It's back again. FAKE Winnenden Germany 2009 Gandhi Special Postmark for sale made to protest against Massacre in High School.!!

Hello Gandhi Collectors,

I am surprised that seller is trying to sell again FAKE Germany 2009 Gandhi Special Postmark even though I wrote  about this FAKE issue 18 months ago. No shame in making money.!!

Don't know up to what certain collectors and dealers can use Mahatma Gandhi's name and Principle of Non-Violence to make money.

This rubber stamp (FAKE pictorial postmark) was made by probably known or unknown Individual in Germany(not German post office or philatelic club)  as a protest against the massacre which took place on 11th March 2009 in Winnenden High School  in which 16 students and teachers were killed. 


I think this is INSULT to all innocent people who died in this incident. (Click this link to read more about this incident.)


If you live  in Winneden then please do more research on this FAKE pictorial postmark and stop this kind of activity.  Don't know why  maker  of this rubber stamp choose October 2nd instead of  March 11 date.!!

This FAKE used covers with rubber stamps were mailed in Winnenden and Schwaikheim, Germany which are only 4 km away. Check it out in map

I also got proof from German Post Office and also Winnenden stamp club President that this is FAKE after Bjorn's own investigation and followup for 3-4 months on this cancellation and even talked with one of the local senior philatelist about this cancellation.

I don't know what's seller is thinking about my research. Looks like he is thinking he can get away  this FAKE  cancellation and  make money by selling this kind of FAKE rubber stamps.?

Also don't know why they used State Emblem of India in this rubber stamps? Indian Government or Indian Embassy in Germany has nothing to do with this Incident but still they used India's Emblem.!! (Read my other blog post of Emblem of India)

Now you decide what other FAKE material is in Sellers bag.!!

Thanks

Ketankumar Patel.
Shill Bidding on Gandhi Stamps

My First year experience in Gandhi Philately.

My 100th blog post.

Gandhi Stamp Collecting is SCAM. My 3 year experience tell me Yes!!

BTW: Also another Gandhi rubber stamp was on used cover mailed to Schwaikheim not far from Winnenden.

=========  My previous Blog Post written in Jan 2010 =============

Recently I noticed on ebay that there is one more postmark cancel by Germany on October 2nd 2009 on Gandhi's 140th birthday to celebrate United Nations International Non-Violence Day. Following is the postmark cancel.

I did some research on German Post website which is

http://www.deutschepost.de/dpag?xmlFile=828 & also I contacted them by email and got reply from them(email copy is attached). Also I contacted some local German Philatelist from whom I bought Gandhi related material and according to them they are not aware of this postmark cancellation.

This is amazing as GANDHI philately material is one of the most popular and searched on internet auction sites as well as in stamp shows noone has any idea about this postmark cancellation. How this is possible that no stamp collector/dealer from Germany has no idea.!!

My research indicates that following is authenticated philatelic material issued on October 2nd 2009.

1) United Nations:- $1 Gandhi stamp with FDC & Souvenir card

2) India :- 25 Rupees Gandhi stamp & FDC.

3) Croatia :- Gandhi Postmark Cancel.

So now my questions is what is this German GANDHI postmark cancellation?

Is it FAKE? (Read email from German Postal Service)

Unless I don't get sufficient proof I think it is.

If someone has any proof please let us know so we can update this.

Thanks
KP

I got 2 reply from different department of Deutschepost and as per them this are not postmark from German Postal Service. Read following emails and let me know if any question about email.

---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: Premium-Service-Philatelie@deutschepost.de 
Date: Jan 22, 2010 4:47 AM
Subject: Your inquiry
To: kxxx@gmail.com

Dear Mr. Patel,

Thank you for your inquiry.
Deutsche Post AG did not issue any postmark from Ghandi`s birthday.

Kind regards

Jutta Frimberger

Premium Service Philatelie

Deutsche Post AG

Niederlassung Philatelie

Franz-Zebisch-Str. 15

92637 Weiden

3632 Junior Assistent Premium

Tel.: 0180 3 245442

---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: Sonder-Werbestempel@deutschepost.de 
Date: Feb 1, 2010 6:31 AM
Subject: AW: Gandhi postmark handstamp on October 2nd 2009 from Winnenden, Germany,
To: kxxx@gmail.com


Dear Mr. Patel,

Thank you for your require.

