Bhutan’s Postage Stamps: Fakes & Counterfeits

As I mentioned in my yesterday’s post, while the country was still relatively an unknown entity, it appears that our postage stamps attracted a number of fakers and counterfeiters. In a way it should be a matter of pride that so many fakes and counterfeit stamps of Bhutan were produced. It goes to prove that our stamps are popular and sought after by the global collectors. On the downside though, it must be bad business for Bhutan Post who would be losing a substantial market share to spuriously produced stamps.

The following are some of the fakes/counterfeits:

WORLD SCENERY WULINGYUAN, CHINA

A fake intended for the world stamp collectors.

A pretty looking fake - most likely faked in China

150th ANNIVERSARY OF GUSTAV KLIMT’s “THE KISS”

These stamps were total fakes. No one knows who created these. They were auctioned to unsuspecting collectors around the world. Like our original silk series of stamps depicting Thangkas, these fakes too were printed on silk.

Faked in silk - 150th Anniversary of Gustav Klimt's "The Kiss"

AFRICAN ANIMAL SERIES

Another fake targeted at the collectors – Bhutan Post never issued these stamps. As is evident, this was a poor job – notice that the alphabet “u” after “N” in Nu. is missing.

A set of 9 stamps depicting animals found in Africa

JESUS SERIES

Yet another fake – this time with Christian overtones. Beautifully printed though – but fakes will always remain fakes, regardless.

Did this set of 9 fake stamps go to fund proselytism in rural Bhutan?

One long time collector of Bhutanese stamps opined that this could have been the work of a Christian zealot – as retaliation for barring him/her entry into Bhutan. My own view is that the faked stamps may have been produced to raise funding for the conversion of Bhutanese into the Christian faith. You may recall that some years back there were rampant conversions in the remote villages of Bhutan – so much so that the government had to intervene by bring out a law that prohibited conversion from one religion to another. It is clear that the same people who faked the African Animal series were responsible for this thuggery as well – given that these fakes also has “u” missing after the alphabet “N” in Nu.

The following 1999 Goldfish Set is an example of poorly executed fakes. While the stamp was touted as being Bhutanese – the value of the stamp is denominated in Laotian currency. 

An amateur's job - very badly executed

Another poorly executed counterfeit is the following “Save The Tiger” stamps issued by Bhutan Posts during the Male Iron Tiger Year in 2010. The counterfeit depicts the logo of WWF in gold while the original on the left does not have the logo on the stamps.

Very poor counterfeit of the "Save The Tiger Year" issue of 2010

The worst example of a counterfeit is the following Bhutan’s fiscal stamp of 1954. Whoever the cad was who did it, he/she used a rubber stamp to surcharge the stamp. I cannot imagine why someone would counterfeit a fiscal stamp. Perhaps the reason could be because, for a short while, before the coming of the postage stamps in 1962, His Majesty the Third King had issued a Kasho authorizing the use of fiscal stamps as postage stamps.

The counterfeiter tried to get away cheaply - he/she simply rubber stamped the real stuff.

In conclusion, I have to emphasize that we should be clear on what is a fake and what is a counterfeit. A very authoritative collector and historian went to great length to explain to me the difference between the two. He clarified that “fake” is when someone invents and entirely new design and content – totally unrelated to anything the Bhutan Posts had released.

Counterfeit on the other hand is something that a faker had attempted to reproduce an original item issued by the Bhutan Posts. In other words it is a copy.