THE DANUBE AND BLACK SEA RAILWAY      from “The Cinderella Philatelist” Vol 1 page 114

Separating genuine, reprints and forgeries

Notes compiled by H.G.L. Fletcher, T.D.

The Danube and Black Sea Railway extended a distance of 46 miles between Kustendje, a port on the Black Sea, and Czernawoda on the danube, thus forming a link between the mail boats of the danube Steam Navigation Company at Czernawoda and the mail boats of the Austrian Lloyd Company at Kustendje. Both these companies had a contract with the railway for the conveyance of mail, the railway issuing a single stamp of 20 paras value for the conveyance of loose letters over the route.

1861 – 71.  20 Paras, black on bluegreen, lithographed.

Genuine
Punched perf: 8 teeth top, 11 at left, 12 on right; vice versa if punch reversed
No line at bottom of R in DBSR
Water line on left well defined, level with top of mast
Vertical shading on engine wheels
Six vertical shading lines as shadow for foreground boat
Right and lower sides of corner squares thickened
Fine guide corner angles outside all 4 corners
Faint short extra ray at top right of crescent
Faint rays below star
Outline of white mountain not joined on left to dark mountain

First reprint
Litographed from transfers of retouched die
Punched perf and exterior angles as genuine
Vertical line from bottom of R in DBSR to inner frame
Water line on left broken by mast
Shading on wheels vertical but faint
Extra ray top right of crescent faint or absent
No rays visible below star
Diagonal scar from L of Local to left of star, may be faint
Other details same as genuine
Seen in green, blue, yellow, orange, pink

Second reprint
Litographed from transfers of further retouched die
Punched perf and exterior corner angles as genuine
Vertical line from bottom of R in DBSR to inner frame
Top water line nearly absent, mast projects
No shading in engine wheels, corner squares thicker
Extra ray at top right of crescent much thicker
Thick rays below star
Vertical lines as shadow of foreground boat blotchy
Other details as genuine
Sen only in bluegreen, but may exist in other colours

Third reprint
Litographed from new stone with 6 transfer types
Vertical line from R of DBSR faint or absent
Water line on left very blotchy, white blodge on cliffs
Train wheels have no vertical shading, mis-shapen
No extra ray top right of crescent or rays below star
Vertical shading below foreground boat varies
Very little thickening of corner squares
No exterior corner angles
Punched perf and other details as genuine
Seen in green, blue, yellow, orange, pink

Six transfer types:
1. Spot above S of Paras; dot top left of DBSR; extensions in NW, SE and SW corner
2. Spot bottom right of foreground boat. Downward extension top left of NW, extension NE
3. Flaw top left and right of local-Post panel. Extensions in SE and SW corner squares.
4. Thickening of left outer frame at top left corner. Extensions in NW and SE corner squares.
5. Spot bottom left of S of DBSR. Extensions in NW, NE and SW corner squares.
6. Flaw on top of SW corner square, extensions NE and SE.

Forgery 1
Punched perf; 8 teeth top and bottom, 11 at sides; exists also imperf
No line below R of DBSR
Water line at left very thick and ragged.
Central hub, no vertical shading in engine wheels
Very thick extra ray at top right of crescent and below star.
Foreground boat joined to lower frame by dark blob.
Top left white mountain joined on left to dark mountain
No exterior corner angles
Seen in green, blue, yellow, orange, pink
This is a commonly seen forgery by Fournier

Forgery 2
Punched perf; 9 teeth top and bottom, 13 at sides
No stop after Czernawoda
Central design thinly drawn and incorrectly shaded
No exterior corner angles
Seen only in green

Forgery 3
Irregular perf 11 ½, not punched as genuine
No hyphen between Local and Post
No stop after Czernawoda
No exterior corner angles
Turkish numerals and other lettering malformed
Central design differs considerably from genuine.

Forgery 4
Punched perf; 8 teeth top and bottom, 11 at left, 12 at right
No exterior corner angles
Star large and very irregular.
Rays below crescent thick and scanty.
Outline of mountains incorrect, no cross shading.
Engine wheels oval, no vertical shading
No rigging on large boat, sea poorly shaded.
Two small boats, top left and right, are missing
No shading below foreground boat.
Seen only in bluegreen

Forgery 5 (added in The Cinderella Philatelist Vol 3, courtesy Mr H.F. Rooke)
Punched perf, 8 at top and bottom, 11 at right and left
No outer corner angles; size 18 ½ x 22 ¼ mm (Genuine is 19 x 22 ¾ mm)
Star large, point touches inner crescent
Rays very thick, with a thick short ray at top right of crescent
In Local Post the letters are ragged; the L and O touch at bottom, C slopes right, hyphen long, P has a large top loop and S a large  lower loop
20 Paras: 2 has a large top loop and leans left, 0 wider, P has a wide top loop, A has wide legs, S has a broad sharp lower loop
No stop after “Czernawoda”
Outline of mountains differs considerably from genuine
Train hardly visible; sea and ships differ from genuine
Corner values very poor, especially on right
I have seen this in black on yellow, a very poor rubbed and damaged copy


For further and fuller information on the history, use, cancellations, etc of the Danube and Black Sea Railway stamps consult the article by Denwood F. Kelly in “The London Philatelist”, vol 60, pages 68 and 81. This has largely superseded the previous articles by E.F. Hurt in “The Philatelist”, vol 9, page 42 and the article by G.T. Turner in the “Record of Philatelic Students Fellowship”, No 3, 1908.
These, while containing a great deal of very useful information, also have several inaccurate statements in the light of more recent knowledge.