Have our experts again authenticate counterfeits ?

By František Beneš

One scandal concerning counterfeited letters has not yet played out (counterfeit covers which were recently identified by expert J. Stupka) and here we have another one – and this one much bigger. We have been able to determine that recently foreign auction houses have been offering counterfeits of valuable Czechoslovak stamps and covers. Their catalog descriptions claim they have been certified by our leading experts and that they supposedly have certificates of genuineness. Most recently we have noted such counterfeits in the Feldman November auction in Geneva, Switzerland. This happened in one of the world’s best known auction houses, where price realized records have been achieved and which has, in recent years, sold outstanding properties, including the famous collection of Mauritius. In the catalog of David Feldman’s auction conducted on November 17 – 22, 2003 a total of 13 lots of the first Republic of Czechoslovakia were offered (stamps, proofs, designs, and covers) among which are a number of counterfeits that are obvious even from the illustrations. This in itself is a serious problem, but far more troubling is that in some of the descriptions we find “cert. Karásek” and “sign. Mrňák, Karásek, Pittermann.”

I would point out that, from the circumstances the items in question are, in all probability, also fakes. In an article which appeared in Filatelie 5/93, page 185, Ján Karásek warned of counterfeits of expert marks appearing on almost identical air mail covers such as in lots 31301 and 31303. Another obvious example in the auction is lot 31307 which offered “proofs” signed by J. Mrňák. However, in fact, it can be seen from the illustrations that these items are reproductions from original plates made by two Brno philatelists, now deceased, during the early 1970s – when Ján Mrňák had already been dead for several years. Lot # 31307 is listed as proofs of the newspaper and postage due stamps with a 400 SF reserve, but in fact are counterfeit reproductions made after 1970.

Lot 3107 supposedly proofs of newspaper and postage due stamps, offered for 400 Sfr, are counterfeit (reprints) produced after 1970. According to the description in the    auction catalog, they bear the signature stamp of Mrňák – who had been dead for several years by the time they were created .

Due to a shortage of space we can not comment on all the fakes, both stamps and covers, which were offered in this catalog, even though this would be interesting and educational.

But let us consider a few – for instance lots 31301 and 31303 whose description included “sign. Karásek” and “cert. Karásek” and had a reserve of 1,000 Swiss franks. In reality these were counterfeited air mail covers bearing stamps of the first issue. For the moment let us ignore other identifying details and focus on the registry labels. Since post office Praha 1 had only R-labels numbered from 1 to 50, labels numbered 852 and 170 could not have been used there. This information is readily available in the literature, including in the Karásek article mentioned above.

Lot #31301: Supposedly an air mail letter of the first issue period and addressed to Paris was offered at 1,000 SF. In truth it is a complete counterfeit. The auction catalog claims that its genuineness is attested to by Karásek’s signature (Mrňák’s signature is a fake and also appears inthe wrong position).

Lot # 31303: Supposedly an air mail letter of the first issue period and addressed to London  was offered at 1,000 SF. In truth it is a complete counterfeit. The auction catalog claims that it genuineness is attested to by Karásek’s signature (Mrňák’s signature is a fake as is explained in Karásek’s article mentioned above).

(click for larger image)

(click for larger image)

Lot # 31300 also bears, inter alia, the signatures of Karásek and Pittermann and also is counterfeit. It was created by taking a common parcel receipt, removing the bottom stamp, replacing it with the 14Kč value of the first air mail issue, and finally drawing in the rest of the cancellation. Here too we will put aside a number of other signs showing the counterfeiter’s efforts; I will mention only what is obvious at first glance: the counterfeiter “created” a  non-existent cancel. A quick look into Monografie (Vol. 17, part 1, pp. 247-8) can determine that the cancellation “Cheb/Egar”without the number of the specific post office does not exist. Only “Cheb/Egar 1 and “Cheb/Egar 2" exits and are shown here. These numbers would have been found on the original stamp that had been removed; while they are absent from the stamp which was added later.

