Hello,

Modern Illegal issues & UPU.

1a.) According to the Russian authorities all stamps from Russian regions (sub devisions) are illegal issues and have never been valid for postage.

Here is the names and a map of the Russian sub devisions.

Vinculo (http)

Any misspelling or alternative names for the these provinces are also regarded as illegal stamps by the same Russian authorities.

1b.) Example:
Chechen Republic, Chechenskaya Respublika; Chechen Chechnya
Chechnya; Chechen Chechnia or Chechenia, Ichkeria etc

Vinculo (http)

IŽve been in Chechnya twice when it was semi-independend and
they had their own air routes to Turkey , Syria and The Emirates. However, even at that time the post was run by the Russian Post using Russian stamps. So no stamps was ever issued for postage.

As a globetrotter I recommend not to try to buy or sell or even
have in position any illegal stamps in your pocket if you travel to Russia.
Sorry but Illegal issued stamps are not regarded as stamps nor labels in Russia Probably they are not illegal to posses in most countries
but for sure they are not postage stamps. However, to try to sell them
as legal issued postage stamps anywhere in the world is not recommended.

2.) ThereŽs a big misunderstanding that only stamps from members
of the UNIVERSAL POSTAL UNION (UPU) are legal issued stamps
valid for postage.

Here you have the list of UPU members and others which have their mail
routed via a third country country. As you can see dependencies falls under the "mother member" of UPU.

Vinculo (http)

This list is not complete as for example Alderney falls under Guernsey as
It is a part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey.

Further some corrections are also needed for the countries with limited recognition having their mail routed through third countries.

-Abkhazia mail routed through Russia
Still a little bit tricky to know if it works with officially issued stamps.
A lot of bogus stamps exists.

-Northern Cyprus mail routed through Turkey
Mail is routed and officially stamps are issued and used.

-Kosovo mail routed probably via Albania
Mail is routed and officially stamps are issued and used.
Some bogus stamps exists.

-Somaliland mail is probably routed through Ethiopia.
Mail is routed but no stamps have been officially issued yet
and they do not have any post offices.
A lot of bogus stamps exists.

-South Ossetia mail routed through Russia.
Still a little bit tricky to know if it works with officially issued stamps..
A lot of bogus stamps exists

Nagorno-Karabakh mail routed through Armenia
-Mail is routed and officially stamps are issued and used.
Some bogus stamps exists.

-Palestinian Authority
Well, stamps are listed in the main stamp catalogues and they have a lot of post offices. However, for example, Canada has stop accepting mail to Palenstina as all is returned. Any one been receiving mail from Palestina with palestinian stamps recently?

-Transnistria mail routed by Russia via Ukraina.
Still a little bit tricky to know if it works with officially issued stamps.
A lot of bogus stamps exists.

-Sahrawi Republic mail routed through Algeria but not with
any stamps issued by the Sahrawi Republic. They do not even have a
post office in the territory they control. (marked in red at the map (link)
A lot of bogus stamps exists.

Vinculo (http)

-Taiwan (Republic of China) routed through a third countries.
-Mail is routed and officially stamps are issued and used.
They are even using the EMS post system wich UPU oversees.
without being an member of UPU

Probably there are some more to add but I canŽt remember right now
and things will definitely also change.

Then we have course all ex-Russian republics which today
are members of UPU. However a lot of bogus stamps exists.

Every one is not a bad guy and intentionally trying to sell illegal stamps
but with accurate information we can all do better and get it sorted out
in a nice way. Stamps as stamps, labels as labels and no illegal stamps.

Good Luck to The Delcampe Team, The Moderators and all of us.

Regards
El Gringo

P.S. This link....

Vinculo (http)

...shows only stamps from some of the UPU member countries, not all.
Further, itŽs even incomplete as some issues are missing from the country lists. Conclusion; the only thing you can be sure about is
that the stamps you can see at the site are legally issued.

Very nice ,interesting and of course helpful no doubt to all In Delcampe.

