Bogus: Afghanistan 1999 Masks miniature sheet
Let’s continue with the world of miniature sheets but with another theme. Bogus issues are a concern for any stamp collector. Especially topical stamps are a big favourite amongst bogus makers as the thematic stamp collectors are usually not so “bogus aware” as country collectors. As my first example with this topic I’ve chosen a 1999 Afghanistan miniature sheet of 12 stamps issued in 1999.
Afghanistan 1999 masks miniature sheet - a bogus
This sheet and stamps can’t be found on Michel, Stanley Gibbons or Yvert catalogues. So I’d say it’s a complete bogus like most topical Afghan stamps with dates / CTO cancels between 1990 and 2007.
The Afghanistan government has reported to the UPU several times about illegal stamp being issued and sold. Due to civil war that has been going on for long time, there is no way for anyone to say what’s legal or illegal Afghan issue in a long, long time. There are some online lists of so called “illegal Afghanistan issues”, but they are by no means complete.
I’ve seen this similar sheet on sale for £2/5EUR/US$10 price range at several online stamp shops. The real value woud of course be nothing, or at maximun 10 cents.
So If/when buying nice looking Afghanistan topicals with CTO cancels, please make sure they are official issues listed in most common stamp catalogues.
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During the period 1989 to 2001 no postage stamps were issued by Afghanistan, but numerous bogus issues appeared on the market. Details of some of these can be found on the site maintained by Victor Manta of Switzerland -
“Illegal Postage Stamps Issues – Afghanistan”
http://pwmo.org/Illegals/illegals-afghanistan.htm
Hi Jan,
that is one of those lists/sources of illegal Afghan stamps I was referring to at my writing.
As for 1989-2001 period…Michel lists several sets from 1996-1998 era (meaning Taliban regime / Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan). I guess they are listed simply because their official status might be /is something similar to stamps of Ajman or Equatorial Quinea (subscribed by ruling government, but very limited real usage).