Democratic Republic of the Congo -- These can't be legal, can they?

I've tried without success to find out whether some stamps I bought,
just to get one showing Jane Fonda, are legal issues. I kinda doubt it.


They were supposedly issued by Democratic Republic of the Congo in
2002. There are two six-stamp mini-panes showing "Sex Bombs du XX cine
Siecle". According to the UPU, Democratic Republic of the Congo is a
member, but there is no contact information, and I gather that it's
virtually impossible to communicate with them. Various web sites
indicate that some Democratic Republic of the Congo issues are
questionable.

I bought the stamps with eyes wide open (and the women are indeed "Sex
Bombs"!), knowing that they might be bogus; the Jane Fonda one will go
into my Vietnam War collection as a collateral item about war protests
and protestors. And, of course, the other stamps fit into my "Dirty Old
Man" collection! :-)

So, what do I have here? Legal or illegal stamps? Victor?

Bob

Bob:

Did you think to put the other stamps on a cover and
send it to the Dem Rep of Congo for mailing back to you?

Blair

Nope. I have a feeling that I'd never see them again if I did that! Not
that it would be a big loss, although the Ingrid Bergman one is quite
fetching. Be still my aging heart....
I did think about using them as postage on a letter to Tracy!

Bob

On 1 Feb 2006 16:38:31 -0800, "Bobstamp" wrote:

Nope. I have a feeling that I'd never see them again if I did that! Not
that it would be a big loss, although the Ingrid Bergman one is quite
fetching. Be still my aging heart....
I did think about using them as postage on a letter to Tracy!

Hmmm... Delicious!

=======================
Tracy Barber
-----------------------
adirondack-pc
-----------------------
"Freebie Stamp Project"
=======================

On 1 Feb 2006 13:12:11 -0800, "Bobstamp" wrote:

I've tried without success to find out whether some stamps I bought,
just to get one showing Jane Fonda, are legal issues. I kinda doubt it.


They were supposedly issued by Democratic Republic of the Congo in
2002. There are two six-stamp mini-panes showing "Sex Bombs du XX cine
Siecle". According to the UPU, Democratic Republic of the Congo is a
member, but there is no contact information, and I gather that it's
virtually impossible to communicate with them. Various web sites
indicate that some Democratic Republic of the Congo issues are
questionable.

I bought the stamps with eyes wide open (and the women are indeed "Sex
Bombs"!), knowing that they might be bogus; the Jane Fonda one will go
into my Vietnam War collection as a collateral item about war protests
and protestors. And, of course, the other stamps fit into my "Dirty Old
Man" collection! :-)

So, what do I have here? Legal or illegal stamps? Victor?

BUT! They are not as fetching as the Austrian "harem" set...

=======================
Tracy Barber
-----------------------
adirondack-pc
-----------------------
"Freebie Stamp Project"
=======================

Tracy! I thought we'd agreed to keep my harem a secret! Thanks, buddy!

Anyway, I talked with my friend Derren at my stamp club meeting
tonight. He says that the Democratic Republic of Congo does not have a
functioning postal system, or any other functioning system for that
matter, and that any "stamps" it issues are nothing but bogus labels.
(I trust Derren -- he's in his mid-40's, and has worked in the stamp
trade since he was in his teens. He seems to have a photographic
memory, and a wonderful ability to clarify just about any stamp-related
issue.)

But back to Tracy's comment, about the Sex Bombs not being as fetching
as Austrian harem women. I guess it depends on one's standards. Here's
an Austrian:

http://www.ingraham.ca/bob/3gHaremweb.jpg

And here are six Sex Bombs:

http://www.ingraham.ca/bob/fondaweb1.jpg

(Jane is at the upper left. It's up to you to decide who you'd rather
have in your album.)

That 3g Austrian stamp is a tough one to find, but I have managed to
obtain three of them now, one on a philatelic cover. It's an example of
a cheap stamp that plays hard to get.

Bob

Bob:

I agree.

When these stamps were "issued" (2002)
there were 300-350 Congolese Francs per US$.

Thus, the face value of each "stamp" was
only 1.428 cents to 1.667 cents.