The Bogus is one subject and Fakes are another .

Perhaps we all need to rethink this complicated subject and put it into its right propective ie..........

A) Bogus
B) Fakes
C) Cinderellas
D) Fantasies
F) Locals ie Lundy .....
E) Labels
F) Vignettes
G) Proofs wonder how-many off these are fakes lol......

Myself the most interesting Subject is Postal Strike issues what are they,, from Alderney etc......!!!!!!!

Really we need more guide lines from Delcampe and updates on Countries
List which should include the points A to G.Regards Bob

I've been trying for months to get revisions of various countries including Middle East and Commonwealth colonies and precursors, but as yet...

I usually put Strike Mail under Local Issues where such a category exists, although once again, where such mail existed and was used (such as the UK) a separate category would be helpful

I think the whole issue of categories is in serious need of revision - too many sub-categories in some areas, a woeful lack in others, but it seems not to be a priority with D* at the moment

They seem to be particularly reluctant to have categories for the perfectly legitimate and uncontroversial coins and banknotes issued for Palestine under the League of Nations mandate. Nobody understands why this should be.
Vinculo (http)

Newt

Has anyone actually sent a request directly to Delcampe?

Something may get done if you sent a direct message requesting a category for those coins. I know there is at least one other thread somewhere remarking about this.

When Baruch Hans of Israel (Worldphila) wrote in 2010 on the coin forum:

" I would like to add a new category under coines and notes.
Palestine!!! ",

I should imagine that he thought he was requesting this from delcampe. After all, Sebastien Delcampe himself does appear to read the English forum.

When I agreed with this, I certainly thought that I was backing him up by requesting the category from delcampe too. It is still obvious that Cheeckycheck agreed as well, but his opinion was deleted except as part of your reply. Somebody else has told me that his opinion was also deleted, along with a number of others all in agreement with Wordphila, and in one case with an extensively reasoned argument in favour of more Danzig and Palesetine categories. Some of these people have now closed their accounts with delcampe (understandably I think), but the person who informed me has not.

There seems to be a popular idea that somebody in delcampe does read the forum and sometimes acts on the ideas put forward, or if they don't, then a moderator (whom I would have thought WAS part of delcampe) might forward the idea to the appropriate department.

Can you tell Baruch Hans, after all this time, what he actually has to do, please ? Thanks. I'm sure many people would appreciate this.

Newt

When Baruch Hans of Israel (Worldphila) wrote in 2010 on the coin forum:

" I would like to add a new category under coines and notes.
Palestine!!! ",

I should imagine that he thought he was requesting this from delcampe. After all, Sebastien Delcampe himself does appear to read the English forum.

When I agreed with this, I certainly thought that I was backing him up by requesting the category from delcampe too. It is still obvious that Cheeckycheck agreed as well, but his opinion was deleted except as part of your reply. Somebody else has told me that his opinion was also deleted, along with a number of others all in agreement with Wordphila, and in one case with an extensively reasoned argument in favour of more Danzig and Palesetine categories. Some of these people have now closed their accounts with delcampe (understandably I think), but the person who informed me has not.

There seems to be a popular idea that somebody in delcampe does read the forum and sometimes acts on the ideas put forward, or if they don't, then a moderator (whom I would have thought WAS part of delcampe) might forward the idea to the appropriate department.

Can you tell Baruch Hans, after all this time, what he actually has to do, please ? Thanks. I'm sure many people would appreciate this.

Newt

"t is still obvious that Cheeckycheck agreed as well, but his opinion was deleted except as part of your reply."

I just had a look at that thread - I am not mod charon!

However, I have just sent the following message to Dimitri:

Hello Dimitri,

Well over a year ago one member suggested a new category for Palestine on the "coins forum".
This issue has again been raised recently on another thread. A simple search for Palestine under coins and notes gave me well over 300 results, which should be enough to warrant a new category.
Could you please forward the suggestion for a new category for Palestine to the relevant person?

Thanks,
Marianne