Mercier forgeries of Fiji
Note: on my website many of the
pictures can not be seen! They are of course present in the
catalogue;
contact me if you want to purchase it: evert@klaseboer.com.
According to 'Philatelic Forgers, their Lives and Works' Louis Henri Mercier was a stamp forger (his real name was Henri Goegg). He started in Geneva in 1890 forging stamps. He offered Swiss Cantonals and Rayon stamps mainly. Just after 1900 his business went bankrupt and his stock was bought over by another forger: Francois Fournier.
Some of his forgeries:
Mercier forgeries of Fiji
Mercier made forgeries of all three unsurcharged
stamps.
In his 1 p forgery, there are too many pearls (65 instead of 55),
and the base of the crown is rounded instead of being flat. The 1
p forgery also exists imperforate (without cancel).
In his 3 p forgery, the correct pattern for the circle is used,
but the base of the crown is rounded instead of being flat (I've
also seen the 3 p forgery without any overprint).
In his 6 p forgery there are pearls in the circle instead of the
zig-zag pattern of the genuine stamps (similar to the Spiro
forgeries, the Spiro forgeries have 55 pearls, Mercier's
forgeries have 56 pearls). I've also seen the 6 p forgery with a
'VR' overprint only. These could actually be the forgeries that
were offered by Oneglia?
Forgeries of the Providence
Postmaster issue of the USA made by Mercier:
According to The American Philatelist 31, 205-220, 1918, the
forger L.H.Mercier of Geneva (wrongly spelt as 'Mersier') made
forgeries of these stamps. They are made from a photograph of a
genuine stamp. They can be found with a New York postmark or a
bar cancel. The left and top is heavily outlined (the genuine
stamps only have heavy outlines at the right and bottom). These
forgeries were also sold in London.
Sorry, no image available yet of this forgery.
In Le Timbre Poste of 1890, Vol.28, page 6, the
following text can be found:
Le timbre de Bâle .... réimprimé. Mr Henri Goegg, de Genève a
adressé à un de nos correspondants la lettre suivante :
"Ayant racheté une des machines qui servaient
antérieurement à la Confédération suisse, pour la fabrication
d‘un de ses timbres-poste, je viens vous offrir ci joint une
réimpression de la colombe de Bâle à 23 fr. la douzaine, soit
en bleu ou en vert. «
Moralité. Le timbre de Mr H. Goegg est faux. Il est mis en vente
collé sur fragment de lettre et oblitéré !
This text proves that Mercier started in or before 1890
offering his 'reprints'.
In his pricelist "PRIX - COURANT" of
1897, he offers Swiss forgeries (also on letters or newspapers of
the period):
Double Geneva (63 varieties, including essays)
Winterthur (3 varieties)
Zurich, 4 rappen (6 varieties), 6 rappen (6 varieties)
Basel (3 varieties)
Geneva 1845 (9 varieties, including essays)
Geneva 1846 (18 varieties)
Vaud, 4 c (8 varieties), 5 c (8 varieties)
Neuchatel (8 varieties)
Orts-Post (8 varieties)
Poste Locale (8 varieties)
Rayon I (3 varieties)
Rayon III 15 c small letters (8 varieties), 15 c large letters (8
varieties), 15 r small letters (8 varieties), 15 r large letters
(8 varieties)
Rayon II 10 r (8 varieties)
Rayon 5 r light blue (8 varieties), 5 r dark blue (8 varieties)
Helvetia 1855 2 r grey or violet with red, green, yellow, blue,
black or lilac silk thread, 1 Fr same
Helvetia 1855 40 r dark green, light green, yellow
Helvetia 1862 with perforation and watermark, 30 c red, dark red,
60 c, 1 Fr, 3 c, 2 c, error 5 on 3 c, error 20 on 10 c, error 30
on 50 c
1871 Francise Militaire (2 types)
1849 Envelopes
1896 Geneva Exhibition with fac-similes
The whole Swiss collection (250 stamps and 250 letters) could
also be bought in an album costing 1000 Swiss Francs.
As foreign stamps Mercier offers in his
pricelist:
Tuscany 3 L (authentic reprint)
Naples 50 g, 1/2 g
Ionian Islands, 1/2 p, 1 p and 2 p
Cape of Good Hope: 1 p, 4 p, 6 p, 1 Sh
Japan: 48, 100, 300 and 500 M, 1/2 , 1, 2, 20 and 30, 1/2, 1, 3,
4, 6, 10, 1/2, 1, 4, 6, 10, 20, 30, 12, 15, 45
Also the following 12 stamps for 25 Swiss Francs:
Mauritius Post Office 1849
Hawai
Moldavia (Rumania)
British Guiana
Reunion 1852
and:
Naples, blue 1860 for 5 Fr, blue cross for 5 Fr
Trinidad 1851 12 different for 1 Fr a piece
Mauritius 1849-1858 12 different for 12 Fr
Barbados 1852 for 12 Fr.