Bogus Series 1940 Overprints On Ebay

An ebay seller has listed seven bogus "Series 1940" Overprint stamps.

They aren't even close. Wrong serial number range, wrong serial number color, crappy overprint, etc... They also seem to be produced using only faulty stamps to add insult to injury.

I have notified them to let them know but they ignored the previous bogus overprint I notified them about a few months ago...

Lot 233756514654, "U S stamps revenues reference copy Scott R282 thirty dollar series 1940 used" is an example.

Adding "REFERENCE" to the auction lot title as cover is a foul.

UPDATE: The seller, Boots4222, replied back and stated, "I know that's why I am selling them as reference copies only"

Unacceptable! My issue is he ID's them as the very expensive "Series 1940" cat numbers, instead of the actual earlier series "somebody" just hand stamped. The last thing we need is a flood of weekly garbage "Series 1940" sets on faulty stamps.

I agree with you StateRevs. Reference copy is not an acceptable substitute for fake or forgery.

All have been pulled. I had them in my books for years as fillers until I could afford the real thing . I now have all certified examples in my albums. No harm in using them as fillers ? No false advertising intended.

This listing was ended by the seller because the item is no longer available.

The problem is that nowhere in the title or listing did you ever say they were fakes, just "reference copy" which many people won't realize means that the stamps are bogus.

I often buy additional duplicates of REAL stamps as "reference copies" for study, etc. The term "reference copies" DOES NOT equate to fake or forgery in my mind. A buyer could easily and legitimately claim fraud.

I am not defending the seller. I certainly cannot read his mind.

Over the past several years, the word "reference" has moved into eBay-speak to represent fakes or forgeries. For a longer period, words such as "Spanish Caribbean" and "Spanish colonies" have been used to avoid the word Cuba, which is an ebay no-no.

So, the seller may or may not be trying to misrepresent the item.

There is one up now. It's an obvious fake, but I agree that simply calling it a "reference" copy is insufficient.

Thank you!

Not accusing anyone of anything, other than you know they are bogus, and we know they are bogus, and the person(s) who bought them from you may or may not know. What about the next generation?

I watched an auction yesterday with several suspect RB roulettes. The creator didn't even bother to make sure the roul sizes were consistent.

You have all seen dubious part perf 1st series copies.

Way too much bogus material in our hobby.

The Series 1940 stamps have flown below most collector's radar, and are occasionally hiding in plain sight. At least with these we have the ability to know whether they have a chance at being legit or not.

The seller has also recently run and sold reference copies of RG 28-32, RJA 21-22 and RJA 30-32. I think he enjoys making reference copies with rubber stamps for profit.