The postmark is not a postmark from the German Post. You can recognize this, because there are no posthorns on it.
I am sorry, the person who has created the postmark is unknown.

Kind regards

Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Anna Girbert

Deutsche Post AG
Niederlassung Philatelie
Stempelvertrieb
Franz-Zebisch-Str. 15
92637 Weiden
Tel: 0961 - 3818 3636
Fax: 01805 - 24 68 76
e-mail: Anna.Girbert@DeutschePost.de
e-mail: Sonder-Werbestempel@DeutschePost.de
Webseite: http://philatelie.deutschepost.de/philatelie/

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Also if you see there is no POSTHORNS on this cancel. This posthorns are small design on both sides around the name of the city on the cancel.

You can see this posthorns at following link on German postal service.

http://philatelie.deutschepost.de/philatelie/stempel/stempel_pew.jhtml?id=cat180029&navAction=jump

http://philatelie.deutschepost.de/philatelie/stempel/sonderstempel.jhtml?id=cat180029&navAction=jump

Following postmark cancel is genuine which has 2 posthorns on both sides of the name of city (Barnstorf) where as Gandhi postmark cancel that is missing(maker of this Gandhi postmark cancel did not notice this!!)

******** Also read about frogeries in German Postmark Cancel **********

While researching on this German Cancel I found very interesting material related to Germany postmark handstamp forgery.

It is very important to read before you buy any Gandhi related material from Germany including this as well as other FFC available from that country.

http://www.filatelia.fi/forgeries/blum.html

Following link will display more than 650 FAKE postmark handstamp. You can see by clicking following link and than choose the first alphabet of German city.

http://www.phila-kompass.de/index.php?id=73&no_cache=1&tx_kbsystem_pi1[showUid]=90

Possible FAKE postmark cancellation from Mauritius on Mahatma Gandhi 2001 FDC.

Hello Gandhi Collectors,

On October 2, 2001 Mauritius issued Mahatma Gandhi stamp to celebrate 100th Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi visit to Mauritius in 1901.


Now look at that FDC and you will see 2001 stamp(Rs 15)   as well as 1969 stamp(Rs 1) on the FDC.

2001 stamp was cancelled by Mauritius Post with special FDC cancellation, but 1969 stamp was cancelled with regular Mauritius Post cancellation. By doing this creator of this cover is making a unique FDC.

Yes this is Unique but to me it looks like FAKE.

Postmark Cancellation on 1969 stamp with date looks like possible Forgery or FAKE. Reason for my assumption for FAKE is that this cancellation is different than other issued by Mauritius Post.

If you look at above cancellation then TIME ( XX:XX AM/PM )  is missing on that cancellation. Also look at the sharpness of the cancellation as if it is used on very few.!!

Not sure why TIME is missing.?

Look at following other cancellation  issued by Mauritius Post and they all have Time mentioned in it. Also one of them is REGISTER cancel which also has time.

I think all Mauritius Cancellation selling by  2-3 particular seller looks forgery. I think this is just plain example of buying a stamp and put it on paper or any FDC or cover and selling it a unique FDC or Register Stamp on paper and make more money.

Just postmark lot of stamps on cover or paper and start selling so no one will notice which one is real or fake.!! I see lot of this on very beautiful stamps of fish, trees, plants etc  from Mauritius. So AVOID it if possible instead of just getting trap in this kind of activities.

According to me we need to be aware of all Mauritius Gandhi Register cover with 1969 stamps and  MS, FDC,  1969 Miniature Sheet, register used stamps etc.

It's very easy to make this kind of cancellation so BEWARE on all other cancellation on USED covers from any countries!!! It's very hard to find a Genuine cancellation.!!

I also think there might be possible FAKE cancellation on other countries also. So Beware before you buy. Don't just buy it if it looks unique.!!

One example of  FAKE philatelic material is Germany Gandhi Cancellation issued on October 2nd 2009. Click following link to read it.

http://gandhiphilately.blogspot.com/2010/01/fake-gandhi-postmark-cancel-from.html

Don't know why FAKE on October 2nd.!!

