Iceland

1873 issue 16sk yellow
1876 issue 40a
1873 official issue 4sk (reported in 1909 but not seen)

The BPA purchase from Sperati did not include any reproductions of Iceland stamps. Two reproductions, 16sk and 40a, were first reported by Carl Walske in Sperati II based on a very few examples sold by Sperati to Paul Freeland in 1956. They are on genuine crown watermarked and perforated stamp paper of Denmark that has been decolored.

These are the earliest Sperati forgeries to be identified in print in a November 1909 note in Revue Francaise des Collectionneurs that describes a visit by Sperati to a stamp dealer in Paris. Sperati is reported as offering forgeries of 1903 San Marino and of Iceland 16 yellow and 40 green at a 75% reduction from catalog value. Walske reports that a third Iceland reproduction, 1873 Official issue 4sk, has been reported but not seen.

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1873 Issue 16sk

1. the "R" of "POSTFRIM" is too large and the "M" is too small

2. the right inner frameline is retouched opposite "16" and broken below the retouch

2. the bottom outer frameline is thinned near the corner joints

3. there is a dot on top of the thin inner oval colored line between the "L" and "A" of "ISLAND"

additional information from Sperati II:  Plate D   Iceland Text

Richard Frajola (May 12, 2020)