Forged GB used in Malta from eBay seller debmt.7tdpdu

[HalfpennyYellow]

BUYER BEWARE

A series of somewhat crude forged Malta postmarks on Queen Victoria GB stamps have appeared in the past few weeks. They were sold by the Maltese eBay seller debmt.7tdpdu for quite high prices. For example:


Sold for £32 (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142271359063, https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142271364645 and https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142271367680), £52 (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142270083599), £58 (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142270079973), £61 (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142267073685, https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142268074006, https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142268077037 and https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142268080387), £62 (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142267071412 and https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142268974665) and £71 (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142268977450 and https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142268988534)


Sold for £82 (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142268979483)


Sold for £23 (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142273491281), £32 (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142271362805) and £39 (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142270087559)
The corner letters suggest that these were originally a strip/block


Sold for £26 (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142270098481), £34 (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142268075288) and £46 (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142268986135)


Sold for £56 (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142267072459)


Sold for £28 (single - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142273494602) and £43 (pair - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142273486666)


Sold for £23 (on piece - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142273485548), £32 (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142271365849), £37 (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142271357398), £39 (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142270101640) and £85 (strip of 3 - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142270094207)

The seller made a total of £1341 on the lots shown above.

A number of others are currently for sale: https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/m.html?_ssn=debmt.7tdpdu&_from=R40 ... lta&_sop=3 (Note that not all his GB used in Malta listings are forgeries.)

[Certified]

Can you list which ones are forgeries so that we can get them reported?

[Global Administrator]

Sold for £28 (single - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142273494602) and £43 (pair - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142273486666)


Sold for £23 (on piece - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142273485548), £32 (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142271365849), £37 (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142271357398), £39 (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142270101640) and £85 (strip of 3 - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142270094207)

The seller made a total of £1341 on the lots shown above.

A number of others are currently for sale: https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/m.html?_ssn=debmt.7tdpdu&_from=R40 ... lta&_sop=3 (Note that not all his GB used in Malta listings are forgeries.)

Only the brain dead clueless idiots on ebay could fail to see these are rubber stamps using a water based WalMart $2 rubber stamp pad.

Seller should be reported to ebay. Buyers should be reported to the nearest psychiatrist!

[Global Administrator]

I mean what kind of MORON imagines this lame rubber stamp cancel is 140 years old?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GB-USED-IN-MALTA-1887-1900-1-2d-BL ... 2275668452

Indeed why would anyone imagine a absurd ebay handle like debmt.7tdpdu was not dodgy to start with!

[Norseman]

Forgeries always an interesting topic.
Aside from what is evidently the higher risk of being duped when purchasing on Ebay, as a relative novice to Philately, I would appreciate input from the more knowledgeable as to what identifies these stamps as obvious forgeries, either via a continuation of this thread or via directions to a pertinent forum or post.
Thanks

[HalfpennyYellow]

Forgeries always an interesting topic.
Aside from what is evidently the higher risk of being duped when purchasing on Ebay, as a relative novice to Philately, I would appreciate input from the more knowledgeable as to what identifies these stamps as obvious forgeries, either via a continuation of this thread or via directions to a pertinent forum or post.
Thanks

British stamps were valid for postal use in Malta from August 1857 to 31 December 1884. From 1885 onwards, some British stamps used on maritime and military mail received Maltese postmarks, but this use was rather limited. Therefore, the ½d orange of 1887 and the ½d blue-green of 1900 were never valid for use in Malta.

The postmarks themselves are also wrong. The straight line "Malta" datestamp was only used from 1858 to 1873, so any dated afterwards are obviously fake (a similar postmark with a curved "Malta" was used from 1875 to 1921). The straight line postmark was also used with the obliterator "A25" from 1859 to 1880 (this is quite common on GB stamps used in Malta):

The forged postmarks are much neater than the genuine postmark as seen above. The colour of the genuine ink is black, while the forgeries tend to approach greyish or bluish black. In addition, the font is totally wrong:

[HalfpennyYellow]

Can you list which ones are forgeries so that we can get them reported?

The lots which have the straight line "Malta" postmark all seem to be forgeries. A few more ended today, most of them for prices between £16 and £28 each.