If you have any proof that this is real then please let us know and we can confirm with you  and let everyone know that this is indeed real cancellation.

Now what do you think about this cancellation.?  Please let us know your opinion.

Other blog posts about Mauritius Gandhi Stamp Sheet Cover.
1) Pricing Study of Mauritius Used Covers
2) Price Decline of Mauritius FDC.


This is how stamp printers and stamp dealers prosper!!

When it comes to UNIQUE  or RARE stamps or cover or usage then make sure about it.!!!

Otherwise it will be your UNIQUE purchase (valueless)!!



If you like this blog post then please check out our other blog post related to some other FAKE Gandhi Philatelic material. (It's interesting to read all 7 blog post, so please read.!)

Maldives : http://gandhiphilately.blogspot.com/2011/12/maldives-gandhi-stamps-is-it-fake.html
Germany : http://gandhiphilately.blogspot.com/2011/08/its-back-again-fake-germany-2009-gandhi.html
Mauritius : http://gandhiphilately.blogspot.com/2011/06/possible-fake-postmark-cancellation.html
Madagascar : http://gandhiphilately.blogspot.com/2011/12/madagascar-gandhi-stamps-fake-fdc-of.html
Nicaragua : http://gandhiphilately.blogspot.com/2011/07/fake-fdc-made-from-nicaragua-1979-1980.html
Mauritius : http://gandhiphilately.blogspot.com/2011/11/early-usage-of-indian-pin-code-classic.html
1969 issues : http://gandhiphilately.blogspot.com/2009/04/gandhi-1969-cancels-possible-forgeries.html

After reading above blog post don't you think similar pattern for making FDC or Max Card in Gandhi Philately.!! (It's a whole new topical Philately !! FAKE Gandhi thematic collection.!!)


Again thanks for reading and  Please share your thoughts in the comments section.

Thanks

Ketankumar Patel.
Shill Bidding on Gandhi Stamps

My First year experience in Gandhi Philately.

My 100th blog post.

Gandhi Stamp Collecting is SCAM. My 3 year experience tell me Yes!!

Is it Airbus A380 FFC or Paquebot cover or just rubber stamps with Mahatma Gandhi stamp from Singapore Airlines to Zurich

Hello Gandhi Collectors,

===============================================================
According to me following cover has no value in philatelic world. Reason for this is

1) Gandhi stamp from India is only to make money. There is no point of having this as this cover is not FFC mailed from India.
2) Having 2 different type of cancellation (paquebot/special   and Singapore Philatelic Bureau cancellation).
3) This is not Paquebot cover because ship is not register in India.!!
===============================================================

Airbus A380 is new top of the line passenger airplane which can carry 500-850 people depending on configuration.  Airbus A380 is now started flying to Singapore and USA.

Look at following cover and you decide. Is it FFC or Paquebot or Rubber stamps. As per seller this is Singapore Airlines FFC from Singapore to Zurich.

Cover itself looks nice with 3 stamps from 2 countries and 3 cancellation/rubber stamps with picture of newest airplane Airbus 380.



This cover has stamps from India and postmark cancellation of "FastNet Lines Ferry Services Swansea 1st March 2010, 1896-2010 Paquebot 2010"

Also it has another 50 cents stamp from Singapore with CDS of "Philatelic Bureau 27 March 2010 Singapore".

And ofcourse rubber stamp of Singapore Airlines and Printed picture of Lufthansa Airlines First Flight A380.

I think it's a FAKE cover looking at following.

1) Mahatma Gandhi India Stamp & Emblem of India Service stamp (mostly used by goverment) does not make sense on this cover. why?

It is flight from Singapore to Zurich.

2) Cancellation on India stamp is from "FastNet Lines Ferry Services" which operates ships from Ireland to Wales to carry passenger and other goods.

What to do this on flight from Singapore to Zurich. ?

Why they are messing up with Indian stamp which is not even worth for local postage charge?

3) Paquebot cover will have CDS from other countries not CDS of ship.!! Also postage stamp should be from country where ship is register and in this case this is from Ireland. So this is not a Paquebot cover.!!

