CABO VERDE CROWN STAMP- FOURNIER FAC-SIMILE
SELO COROA DE CABO VERDE- FALSOS FOURNIER
       

 

FALSO Fournier

 

selo autêntico/ genuine C.Verde Crown stamp
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DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS:

-in the top right spandrel of the fac-simile the central leaf is joined with the leaf immediately above, forming a heart shape. The pearl and cross on top the crown are fuzzy and not the right shape. In the original, the outer circle barely touches the frame, while in the forgery it interferes with it.

CARACTERISTICAS DISTINTIVAS:

-no florão do topo, à direita, da reprodução Fournier, a folha central está ligada à folha imediatamente superior, formando um coração. No autêntico o circulo mal toca no quadro enquanto que no falso o circulo interfere claramente com as cartelas superior e inferior.
FALSO
AUTENT.

 

CAUTION: some stamps (forgeries and genuine alike) look different because of too much or too little ink. Light colored stamps may be difficult to verify, as may stamps too heavily canceled. The Fournier forgery may be either canceled, or not. Needless to say, cancellations are forged!
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The Guinea crown stamps were made from overprinted Cabo Verde Crowns. There are two overprints, small and large. All overprints were forgered by Fournier (see below).

Os selos coroa da Guiné eram obtidos por meio de sobrecargas sobre os selos de Cabo Verde. Todos os valores foram imitados por Fournier com os dois tipos de sobrecarga (pequena e grande)- ver os exemplos abaixo.
Fournier
selo autêntico/ genuine Guiné Crown stamp
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ORIGIN: François Fournier, a Swiss-born who turned French in time to serve in the 1870 war against Prussia, was not a philatelic forger like many others who try to pass their wares as genuine stamps. He set off to produce fac-simile sold as such and advertised them as a cheap means to complete collections or as a collection in itself. He registered his trademark in 1903 (though he traced the ancestry of his business to 1891 because he had bought the stock of a predecessor) and published a series of catalogues until 1914, when the war halted his business. He died in 1917 but the business was carried on by a former employee. Upon this follower's death in 1927, the remaining Fournier stock was purchased by a Swiss philatelist organization that surcharged the fac-simile with the word "FAUX" and produced a number of reference albums that were spread throughout the world. The remaining stock was burnt.
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Complete list of Cabo Verde and Guiné Fournier Crown facsimile (from his own 1914 catalogue in French):

Cape Vert- 1877 (5 to 300 Reis); 1881 (10 to 50 Reis); 1877 and 1881 (40 Reis- pair with an attached Mozambique 40 Reis- take note: forgered error!!);

Port. Guinea- 1880- 81 (5 to 300 Reis) small and large overprints; also on 40 Reis Mozambique error (small and large overprint);1884 (10- 50 Reis) large overprint.
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Bibliography:

Tyler, Varro E. "Philatelic Forgers- their lives and works";

Fournier's 1914 Price-list of Philatelic forgeries (Reprint published by H. Garrat-Adams & Co, England, in 1958);

Davies, D.J. "Forgeries of Portugal and Colonies".

Index of pages/ voltar ao índice
Lisboa, Portugal-
2005/03/20
   
João Manuel Mimoso