Bogus: Somali Republic military uniforms souvenir sheet
One of the most common names for modern topical bogus / cinderella issues is Somali Republic. As most worldwide collectors know, Somalia is a country that truly exists in Northern Africa with long and interesting postal history. But according to UPU (Universal Postal Union) all postage stamps with inscription Somali Republic are illegal.
Somali Republic bogus miniature sheet
Several times I’ve heard an explanation that these would be stamps issued by Somaliland, a self proclaimed autonomous region in Northern Somalia. I don’t buy this explanation, as the capital of that area is Hargeisa, not Mogadishu (as the CTO cancels with Somali Republic stamps say).
I don’t know how many Somali Republic bogus stamps / cinderallas are there, but the number must be in several hundreds, if not in thousands of different. For example I have approx. 150 different Somali Republic labelled bogus stamps. All stamps bear a CTO cancel with inscription Mogadishu or Somali Republic. And naturally, all stamps are popular topicals such as nature, movie stars or historical events.
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“One of the most common issuers of modern topical bogus / cinderella issues is Somali Republic. ”
This would, perhaps, be better worded as:
“There are thousands of bogus ’stamps’ produced in the last few years, many bearing the name of the Republic of Somalia or Somali Republic.”
To describe them as ‘issued’ by… is to suggest a status which they do not have. The only way they are ‘issued’ is from the printer to the person who ordered them, and then on to the wholesaler and dealers who unfortunately either don’t now or (worse) don’t care about their legitimacy.
Hi Ian,
and thanks for comments. They are highly appreciated… Since english is not my native language, my wording may occasionally be unclear/bizarre for native english speakers. I’ve slightly modifed the article – hope it’s now a bit better.
As for labels with inscript “Rebublic of Somalia”, I think they are from the different source than the “Somali Republic” labels. Don’t know if my assumption with this is true or false though, but that’s just a gut feeling I have.
Any stamps produced claiming to be from Somalia or Somaliland, (which is the independent republic in the former British part on the north) since around 1994 are entirely bogus. No part of Somalia (including Somaliland and Puntland, the onoly parts with functioning governments) has a postal service of any kind. Without a postal service, no stamps have any validity. Even if isues may be at times authorised by a faction claiming to be a legitimate government they aqre still bogos, There is no postal administration and therefore no stamps of any kind have any legitimacy.
Gavin Fryer, a leading and distingusihed philatelist and Fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society of London, and I are soon giving a presentation on this topic “Somalia: The end of Postal Services” at Bookham Stamp Club in the UK. (www.bookhamstampclub.com. Fryer has had an article o0n the topic published in The London Philatelist.