Are WW2 stamps with Swastika and Hammer-and-sickle overprints (and concentration camp names) fake?

BOHEMIA & MORAVIA B19 AUSCHWITZ OVERPRINT OG NH U/M F/VF BEAUTIFUL GUM was $25
$9.383 bids2 days, 7h
Bohemia & Moravia B19 Auschwitz Overprint OG NH U/M
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Comments

  • 145 Comments sorted by Votes Date Added
  • Brett you cannot sell that kind of stuff on this site , read the by-laws. I just went thru this guy's store and I'd say 95 % of his listings with overprints are forgeries. I think this is completely unacceptable and hip should step in and remove them all. It'b not just the " German stamps "either
  • edited September 2021 6 LikesVote Down
    Yes , those are creations and non postal overprints created to capitalize on the infamy of the camps . And many are nonsensical, like a communist symbolism on Third Reich material . This did not occur post war , but later . It’s really not valid philatelic material . because they never existed “ in the wild “, so to speak . Is it rather morbid to try to make $$ on the memory of those horrid places and people ? I’d say they are worth nothing
  • It's healthy to be skeptical in this industry. Knowledge is power. These kinds of issues are where the real work, and real fascination (from my perspective) comes in. I love the "devil in the details". It's what appeals to me about Franklin-Washington issues in the US. :)
    But also why I want everyone to know how to identify the fakes from the genuine. My philatelic crusade is exactly that: give power to people to understand how not to get taken advantage of. There's nothing in the world I hate more than being taken advantage of...
  • edited October 2021 6 LikesVote Down
    Just to give you a sense of the personality traits of purveyors of this material, I submit some sellers are truly not aware of the fake nature of these overprints. I have contacted a few because I am fascinated by the responses. I will give you an example of someone who travels between identities on eBay. Context-
    I politely asked him about the veracity and opened the possibility by pointing out why some of the items he was listing were suspect and even fake. This is the response. He has two stores -stampspacific and saljm

    Me: "Do you have a catalogue or reference number? Is this authentic or a "Cinderella" creation recently created for folks to collect? The perforations seem to be larger than those gauges typically used in German material of the 1930's. Also any watermarks? Again, the NSDAP partisans loved watermarks. It is also unusual to use the Hakkencruz or swastika alone without the Teutonic eagle. And except for war heros , Hitler rarely, if ever , allowed other party leaders prominent images. All this to say, this is highly suspect as authentic."

    Stampspacific/ saljm ( he uses two sites and toggles)
    "To educate the ignorant, I have the stamps certified, they were printed on recycled paper hence the thickness and NOT issued by the government printing in Berlin or Vienna...a lot of 3rd reich dont have watermarks, so my point here, you should join the Biden regime since you are so bright? I have more info but you arent worth sending it when you harass sellers with your genius...stick to building blocks and paper planes....I have blocked you and warned a few sellers of your tactics to scam them..."

    (by the way, I only contacted him once).

    So my conclusion is that this individual KNOWS what he is doing is wrong. I will let you all decide. By the way, I hope that we can somehow respond constructively to folks who traffic in fake Nazi memorabilia ,if out of respect for the millions of victims of this truly evil regime.
  • 100% of these Nazi symbols overprints are fantasy created in recent days in order to scam some novice collectors.
  • If you look in that fellows store, the feedback section has buyers listed and items purchased and this man traffics in MOSTLY those fake items. It provides a significant portion of revenue. But there are also legitimate items in his store, so I will give him some benefit of the doubt, but serious collectors see this quickly as suspect. There is legitimate scholarship of Third Reich material out there, not as admirers of the Nazi's ( for me it's a historical fascination on how a nation can go so quickly in the wrong direction). By the end of 1945, Germany was pulverized. But this also attracts twisted minds. In my collection, I have a one page message preamble to my descendants about the Reich materiel so they understand that this is for study only. It is a reminder of the historical depth of human cruelty. But this is WHY we must especially stand up when we see fake nazi stuff created. This has a different meaning entirely ( it's not good to raise one's blood pressure before work! )
  • Yes, almost everything German this fellow seems to sell are fake overprints. Someone has taken the regular issues, ( in this case a 7 dollar set) and overprinted them with fake overprints then sells it for 10 times the value. It is deliberate and fraudulent and Hipstamp is knowingly abetting this activity now by not acting. These are offensive in that they are exploiting the "nazification" of routine items, a crime in many parts of the world.
  • Hipstamp needs to be alerted.
  • I'm on high alert....really high alert....really....Plus, I need to get permission from the Capt. to use his phrase ..."tactical doctrine". Solid.
  • How can Hipstamp tolerate all these fake/fantasy Nazi-era overprints on its website without proper disclaimers or certification? The seller should be barred from offering that stuff without either stating they are fantasy creations with no philatelic value or an independent third party certificate of authenticity from a reputable expertising house.
  • I have reported it to HS and nothing happened. Perhaps if they have a LOT of reports, they will reply. Fake Nazi material glorifies the evil that it represented. There is a line, and using fake concentration camp names is the absolute detestable limit.
  • Hi Rene,the genuine "Wir Sind Frei" overprint was used only during the year 1938 and few local issues in 1939 and always printed over "Ceskoslovensko" stamps,never were used over Bohmen & Mahren stamps.