Hardly a value needed for posting letters.

Currently, there are about 450 Congolese Francs
per US $, so each stamp's postal value has fallen
to about 1.111 cents US. (even moreso)

Blair

On 1 Feb 2006 23:21:30 -0800, "Bobstamp" wrote:

Tracy! I thought we'd agreed to keep my harem a secret! Thanks, buddy!

Anyway, I talked with my friend Derren at my stamp club meeting
tonight. He says that the Democratic Republic of Congo does not have a
functioning postal system, or any other functioning system for that
matter, and that any "stamps" it issues are nothing but bogus labels.
(I trust Derren -- he's in his mid-40's, and has worked in the stamp
trade since he was in his teens. He seems to have a photographic
memory, and a wonderful ability to clarify just about any stamp-related
issue.)

But back to Tracy's comment, about the Sex Bombs not being as fetching
as Austrian harem women. I guess it depends on one's standards. Here's
an Austrian:

http://www.ingraham.ca/bob/3gHaremweb.jpg

And here are six Sex Bombs:

http://www.ingraham.ca/bob/fondaweb1.jpg

(Jane is at the upper left. It's up to you to decide who you'd rather
have in your album.)

That 3g Austrian stamp is a tough one to find, but I have managed to
obtain three of them now, one on a philatelic cover. It's an example of
a cheap stamp that plays hard to get.

But, I have a "virgin" mint copy of it. :^P

=======================
Tracy Barber
-----------------------
adirondack-pc
-----------------------
"Freebie Stamp Project"
=======================

In article .com,
"Bobstamp" wrote:

I've tried without success to find out whether some stamps I bought,
just to get one showing Jane Fonda, are legal issues. I kinda doubt it.


They were supposedly issued by Democratic Republic of the Congo in
2002. There are two six-stamp mini-panes showing "Sex Bombs du XX cine
Siecle". According to the UPU, Democratic Republic of the Congo is a
member, but there is no contact information, and I gather that it's
virtually impossible to communicate with them. Various web sites
indicate that some Democratic Republic of the Congo issues are
questionable.

I bought the stamps with eyes wide open (and the women are indeed "Sex
Bombs"!), knowing that they might be bogus; the Jane Fonda one will go
into my Vietnam War collection as a collateral item about war protests
and protestors. And, of course, the other stamps fit into my "Dirty Old
Man" collection! :-)

So, what do I have here? Legal or illegal stamps? Victor?

Bob

Hi Bob

Bogus stamps often have one thing in common with bogus emails: spelling
mistakes!

In this case, the «XX cine Siecle» should have been: «XXème siècle or
«XXe siècle»

The «c» with inverted circumflex accent does not exist in French but is
rather frequent in Czech (and Polish?) and «siècle» (century) is not
capitalized and requires a grave accent.

When I was in Kinshasa in the late 70s, the only mail delivery was to
P.O. boxes or General Delivery in the main and only Post Office. This in
a city of more than 2 million people at the time. I am told things have
been deteriorating ever since, so I wonder if any mail service exists to
this day.

Richard

(Bob
And here are six Sex Bombs:
http://www.ingraham.ca/bob/fondaweb1.jpg


Richard Thouin :


In this case, the «XX cine Siecle» should have been: «XXème siècle or
«XXe siècle»

The «c» with inverted circumflex accent does not exist in French but
is rather frequent in Czech (and Polish?) and «siècle» (century) is
not capitalized and requires a grave accent.
..............


Richard (and Bob)

I was going to say exactly the same thing on this awful spelling
mistake made by the Czech (?) printer of these bogus stamps !

Moreover, I have some doubts on the "stamp" at the top right : I would
say (and my wife has the same opinion) that it is Brigitte Bardot (and
definetly not Ingrid Bergman, who IMHO has never been a sex symbol :
just an excellent actress !!!)

About the legitimity of the stamps of the Democratic Republic of the
Congo, I am sure that our friend Michael Meadowcroft, who recently spent
some time there to help them preparing their 1st democratic elections,
will be able to deliver us some sound thoughts.

--
All the best,
Pierre Courtiade
courtiade at free dot fr