4) Also 50 cents Singapore stamp which is not valid for Airmail.!! It requires $1.10 ( look at screen shot at the end of the post). 50 Cents is only for surface mail so this not a FFC.!!

SO THIS IS A COVER WITH BUNCH OF RUBBER STAMPS. NEWLY ADDITION IN GANDHI PHILATELY RUBBER STAMP SERIES.!!

5) Now regarding Singapore Philatelic Bureau Cancellation, it also looks flaky.!! Click this link and you decide. ( Look at the Alphabet on both cancellation and also look where they are located in both). We can argue that this might be newly made by Philatelic bureau but looking to all other things on this cover it does not make sense.

One more thing is that Singapore Goverement is very strict on rules and regulations so not sure how this kind of things get away from Singapore Philatelic Bureau.!!

After looking to this information I think this is a very unique FAKE cover. I had never seen this many forgery on single cover. This cover is completely made under single roof.!! instead of First Flight Cover in which cover needs to travel on first flight and needs to have CDS from both departure and arrival cities.

Gandhi Collectors beware of this kind of FFC. Looks like all new FFC after 2000 are questionable as popularity of Gandhi Philately is increasing there are lot of people who wants to make quick bucks and in future(after 10-20 years) this FFC will be worth more as new collectors will not know about this.!!

After all this stuff going on with Gandhi Philately with stolen Gandhi Philatelic material from Goverment of India, Possibly Fake 1969 cancel, 2010 Germany fake Cancel on Mahatma Gandhi's Birthday, Fake Postcard from china post, fake sellers, fake addresses etc I started thinking that what I am doing here.!! & I hope you will also start thinking this.!!

If you are seller of this cover or maker of this cover please clarify with sufficent proof about this cover so we can make changes in this blog post & more collectors will trust this cover and will add in their collection.

Gandhi Collectors, What do you think about this cover? Please reply by writing a comment on this blog post.

Thanks
KP.

BTW: I don't own this cover.!!


Further reading:

1) Look at Singapore Postal Rate Calculation




2) Fastnet Lines Ferry Services

3) Sold on ebay for $11 which is not that much compare to pain of making this cover. It takes lot of time to make cover so $11 is good price is this GENUINE.!!

FAKE Gandhi Specimen stamp from Cyprus

Hello Gandhi Collectors,

In Gandhi Philatelic World you have seen everything from Fake Pictorial Postmark Cancel, Fake Postcards, Fake seller, FAKE Error Stamp.

This is one more addition in that list. Recently I saw FAKE Gandhi Specimen stamp from Cyprus was sold for $1.54. It was good that seller was selling this as FAKE material.




There are lot of SPECIMEN Gandhi 1951 & 1969 Postcard from India comes for sale so now we all need to keep eye on it. Click this link to look and read about this.

Don't know what else I will see fake in future.!!!

New Gandhi Collectors need to be aware of this kind of materials and activity going in this hobby.


Do you think Gandhi stamp is still for Investment ?

Again thanks for reading and  Please share your thoughts in the comments section.

Thanks

Ketankumar Patel.
Shill Bidding on Gandhi Stamps

My First year experience in Gandhi Philately.

My 100th blog post.

Gandhi Stamp Collecting is SCAM. My 3 year experience tell me Yes!!

My Past Fake related blog post.!!

1) Fake Pictorial Postmark Cancel
2) Fake Postcards
3) Fake seller
4) FAKE Error Stamp

CDS error on USA 4 cents Gandhi stamp from US Army -Air Force Postal Service

Hello Gandhi Collectors,

I think following is very rare amazing cover. Look at it and you decide.




I think it's amazing, not because error made by postal service employee but look at the coincidence with error in year as you can see 1961 correctly if you reverese this cover as "9" & "6" also blend with each other or you can see "1" in 1961 is stamped incorrectly for both "1".!!


I think it is "1" which is stamped incorrectly.

Also I saw one more cover with similar CDS error without Gandhi stamp. (But lost in transit to India).

Thanks
Ketankumar Patel.

USA Gandhi error stamp

Hello Gandhi Collectors,

In past 2 years I had seen lot of Gandhi Perf shift error, but recently I saw Perforation shift USA Gandhi 4 cents stamp.!!


