The 1862 Argentina Coat of Arms, also known as “small shields” type, were the first stamps of Argentina after the unification. They were printed by Roberto Lange in lithography, containing 3 different values of 5c rose,10c green and 15c blue. Catalogs state these stamps were printed in 1862,1863 and 1864; and number of forgeries is plenty. As the real things have somewhat high catalog values, I’ve got a (somewhat common) counterfeit of 10 centavos green to display.

1862 Argentina 10c green. A Lange reprint counterfeit.

For what I’ve read, most of the forgeries are based the 5c reprint of 1864. These are easy to identify by looking at the style of C in ‘Centavos’. If the C is narrow and closed (like with my copy above), then the stamp is likely a so called “Lange reprint counterfeit” (named after the 5c rose reprint of 1864 – the only stamp that can exist with narrow C). If the C in ‘Centavos’ is wide and open (like below), then there’s a better change of a real deal.

With real stamp the C in centavos should be more open.

Besides the shape of C, there are also other identifying factors. The number of pearls around the arms and the number of lines inside the shield varies for each original value and print. The real 10c stamp should have 78 pearls and 14 lines, whereas anything based on 5c reprint should have only 72 pearls and 11 lines. And my copy matches the latter.

Well, anyway…It’s good to know that I did not pay more than few cents for this. LOL.

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