He has also forged the "A25" postmark:

Currently for sale, 1 bid at 99p (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142279874199)

This one seems rather bizarre, since he apparently added a forged postmark to a stamp with a genuine "A25" postmark (although a very poor strike):

Currently for sale, 1 bid at 99p (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142279871910)

After a quick look through his other listings, I found these:

Forged POSTAGE overprint on a Melita stamp (totally wrong font):

Sold for £18 (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142202051656)

Forged postmark on 1956 FDCs (wording in postmark is way too narrow, envelope is too clean compared to the stamps):

Sold for £16 (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142208673364)

Sold for £26 (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142214315782)

He also sold many postage due stamps with SPECIMEN handstamps. I'm not sure if they're genuine or forgeries, but they seem rather dodgy. For example:

Sold for £56 (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142223695421)

[HalfpennyYellow]

It seems another Maltese seller is involved in this - zammi_edwin. This might be the same person behind the other account, although debmt.7tdpdu's location is listed as Sliema while zammi_edwin is based in Valletta.

I found two dodgy listings from zammi_edwin:

GB used in Malta forgery similar to the ones above:

Currently for sale, 1 bid at 99p (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/282358711701)

1956 FDC forgery similar to those sold by debmt.7tdpdu:

Sold for £16 (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/282295490058)

This is quite a shame since both debmt.7tdpdu and zammi_edwin had some interesting genuine lots, including a previously-unrecorded 1976 National Insurance fiscal stamp.

[Norseman]

Thanks Halfpenny.
Excellent explanations.

[HalfpennyYellow]

It's been a while since this thread was updated, but today I had a look at more listings of debmt.7tdpdu and zammi_edwin, and noted the following.

GB used in Malta forgeries stopped appearing after they were mentioned in this thread (as well as the forum of the Malta Study Circle) - the last listings ended on 22 February. However, yesterday debmt.7tdpdu listed another 1d Venetian red with a fake Malta postmark:


Currently 1 bid at 99p
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142342926677

Similarly, no obvious forgeries appeared from zammi_edwin until yesterday, when he listed a fake 1967 postage due FDC. This shares the following characteristics with other forged FDCs shown earlier in this thread:
1. the text in the postmark is too narrow
2. the postmark seems to be a rubber stamp using a water-based ink pad
3. the envelope is very fresh and the address is typewritten (like the other fakes)


Currently 1 bid at 99p
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/282427146247

Mods, can this thread be renamed something along the lines of "Malta forgeries from eBay sellers debmt.7tdpdu and zammi_edwin"?

[HalfpennyYellow]

More fake FDCs which are apparently from the same source as the ones above have appeared on eBay, this time from the seller elly662m.


1938 King George V Silver Jubilee omnibus issue: forged FDC with fake Air Mail Malta postmark

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/324218550141


1938 King George VI pictorial definitive: forged FDC with fake GPO Malta postmark

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/324218552248

[HalfpennyYellow]

1948 King George VI Self-Government definitive: forged FDC with fake Birkirkara Malta postmark

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/324218553930


1949 King George VI Royal Silver Wedding omnibus issue: forged FDC with fake Air Mail Malta postmark

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/324218555161

This one also has a marking reading "ES - Malta" at the bottom right corner. This refers to Emmanuel Said, a stamp dealer who used to produce FDCs. The marking seems to be fake too.

Also note the time: 0.30 AM

[HalfpennyYellow]

1956-57 Queen Elizabeth II pictorial definitive: forged FDCs with fake Valletta Malta postmarks

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/324218566714


1967 Postage Dues: forged FDC with fake Valletta Malta postmark

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/324218571723

[HalfpennyYellow]

Can a mod change the thread title to something along the lines of the following please?

Forged Malta postmarks on GB stamps and expensive FDCs on eBay

It seems that three accounts - who may or may not be related - are involved: debmt.7tdpdu, zammi_edwin and elly662m.

debmt.7tdpdu is no longer a registered eBay user, zammi_edwin is still active but it hasn't sold items for quite a while, and elly662m is an active seller. All three accounts also sold genuine items apart from these forgeries.

[stickflies]

WOW! This discussion is fairly depressing, I never knew there were so many Malta forgeries out there.
I own 2 Malta forged stamps by Sperati, both Queen Victoria halfpenny yellows but I purchased them knowing that they were forgeries.
There has been descriptions of buyers as "Brain Dead" but to be honest I have never even looked at Malta stamps & thought the CDS cancels & overprints may be forged. That makes me a brain dead, unfortunately.
This is sad.
Regards ..... Gary.