Forged stamps of Przedbórz

Maisto Przedbórz

Polish Local Issues

In 1917-18, the town of Przedbórz, Poland issued 18 local delivery stamps in 5 series, ostensibly to help pay for “town beautification.” The stamps were extensively forged, primarily to meet philatelic demand, and probably also to defraud the collecting public. Postmarks were also extensively forged.

Local delivery was optional; you could always go to the post office to pick up your mail. One interesting side note is that if the recipient wanted to remove his letter and return the cover to the carrier, then he didn’t have to pay for local delivery. This increased the volume of covers which could later enter the philatelic market.