One-way perforation mistakes occur when sheets of stamps are moved either vertically or horizontally during the perforation process.

Two-way perforation mistakes occur when sheets of stamps are moved both vertically and horizontally during the perforation process, instead of just one direction.


Following is example of One-way perf error.



If anyone knows more about Perf Shift USA Gandhi stamp than I would like to know following.

1) How many USA Gandhi stamps or sheets has Perf shift.?
2) Is this only in Gandhi 4 cents stamps or also in Gandhi 8 cents stamps?


Again thanks for reading this blog post and  Please share your thoughts in the comments section.

Thanks

Ketankumar Patel.
Shill Bidding on Gandhi Stamps

My First year experience in Gandhi Philately.

My 100th blog post.

Gandhi Stamp Collecting is SCAM. My 3 year experience tell me Yes!!

FAKE 1948 India Mahatma Gandhi FDC with 10 Rupees stamp are selling like hot cake.!!

Hello Gandhi Collectors,

By now you all knows what's going in Gandhi's collection. You have seen lot of FAKE material selling on auctions sites.

Following are some of the FAKE items we are aware off.

1) Fake Pictorial Postmark Cancel To make collection unique or money.!!
2) Fake Postcards Just to make little money.!!
3) Fake seller (pretending from different country or trying to outbid .!!)
4) FAKE Error Stamp (to make money!!)
5) ??????
.
.
.

But recently I saw FAKE (Facsimiles) Mahatma Gandhi's 1948 FDC with 10 Rupees stamps which are even fetching high prices. Seller is selling as FAKE cover and it still getting good money from it.

It's interesting to study this kind of FAKE covers and start thinking what else is possible in today's world.!!

Seller is mentioning about this FAKE cover while selling!! Following is what he/she is telling to buyer.

"I am selling off my entire collection of fakes, forgeries and facsimiles. You are bidding on the facsimile (fake cover) shown below. The stamps on the cover are fully perforated allowing for a three-dimensional appearance. As per ebay guidelines the back is indelibly marked and is also shown below. "

Following are some of the covers.









So now please go and look your collection that you don't have this kind of FDC's or Stamps.!! and if you buy 1948 Gandhi stamp than please open it as soon as you get it and then make sure it is not FAKE because it is very hard to make a difference. Seller did excellent job in making this. At first look I was also misguided.!!

I bought 1 set of stamps for $5 to see how it looks and I am amazed.!!! Now I think sky is the limit for FAKE creators.!!

Here everything is FAKE including cover, stamp and cancellation.!! Only thing real is seller Truth's about the cover while selling, same way like one of the Gandhiji's Principle "TRUTH".

Again thanks for reading and  Please share your thoughts in the comments section.

Thanks

Ketankumar Patel.
Shill Bidding on Gandhi Stamps

My First year experience in Gandhi Philately.

My 100th blog post.

Gandhi Stamp Collecting is SCAM. My 3 year experience tell me Yes!!

Expensive Gandhi Stamp !!!

Hello Gandhi Collector,


I am writing this blog post after long time as I was little bit busy.


In June 2010 Gandhi 10 Rupees SERVICE overprint stamp was on sale for $225,000.


What happen to this stamp? Just Curious. If you know than please write comment on this blog.

Thanks

KP

Following is the RPS expert committe report.

Germany special Gandhi Postmark Cancel or Gandhi Rubber Stamp?

Hello Gandhi Collectors,

Recently I saw one more Gandhi Special Postmark Cancel from Germany. Thank God this one don't have Emblem of India.

This postmark cancel is different than which was for sale on ebay with Gandhi picture & Emblem of India with CDS of 2nd October 2009. But there are some similarities between this 2 postmark cancel.
1) Picture of Gandhi on postmark cancel.
2) Address (Town) on cover.
3) And lot more..........

It's amazing.!!

Following is the cover which has GANDHI special postmark cancel with CDS of May 6-10, 2009. Seems to me that India is welcoming this stamp exhibition at IBRA(Internationale Briefmarken-Ausstellung) 2009 in ESSEN, Germany. Name & Address is white-out is from this cover by me. If you want to do more research on this I can provide full scan.






