Talk:Postage stamps of Batum under British occupation

Common forgery
The 50 rubles overprint stamp is one of the common forgeries of this overprint (Scott no. 43). As R. J. Ceresa notes, "This is the most highly forged of all Batum issues ..." The Postage Stamps of Russia, 1917-1923, Vol. 4, Transcaucasia, Parts 13-16, British Occupation of Batum, Section A, page 142. Genuine overprints have (among other characteristics) stops (or periods) after БАТУМ and after ОБЛ and also have dots over the letter "i" in the English text, which reads "BRiTiSH OCCUPATiON". Ceresa, supra, page 142. This has none of these and is clearly one of the common forgeries. User:Ecphora (talk) 13:09, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Another forgery
The 1 ruble "aloe tree" also is a forgery. Ceresa, see above, describes six series of forgeries of these stamps. There are a number of small differences that distinguish the genuine from the forgeries. As shown in the images below (the central one is an enlargment of the 1 ruble stamp in the article), the bottom line of the numeral one in the lower left is straight, but bent downward in the forger. The dots surrounding the value tablets, lower right and left, also differ. This is pehaps most obvious in the upper right corner of the left value tablet; in the genuine there is a round dot. In the forgery, there are two dots run together to form a long, misshapen oval. See Ceresa, pp. 26, 41-42. Ecphora (talk) 00:12, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

British Occupation forgeries
It should not be surprising that the group of four aloe tree stamps overprinted "BRITISH OCCUPATION" also are forgeries. They belong to a group described by Ceresa, see above, which have the "S" (and "H") slightly larger than the other letters and the "N" too small. See Ceresa, id., p.p. 101-102. Ecphora (talk) 01:03, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

Assessment comment
Substituted at 03:17, 30 April 2016 (UTC)