Fakes, Clones And Certificates

I have read about clones of stamps mainly Chinese, so I have some questions. Is it good to certify the stamps through specialized organizations? What stamps do you usually certify? I really don't see it as strictly necessary unless you dedicate yourself to the stamp trade for a lot of money, since if you have expert friends or a good local philatelic club that supports you, then with great certainty, you already know if your stamps are authentic without the need for certificates. On the other hand, I have seen some certificates and I have observed that the stamp is "canceled" with a pressure seal that leaves it marked forever, that is a detail that I do not like...

The stamp is not cancelled it is a picture of the stamp on the certificate that has the "pressure seal."

Or are you referring to the German system where certified stamps receive an expertiser's mark on the back? That is not a widely used method. Also, it should not be confused with dealers or owners marks that have no relation to expertising.

Personally, I use very often this certificate, sometimes, even for low catalog value.
Few times, I used APS for "checking" issue where they will give me clear answer about stamp.
Other material that I keep in stock come from Yugoslavia territory, so, normally, I use local specialist in this field, they all have permission from Organization of, to perform exam and issue certificate.
Today, most of specialist will just issue certificate, not affecting stamp in process, there will be leaf with picture of examined stamp, over this picture will be signature or this "dry seal" You mentioned.
Long time back, somewhere in '60, '70 .... examiners issued "mini" cancel, with initials on back of examined stamps. Actually, this "mark" don't degrade quality, but will have good impact on selling price.

Here You can see one sample of certificate issued for Israel material.

What are clones of stamps ?

Why do I need permission from some organization to exam or issue certificates .

Why do I need permission from some organization to exam or issue certificates
Because everyone can call himself "expert". "Some organisation" usually is the philatelic umbrella society of the country you live in or want to expertise for.

Becoming an actual expert in a particular field is an arduous task that requires years of experience and exhibiting. Many experts have gold medal collections and have access to a vast library of samples to compare. And there are challenging exams in the end that check if you really know your field.

There are, unfortunately, a few black sheeps around that issue certificates for everything (often for something they are not really qualified for). In the most eggregiuos cases, they "expert" their own stuff they try to sell for high prices.

I remember a ukrainian, last year or the one before, who bought collections, incorrectly identified each and every stamp as a very rare item and said he would issue a certificate with each when selling it as the misidentified rare item.

That depends on the geography. And most of the 'initials' are dealers marks that hold no value as expertising mark. The dealer may have wanted to guarantee it was genuine, but there were enough that had no relevant expertise.

In Germany, this remains a practice and is accepted. The backstamp is considered a positive sign, thus adding value.

In the UK where I have not yet seen it (old or new), it devalues it. Never let your unmounted mint Penny Black be certified by a BPP expert. The backstamp makes it unwanted for most GB collectors.

In Germany, this remains a practice and is accepted. The backstamp is considered a positive sign, thus adding value.
Not anymore, this is changing rapidly to the US method of photo certificates. A good part of the problem are the fake backstamps. Also more and more collectors tend to agree that a backstamp on an original gum is devaluing the stamp.

I ... incorrectly identified each and every stamp as a very rare item
That's called ebay over here...

I do not yet see it in auctions for German and, surprisingly, Irish (the authority on those is based in Hessen) stamps.

I do see that a new certificate, no longer, is accompanied by a backstamp.

To new collectors and readers ----There is a lot of information about the area of FAKES and FORGERIES ,that needs to be explained in detail .

I will try to cover a few areas

first ,having a Gold Medal collection has nothing to do with knowing Forgeries .

second, There are two types of experts ,first the one;s who specialize in one country or one limited area ,like German Inflation issues or Japanese Occup. of the Dutch East Indies both highly specialized . Just to give you a example I been putting together a German Inflation project for 30 years ,this means I spend hundreds of dollars to get rare examples both on and off cover . It means having examples from every city plus examples of every known type of cancel used . Now I have a few thousand stamps and covers everything mount and still looking for items and each year finding new stuff . I think I could impress any German expert .

third is the understanding that certain F&F show up on chatboards and show up in beginner collection all the time ,people post them so often they are common on this site . I don't have to run to my bookcase of books ,I seen and have many copies of the same .

fourth ---Many people don't understand there are many F&F {Fakes & Forgeries } that where made by more than one forger , Some like the Swiss/ Geneva Dove has ten different copies if you don't have a understanding of this then you can mistake your copy as real .

Fifth ---The stamp catalog doesn;t always notify the reader that Fakes and Forgeries even exist .

Six ----There is a small group Worldwide experts,these are people,who work at stamp auction firms or collectors who have build their own reference source who have the knowledge and experience to comment on world issues but there are areas where their experience doesn't cover .

I have found in Canada it isn't worth it unless the stamp is high value. The last time I was going to go through the process - before I discovered why the cancellation had to be forged on my own - the standard fee was $100. This is not unreasonable considering the rare expertise and the time necessary, but means the certification would be more than most stamps are worth.

It is utterly necessary for any stamps of worth and there are recognized authorities who will supply names of recognized experts. For example for anything Austrian I would contact the Austrian Philatelic Society:

https://www.austrianphilately.com/

Some like the Geneva Dove has ten different..
As a Basel citizen, I do have to protest here.
And there are dozens of fakes for this stamp alone...

Abandoned by a bird. It happened to more of us.

Did it set an ultimatum? The stamps leave, or I leave!

drkohler ---You caught me there ,the wrong Swiss canton ,it is the BASEL dove . I haven't worked on my Swiss collection in over 10 years .

There are ten types of forgeries that are really good and can fool most dealers . Then others are just poor quality and can be pick out quickly .

...and when we talk about this certificate/s!
Not long time back, I received some 50 items, all with certificates by one "specialist" who have permission to issue certificates, and after discovering that one item was described as mnh, and was clearly visible that this item was "washed", but still traces of cancel visible under magnificent glass, all items go back to the seller.
Internet search give me more detaile about this "specialist", and it was discovered that he made "quantity and not quality".
Than, someone mentioned this "mark" on back of stamp/s, yes, it is small cancel, applied on back, mostly with name of examiner or just initials of examiner.
This "mark" don't have bad impact on values, I can say, it have good impact, as it is some kind of "verify" that item is original.

Sample of Czechoslovakia issue, Michel catalog 56 IIb, with high catalog value.