After looking in to details on this cover it has 5 Rupees Stamp from India. Which is not sufficient/correct postage required for International mail by Indian post in 2009.
I have following questions about above Gandhi Postmark cancel.

1) What to do with Gandhi and this exhibition(expo) in Germany?
2) Is this offical cancel from IBRA with cachet of stamp exhibition?
3) Which philatelic society of India is Greeting this Exposition?
4) Do Indian Postal Service or Indian Goverment greets this exhibition?
5) Do Indian Embassy in Germany knows about it?
6) It has orange barcode so do you think it is commerical used (with insufficent postage)?
7) If commerically used than how it is valid with Indian stamp or only Indian stamp on cover?
8) Why Indian stamp on German Expo (IBRA) cover? Not sure whether this cover is mailed from India or Germany?

After thinking answers for all above questions, Will you consider this as Special Postmark Cancel or Special Rubber stamp?


Unless I don't get sufficent proof of this cancel, I will call it as Special Rubber stamp.!! Like my kids play with rubber stamps of butterfly, flowers, rainbow, princesses, disney characters etc. This is my personal opinion for this Gandhi Special Rubber Stamp because it is very hard for me to think as Special Postmark Cancel.

After researching for previous Gandhi Postmark Cancel from Germany, I can do research on this myself so I did not contacted Deutsche Post. If someone has contact with IBRA I would like to get more info on this if possible.

This postmark cancel is not as per design guidelines of Deutsche(German) Post. Following are links from Deutsche Post for special cancellation requirements. Check it out for more information.

1) Postal stamp with self promotion used for special anniversary or memorial event.
2) Sonderstempel used for anniversary, festivals, fairs and exhibition.

There is a huge difference in design requirement of this cancel compare to 2nd October 2009 cancel where only POSTHORNS were missing in the postmark cancel.
I think artist/creator of this postmark cancel learned from previous mistakes and make neccesary improvement in next release (bug fix for computer industries) but still there are more bugs.!! Next time they need to fix Gandhi Photo on the cancel so it looks completely different.!!
Why Germany?
According to me something is going on like Germany's BLUM Forgery so Gandhi collectors need to be aware of this kind of activities as currently we see it from Germany than we might see from other countries like it happen in 1969. Also World is very small now compare to 1969 so it is easy to keep your eyes open and you will see something not only in Rubber stamps but also how philatelic material prices are increased by collectors, dealers and reseller.

Let us know if you have more information about this Rubber stamp so we can change it to Postmark cancel. But I think it is a Rubber stamp.!!!

And also Christian Sperber thinks so. You can read his comments by clicking following link.

http://stampsofindia.com/newssite/download/432.pdf

Again thanks for reading this blog post and  Please share your thoughts in the comments section.

Thanks

Ketankumar Patel.
http://gandhistampsclub.blogspot.com

===============================================================
On side note:-

Why collectors, dealers, resellers try to make Gandhi Postmark(rubber stamp) cancel. I am not sure what they are trying to do or prove by making this cancellation and why collectors buy them!!

One think is sure that someone wants to make money and someone wants to make their collection unique by buying expensive Rubber Stamps and win awards.!! But what we are trying to do is that we are not following the principles laid down by Gandhi.

Also it is easier and less expensive to make this kind of Rubber Stamp as no special equipment is need. So I guess greedy collectors and dealers try to take benefit!!

If someone wants to really show their art & creativity than they can start making use of personalized stamps with Gandhi theme, which is also cheap and easy to do. Also this is legal in certain countries so need to worry.

THE STATE EMBLEM OF INDIA & GANDHI Postcards and Postmark Cancel.

Hello Gandhi Collectors,

Recently I saw in philately world there is a great demand of official material and to supply this demand philatelic organisation all around world started using official/emblem of that counrty after getting permission from authorized countries. Today I am writing about "Emblem of India".

http://mha.nic.in/pdfs/STATE_EMBLEM_ACT2005.pdf

Above link will explain why it is ILLEGAL to use EMBLEM OF INDIA without permission of Goverment of India. Also it explain about penalty and fine for using illegally.!!

