Mi 388: FORGERY: 10,000 Kr. red and violet Airmail Stamp: Icarus.

Condition: used (ʘ).

Issued: unknown.

Catalogue Reference: Michel Europa-Katalog Band 1: Mitteleuropa 2009.

Catalogue number(s): Mi 388 (FORGERY).

Seller's Reference: SB/(0)/002.

Additional descriptive notes (if applicable):  This item is not a genuine postage stamp, but appears to be a forgery of the Hungarian 10,000 Kr. airmail stamp issued on 16th June 1924 (Michel Mi 388).  The forgery is printed on a thin, unwatermarked paper (akin to a cigarette paper), bears very rough perforations, and the quality of the printing is poor when compared with a genuine copy of the stamp.

The item bears a smudged postmark in the bottom left hand corner, which appears to be Budapest.  It is possible that the postmark is also forged.

The leading catalogues do not warn that this particular stamp has been forged.  The seller acquired it a considerable number of years ago in an old collection of Hungarian postage stamps, which had been put together prior to the Second World War.  That would suggest that the forgery’s origins lie sometime between the mid-1920s and the end of the 1930s.  However, in the absence of any hard evidence, that is purely speculation on the part of the seller and should not be interpreted as fact.

If the item was produced as a postal forgery (an item produced to be used on mail and thus defraud the postal service through the avoidance of payment of postage), one would expect such items to be produced in a quantity that would have resulted in other copies being detected and brought to light.

The seller has not seen any other forgeries of this postage stamp, nor has he been able to discover any references to this postage stamp being forged, but he has seen a similar forgery of the 2,000 Kr. value from this series of Hungarian airmail stamps (Michel Mi 386), which appears to have been postally used.  Forgeries of the 100 Kr. (Michel Mi 383) and Kr. 5,000 (Michel MI 387) have also been recorded.

This item is offered by the seller without any information to support the item’s origins, or provenance.  It is offered for sale as a ‘cinderella’ item, or a curiosity.

General notes:

1) Listing of used postage stamps: multiple copies: as my fine used material is of comparable quality, where I have more than one copy of a particular stamp for sale I list one generic sale for used singles and sets of postage stamps, showing one representative image of that particular item, but indicating how many copies/sets are for sale.

If a potential purchaser wishes to buy more than one copy of a fine used postage stamp, and would like to see images of all copies available via eBid before they buy, or a purchaser would like to choose one copy from a range of possible purchases, I do retain an image library of all the material that I offer for sale. Images can be e-mailed upon request to assist in informing choice, so please do not hesitate to ask.
 
2) Shipping charges for multiple purchases: in addition to postage my shipping charges include a handling and packing charge. My basic charges for this item are shown on the sales page. However, postage, processing and packing charges for multiple purchases will be combined and will be based upon the actual cost of despatching a package containing all the items bought.

Purchasers who buy more than one item should ensure that they request an invoice, so that they benefit from the consolidated charge for postage and packing.