    In other side these 2 Hitler stamps were issued in 1943...5 years late of the genuine ovpts.

    As I have stated before half of the overprints from this seller are fantasy and the other half are fake created very recently.

    Nice day to all
    Carlos Santana
  • Nope, silence. In one case, I was insulted for knowing nothing. My conclusion is many either don't want to know or are not the "sharpest tools in the shed".
  • Yes they are some of the garbage he sells.
  • While the Swastika is, to me, symbolically offensive; it is also offensive, to me, that this is allowed to continue. These are not described...at all, much less than having fake overprints. Is there not something in the HipStamp T&C that addresses fakes, counterfeits, and such? I seem to remember something there.
  • Sadly, Andrew, for these types of "sellers", it is not about history, BUT only fleecing $$ from unsuspecting collectors. Report this site to HS, in fact I think everyone should just do that same thing. Fake overprints are FAKES...cant be said enough.
  • Yes, Mr North is now rare himself....thank you Hipstamp.
  • ...........It is concerning though that the seller seems to have endless copies of these bogus fantasy German stamps.......... yep, and another sold for a nice sum this morning / evening your time very sad .......... How can Hipstamp tolerate it you ask. ......... hey, money in the Bank..
  • edited September 2021 3 LikesVote Down
    Here is my question are the stamp listed replicas, forgeries or counterfeits. I may have missed it on Hipstamps Terms, but I did not see any notation about fantasies, which I believe these stamp are and prays on stamp collector who have very limited knowledge of WW II stamps. Do I like it, No I don't, and should be taken down. The message it sends is definitely not a positive one for the Hipstamp community

  • Reno, I agree with you 100%. I looked on Ebay for similar material and in the description I found this, "This item is a FANTASY / Reprint / Forgery / Souvenir item and has NO philatelic value." I think at a bare minimum this should apply here too. I am just wondering what is the policy of Hipstamp regarding this type of material since it has not been removed by now.
  • edited September 2021 3 LikesVote Down
    They should be at the very least listed as possible (probable) forged (fake) overprints. These fantasy stamps are mostly worthless just like the Hitler heads should be.
  • I imagine that Bob is referring to the nazi overprints, not the US material.
    I believe there was a recent thread about them.
  • Shame on Hipstamp that this user is still selling his trash. 90% of the german stamps are fakes or manipulated.
  • And it's been going on since day one. I don't even touch the stuff. Bad politics, bad karma. I do enjoy German postwar material, but ya'll can have everything else.

    Many years ago, when I was still young and skinny, I met a dealer at a show who was displaying his collection of bogus and faked nazi material. He said that if real, it would be worth $50,000, just what was in front of me. He spoke a little about how endemic fake German stuff was, and I knew then that it just wasn't for me.
  • A Good source on what is real and what has been forged or completely Bogus is the German Philatelic Society's Forgery Guide. It comes in about 30 Binders with comparisons. Not all of it is WW2 but comprises of all eras from German States to Modern. I don't know if it is still available. Search the GPS website for more details. My set is about 30years old and there must be additions about all this modern material which has been offered on the internet.
  • Hi Karl,these stamps you have bought are real stamps but with 100% fake or fantasy overprints.The overprints over the 2 single stamps are fantasy,the Nazis never issued such overprints and they are not recorder in the Michel catalog.These overprints were created and printed by the seller in order to scam some unexpert buyers.

    I recommend you try to contact the seller in order to return these fake stamps and get your money back....in case the seller refuse the return you have a second option that is to file a claim with Paypal

  • It might not have been the seller that applied them, rather they were applied 30 or 40 years ago, and just continue to get sold/passed in collections, and resold, resold, resold again.
    I have a few of these that came in a collection. We make a point of not selling FAKES, so that this doesn't get perpetuated. Forgeries and Counterfeits sold as such are fine, and have philatelic significance (or can have) but fakes are just fakes.
  • Arg... there are two threads with this same thing posted... Karl, can you please not do that. Just keep it all in one, we will get to it.
    Now my comments from the other post aren't visible here...
  • edited October 2021 3 LikesVote Down
    Karl, don't let one dealer sour you on the entire site. This is the same issue on all platforms. (Including shows with tables...)

    The best thing to do is research the dealers you are buying from. Are they "sellers" or "dealers". I make a specific distinction here. Are the knowledgeable of the material they have listed, or are they just listing with a "sale amount" and hoping people will buy it? Are their front and back images of the material, and enough of a title and description that fully ID's the item (including the type of overprint, if there is such an application).

    Is the dealer an affiliated member of the material they are selling (i.e. APS, JPS, philatelic societies, and more importantly, selling bodies like ASDA (American Stamp Dealers Association). These members MUST follow ethical rules, or be banned from those bodies, and hence demonstrating their lack of credibility. Check out who you buy from, find good, trustworthy dealers, and then stick with them. Everyone makes a mistake once in a while, but if you find significant numbers of poorly described and/or mis-described material, then that's a bad sign. "Look before you leap".
  • Well, I know I'm not going to get scammed on fake nazi material. Real or fake, I won't touch it.
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