WHAT IS STATE EMBLEM OF INDIA:

The State Emblem of India is an adaptation from the Sarnath Lion Capital of Emporer Ashoka, who ruled from 272 BC to 232 BC. It is preserved in the Sarnath Museum, near Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. The Lion Capital has four lions standing back to back mounted on a circular abacus. The frieze of the abacus is adorned with sculptures in high relief of an elephant, a galloping horse, a bull and a lion separated by intervening Dharma Chakra (Wheels of Law). The abacus rests on a bell-shaped lotus.

The State Emblem is the official seal of India. As such, use of the State Emblem for official seal is restricted to the President, the Vice President, Union Ministers, Ministers and others Officers of the Central Government including diplomatic missions abroad, Governors, Lieutenant Governors, Chief Commissioners and Administrators of Union Territories and Ministers and departments and offices of the State governments and of Union Territory governments and administrations who have adopted the State Emblem. Offices of Central Government permitted to use distinct emblems of their own may, however, use the same in their seals.

The State Emblem, on demi-official stationery used by Ministers, when printed or embossed should appear on the top left hand corner in blue colour,. The lettering like "Home Minister" or "Ministry of Home Affairs" should appear on the top right hand corner. The demi-official stationery used by officers should be embossed or printed in red colour except when an officer is specifically authorised to use such stationery in some other colour. Names of officers, however, should not be printed on such stationery.

The Members of Parliament may have the State Emblem embossed or printed on their stationery. The colour to be used for the purpose in the case of the Members of the Lok Sabha is green and red for the Members of the Rajya Sabha. Such stationery when supplied by the Chief Controller of Printing and Stationery, does not contain the names or addresses of the Members. But the Members may, at their discretion get such stationery, with their names and addresses printed at private presses approved for this purpose by the Government of India in the Ministry of Urban Development.

Where the stationery used by the Members of Parliament, contains the State Emblem it should not bear words like "Advocate, Supreme Court/High Court" and "Editor…..Journal", below their names in the letter-heads.

The Members of Legislative Assemblies of Union Territfories and the Members of Metropolitan Council of Delhi may have the State Emblem embossed or printed on their stationery. The stationery containing the State Emblem, however, should not bear words like "Advocate, Supreme Court/High Court" and "Editor…..Journal", below their names in the letter-heads.

The State Emblem shall not be used for any trade or profession or in the title of any patent, or in any trade mark or design except in such cases and under such conditions as may be prescribed by the Central Governments under Section 3 of The Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950. Unauthorised use of the Emblem for such purposes is an offence under the Act.

Private persons, bodies of persons and sports associations are not permitted to use the State Emblem on their letter-heads, seats, crests, badges, house flags or for any other purpose except with the permission of the Government.(PIB Features)

Above Postcard is from Croatia with GANDHI postmark cancel issued on Oct 2nd 2009 has "EMBLEM OF INDIA". This is legal as it was issued in presence of Indian Consulate Officer from Embassy of India in Croatia. Also he attended this stamp exhibition.

This was issued during philatelic exhibition tribute to Gandhi from 30.9. to 30.10.2009. in Zagreb at HT Museum. It was exhibit of Mr. Ole-Fredrik Olsen from Norway. Above photo is from opening ceremony ( from left to right : Ivan Libric, president of Croatian Philatelic Federation; Mrs Dunja Radosevic, Director of Museum; Mr. Suresh C. Khurana, Embassy of India; Interpreter; Mr. Ole-Fredrik Olsen philatelist from Norway). This makes that this postcard was issued officially with STATE EMBLEM OF INDIA.

On the postcards are coats of arms of the Croatian Philatelic Federation, OFFICAL EMBLEM OF INDIA provided by Embassy of India and Association Lotos Zagreb. Text on postcard is in Croatian language: Days of Mahatma Gandhi - and "My life - my message".

So to all my fellow collectors if you are buying any postcards, postmark cancellation or any other philatelic material make sure it is offically issued by Indian Goverment or Indian Goverment has given Permission to use that.

Please beware of greedy dealer/reseller who are trying to abuse Gandhi Philatelic collection by creating unbelievable philatelic material.

