Need Help With This France Tete Beche Stamp

What in the world is this?

I found it at the bottom of a box with 10 pounds of stamps on paper. I was sorting them by country and this caught my eye because I recognized it was a tete beche.

Is this something super rare? A forgery? Or something in between?

If authentic, I'm sure this tete beche pair is quite scarce. I don't see any information in Scott about this (although there are valuations for other stamps listed), but there may be in Yvert (which I don't have).

I think the first course of action would be to determine if authentic.

Good luck!

What can I do to determine if it is authentic?

It's in very good shape I think because it is on stiff paper like a postal card so it has escaped bending.

There is French handwriting on the back that looks like part of the message on the post card.

I could not find any information on the cancel other then it is German? Why would a French stamp have a German handstamp?

Any experts here want to chime in?

I should just send it to the American Philatelic Society APEX expertising?

Most likely a French cancel,with "Mars" (March)
Maybe "Beaune" (20)

My instinct is that it's a fake of some kind. I don't see a tête-bêche of the 40c in Maury and the cancellation rings alarm bells. Interesting though!

Do the numbers '4' look correct?

Yes the 4's do match the pictures from the Scott catalog as a type I. The upside down one is a little bit faded so its tougher to gauge under a microscope but it is to my eye 80% type I or maybe 20% type II.

If authentic is this a 100,000$ + stamp? My initial research is kind of indicating that it might be. A 40C tete beche in this condition.... I've seen other tete beche early French stamps go for more.

The trouble is the non-existence of the 40c tête-bêche, as well as the cancellation.

The cancellation does raise questions. Very strange breaks at right where one should tie the stamps to the cover. At the bottom it doesnot tie the stamps to the cover at all.

If you are convinced it is genuine, you might want to have it expertised.

The cancellation looks home-made, and conveniently omits the year. And no other copy has surfaced since 1850?

I am not convinced of anything which is why I made the thread here. I am taking everyone's opinion into consideration.

I initially thought the cancel was German but someone here pointed out it actually is a French cancellation. So that is a positive.

I don't agree that the breaks on the cancel tie'ing it to the cover are wrong in any way. I do agree that the totality of the stamp is very controversial. It would be maybe the first 40C tete beche stamps. I was hoping someone caught something or had information that would prove 100% it was a fake, or real etc.

The existence of other tete beche stamps in the same series of stamps makes me think that there is a strong possibility that there are 40C tete beches out there.

The cancel is from a smaller French town, so there are not as many examples to compare to. The history of the stamp is largely unknown where it came from, etc. I only know how it was in a large cardboard box weighing a little under 15 pounds of just stamps on paper from all over the world.

IMO it is a forgery of the 1850 40c stamp.
The pearls are to far apart.The lines of the neck into the chin area are not fine and dotted as in the genuine.The grapes are not conform to their genuine shapes.. The "4" is deformed.Wrong color.

I'd say, poke around the marcophilie.org website and see if you can match up the cancel:
http://marcophilie.org/x/x-0201010000-i.html

This is an interesting page on Ceres forgeries:
https://stampforgeries.blogspot.com...1949-50.html

Personally, I don't like the pair, or the cancels, but no one is paying me for my opinion.
My 2d.

I am. Your tuppence is in the post.

It's a fake. No such genuine item exists.

Further, the 'cancellation' wasn't introduced until 1876, so it cannot be on an 1849 issue.