Unfortunately our enumeration of the counterfeits of Czech material in this auction, apparently authenticated by our experts, does not end here. It is an open secret (a Feldman representative confirmed as much in an informal conversation), that these counterfeits are being supplied by a certain, well known Czech collector, dealer, and recently a philatelic activist – all this in one individual. Regrettably, with these activities over a number of years he has repeatedly, without any punishment, not only cheated buyers, but simultaneously also damaged the reputation of the SČF  (Union of Czech Philatelists), its Commission of Experts, and collectors of Czechoslovakia abroad.1

I believe we have a very serious situation here, which I have not been able to bring up before the Commission of Experts, as required by its bylaws, because it has not held a plenary meeting for a number of months. Therefore I decided to write about the facts presented above in the journal Filatelie, though I am not writing this as a member of the Commission of Experts, but as a judicial expert in the field of philately and as a philatelic expertizer for “Dom filatelie.” The relevant information about these counterfeits has been provided to Feldman Auctions and the appropriate  officers of the SČF.

The pernicious activities of counterfeiters and disseminators of counterfeits affects us all, even if we have not directly been their victims. In addition to robbing the deceived buyers, these activities have a number of negative consequences. For instance, even if the counterfeit is not immediately identified (i.e. the buyer might put it in his collection where it may remain unrecognized for years), its sale has an effect on the market and prices because a potential buyer is no longer interested in like but genuine material . As a result of such activities there has been a marked decline in the prices of Czechoslovak air mail covers with the stamps of the first air mail issue during the last few years. For instance, an exceptionally valuable first day cover sent from Terezin was sold in this year’s Spring Profil auction for a mere 20,5000 Kč.. even though several years ago the same letter sold for almost three times that amount. And since counterfeits have been authenticated by experts, either in error or through inattention, collectors are understandably troubled and their desire and willingness to invest in specialized rare material declines overall. At the 27th  Pofil auction one of the few genuine parcel receipts bearing stamps of the first air mail issue paid the price for all the counterfeits of this kind that have been offered recently in various auctions. Instead of the 15,000 to 20,000 Kč anticipated price it brought a mere 5,000 and the seller suffered a considerable financial loss. We can not be surprise that when collectors see obvious fakes with expert mark offered publicly (and the experts do not protest even when their marks are counterfeited) see a devil in every corner and are afraid that they too will be burned.

Lots #31298 and 31305 alleged drawings by the engraver Karel Seizinger were offered at 1,000 SF a piece, are, in my opinion, in reality poor counterfeits prepared by someone who could not even draw properly. If Seizinger were \actually such a bad artist he could not have possibly created his wonderful engravings. So many  alleged Seizinger drawings, all of which are in my opinion forgeries, have shown up in domestic and foreign auctions over the last several years that he could not have done anything else! However both illustrated drawings, as well as the one not shown, are described in the catalog as having a certificate from J. Karásek.

I would like to believe that the expert marks on all the described fakes in the Feldman auction were counterfeited. The time has come, however, to expose counterfeiters and distributors and call them to the public’s attention. To the extent that the expert marks Karásek and Pittermann on the described lots in the Feldman auction are counterfeited (this also applies to the Karásek certificates), then it is essential that both of these experts as well as the Commission of Experts of the SČF and the appropriate officers of the SČF publish these facts in our and foreign philatelic press, and on the Internet, and initiate legal action against the seller of these counterfeits. After all, this concerns two highly placed experts, who are active in the international expert organization of FIP. Certainly no respected international auction house will wish to be connected with the sale of counterfeits and will gladly identify those who put this counterfeited material into their auction.

Just incidentally and for thoroughness I mention another possibility which is that the expert marks as well as the certificates of both experts could be genuine (though I can not conceive this would be so on such primitive counterfeits). If this turned out to be the case, it would nevertheless be necessary to admit, explain the errors, and make them public. Most importantly it is necessary for for the experts to make public for whom this material was authenticated.

Of course we all wish that the first possibility is the real one and that the reputation of our experts and that of Czech philately as a whole will not receive another slash. Even if it turns out to be otherwise, the only possibility here would be to expose the counterfeiter and distributer of these counterfeits. Otherwise it will sooner or later end with our beloved and expensive stamps as it has with collectors of the plastic arts which are estimated to be three quarters counterfeits in our market, even though nearly all of the objects bear several expert’s judgements or authenticity.

Excerpts from the Feldman Auction catalog lisitng supposedly rare Czechoslovak items which are, with a few exceptions, counterfeits created to defraud collectors.

1. This incident certainly isn’t the first. One international scandal was connected with the 1 sale abroad of counterfeited Czechoslovak air mail covers which swirled around him fifteen years ago. Finally, because of these swindles he was expelled from two philatelic organizations in the USA in 1988 – the Society for Czechoslovak Philately and the APS.