Let me know if any quesitons or concerns. Any comments or further research on this topic is most welcome.

Thanks

Ketankumar Patel.
http://gandhistampsclub.blogspot.com

How to create Gandhi Error stamps

Hello Gandhi Philatelic Collectors,

I was looking for Gandhi error stamp for my collection to make unique than all of you !! and I was surprised how many Gandhi Error stamps are available in market today.




Now first let talk about types of error in stamps. There are different types of errors in stamp whiile printing or designing and the errors are Design error, Value error, Omission error, Invert error, Color error, Paper error, Imperforate error and others.

But in Gandhi stamps I only found 2 types of error.

1) Imperforate error (Perforations are missing or incorrect)
2) Color error (Stamp is printed in the wrong color)





As we can understand that Imperforate error are genuine error as it was due to human or machine error while imperforating the stamp sheet in the machine. So I will only discuss about color (faded) error.

But about the color error I was little bit curious about it so I went to stamp show and ask one of the expert and he explained me about what's going on with this COLOR error stamp. I also did my own research on this topic and I was surprised how easy is to CREATE ERROR STAMP.


1) By keeping certain part of stamp in Sunlight for few days
2) By using bleach on stamp
3) God knows....

Following are some of the example of Gandhi color error stamp. I am not sure whether this is printing machine issue or man made by exposing various methods to do it. It's upto collector to judge this stamps before they buy or use some experts help(not me.!!).








Check some of the amazing FAKE color error stamps. It's worth to look and understand what is and can be possible.


http://www.stephenrdatz.com/srd7blue_033.htm (FAKE error stamps)

http://www.stephenrdatz.com/srd7blue_021.htm (REAL error stamps)


After looking at above website What do you think about this Gandhi Color errors?

If not sure than try it out. It's not that hard. Just waste 2-3 stamps and you will get error Gandhi stamps.


Tips for spotting FAKE error stamps

http://www.stephenrdatz.com/srd7blue_031.htm






Now let's talk about REAL Gandhi stamp error.

Look at following block of Gandhi Hungary Stamp. This is the REAL (Genuine) color error stamp in which color(black) itself is missing and because of that you can't see other letters on the stamps. This is not a example of faded color error but it's REAL.






This Hungary Gandhi stamp is the genuine color (missing) error which was sold on ebay for 1246 US $. Also you can find more info about this in Maulik's blog post by clicking following link.

http://gandhiphilately.blogspot.com/2009/03/gandhi-1969-one-of-kind-hungary.html

Let me know if any questions or concerns and if you have any other information than please share with all Gandhi collectors around the world.

Thanks for reading.


Thanks
Ketankumar Patel.
My First year experience in Gandhi Philately.
My 100th blog post.
Gandhi Stamp Collecting is SCAM. My 3 year experience tell me Yes!!

Overprint GANDHI stamps

I was thinking that this overprint Gandhi stamps were error (knowing or unknowing) but I was not sure at all. Recently I came to know about J & H Stolow Inc. ( Julius and Henry Stolow).

This company was world largest stamp wholesaler until 1970. You can read more about them at wikipedia link which is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Stolow

Following are some of the Overprint stamps of Gandhi.

There are 2-3 more of this kind of stamp from this 2 countries.

After reading about J & H Stolow Inc and doing more research I found out that
1) They were preparing stamp for Africa and other smaller countries.
2) They did overprinting of stamps
3) And lot more.................

One of their overprinting link is following http://www.stampnotes.com/Today_in_Postal_History/033156.html

Now after reading this link and also about the J & H Stolow I am curious about Gandhi overprint stamps from Cameroun & Nigragua which are currently selling from some european countries where this J & H Stolow has some roots.

Until now I was thinking it is good item to collect after reading from different sources but now I am confused after my own research.

Also I am not sure what is the real value?

If someone has any more info than please add in comments or let me know so I can update this and provide more information to current as well as future new Gandhi collectors.

Thanks

Note:-

I think this is anothe example of making money using Gandhi. This stamps are selling currently on ebay.com for 30-50 dollars and on ebay.in (India) it is selling for enormous amount which is some where from 2000-10000 rupees which is ($40 -$200)