit of a turn-off.

Well, at this point I really am not concerned if the stamp is real or forged. It still fills the album spot and knowing it exists, I will include it in my pages and have a spot for it. I will call it stamp #3. It does not matter to me that Scott decided to drop it out of their listing. The fact is that it exists and should have a spot for it. Scott also decided to leave out C64-66 which I have included. I do not care if Scott does not recognize the stamps anymore. They had a number for it and they exist, so there should be a spot for them. I included a spot for #12 & #13 which Scott also dropped from their listing, but they exist and I want a spot for them even if it will never get filled. There is a set in 1921 that Scott did not like either that I included. There is also a hole between #68 and #80 that I would like to find out what was there before and include.

There used to be a fantastic site that specialized in documenting the genuine overprints and the various forgeries for the double-headed eagle overprints of Albania. Unfortunately, that site disappeared a few years ago, and nobody I know seems to know what happened or where it may have moved.

Based on what I remember, I would say it is almost certainly a fake overprint. That is based on the fact that it has no bump in the valley of the left wing and no "heart" (overprint style #1). Overprint style #2 has the open "heart" with no bump in the valley of the left wing.

What is interesting about your copy, however, is that it has the dot over the A. My memory is a bit fuzzy on this, but I recall that this is a feature of a genuine overprint for overprint style #1. As far as I know (but I am not an expert), for style #1, no forged overprint has been reported with the dot over the A. I will definitely be downloading your pic and keeping it in my archives. It might be worth your effort to contact an Albanian collectors group and ask for an opinion. Even if a fake, it appears to me as an unusual/unreported fake. But my info is from a few years back.

Very interesting pic, and thanks for sharing!

k

jaxom,
my 1925 edition of Scott's shows this for #69 - #72:



O1 and O2 refer to Greece occupation stamps for use in parts of Turkey. You'd have to go further back to find #73 - #79. Good luck.

Also, in mine #12 is not listed but #13 is. Just to help with a timeline on when things happened.

OG