Since its inception in 1991, the postal service of Moldova put a postmark for the sending post office and a postmark for the receiving post office, on every item of mail sent inside the country.

In a letter to Vladimir Babich, dated January 15, 2015, the Ministry announces an end to this practice. In future, only the postmark of the sending post office will be affixed.

The Ministry states that this decision was taken, based on advice received from “PostEurop”.

The Ministry of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan has granted Kyrgyz Express Post LLC (KEP) the status of “second designated postal operator of Kyrgyzstan”. This was confirmed by the UPU International Bureau in their circular 83 of 21 May 2013.

With this status, KEP has now decided to issue postage stamps for the Republic of Kyrgyzstan. For the first time in philatelic history, the second postal operator of a UPU member country, designated according to Article 2 of the Universal Postal Convention, has issued its own stamps.

The stamps are circulated in parallel with those issued by the Post Office and each issue goes through an approval process under the supervision of the Ministry of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan. KEP stamps represent a real payment instrument, ensuring payment for services of forwarding postal items from Kyrgyzstan to all UPU member countries.

In terms of print quality and artistic merit, the KEP stamps compare favorably with those issued by any other country in the world. The stamps were all printed in Moldova by “Nova Imprim” in Chisinau and were designed by famous local artists Vladimir Melnic and Vitaliu Pogolsa.

KEP has a handsome new philatelic site at kep.kg and all stamps can be purchased online, at face value.

Niall Murphy, Editor of MoldovaStamps.org, was honored to have been consulted on the development of these issues.

The shop “Filatelie”, operated by Posta Moldovei at Post Office 12 in Chisinau, was closed, without warning, at the end of September, and did not re-open until the end of October. Until now, this action was not explained. The closure caused great annoyance to collectors and hardship for local stamp dealers. Moldovastamps.org received many messages from local residents, requesting explanations, but we were unable to assist them.

Now, finally, the Ministry has commented on their actions. In a letter to our esteemed colleague, Vladimir Babich, the Ministry says.. “Stocktaking at the philatelic shop was dictated by certain organizational issues. Currently the shop has resumed normal operation, at the same address and with the same range of philatelic items.”. However, the Ministry does not explain why their stocktaking took a month to complete, or what organizational issues were involved.

The letter from the Ministry continues.. ”Simultaneously, we wish to express our sincere gratitude for your commitment to the idea of philately and hope that the above shop will become a centre that will meet the interests and expectations of philatelists.”. Here, we assume that the Ministry is extending their gratitude to all collectors of Moldovan stamps.

There is disappointing news this week regarding the publication of the planned official stamp catalogue 2007-2013. In a letter to leading philatelist, Vladimir Babich, the Ministry states.. “currently, the catalogue is in the process of development and on its completion, depending on the availability of funds, we will decide if it will be published”.

The Ministry goes on to say.. “Publication of the catalog of postage stamps is a very time consuming job that requires a lot of time for its preparation and significant financial resources. Not all postal administrations can afford to release a catalogue”. However, the plain facts are that Moldovastamps.org catalogue was developed in 2 years and that the Ministry has not published a catalogue in the past 8 years.

We can confirm that in October 2013, we sent a letter to the then Director General of Posta Moldovei, Stefan Munteanu, suggesting that we could enter into a technical cooperation agreement, in order to avoid the production costs of an expensive, printed catalog. That letter was ignored. Furthermore, our letter to the Minister, Pavel Filip, which announced the re-launching of our site, was also ignored.

A handsome new web site was published by Posta Moldovei earlier this year. Unfortunately, the existing pages that related to stamp issues, were removed. The link to their planned online shop at www.filatelia.md has been kept, but this is just the same “under construction” page, with some sample images, that has been online since 2008. Amazingly, the page still contains links to the old 2009 “Personalized Stamps” service, which was replaced with new stamps in 2013 and was supported by an expensive TV advertising campaign. Posta Moldovei currently has no online resources for stamps collectors.

Posta Moldovei’s physical shop “Filatelie” in Chisinau, was closed without warning at the end of September, and it did not reopen until a month later. No reasons for the closure were given. This caused great discontent among collectors and hardship for local stamp dealers. Moldovastamps.org received many messages from residents of Moldova, asking if we knew any details. We were unable to assist them. In a news article on the Posta Moldovei site dated November 3, 2014, they announce a strategic alliance with Posta Romana. There is talk of joint eCommerce projects and eBay, Amazon etc. We will report any new developments in this area.

So long as the Ministry fails to publish a catalog (printed or electronic), then Moldovastamps.org remains as the only up-to-date, dedicated philatelic resource for the Republic of Moldova. But our offer of technical cooperation with the Ministry and/or Posta Moldovei stands, in perpetuity.

The philatelic issue plan for 2015 was released by the Ministry on July 28 and has been forwarded to us by Moldphila.com. There are some very interesting items in the plan. We are especially looking forward to seeing the set of six stamps “Local Coats of Arms”, planned for January 2015. Also interesting, is the joint issue with Azerbaijan, planned for November.

The Plan has now been translated and incorporated into the MoldovaStamps.org database and you can see it here

The plan for special commemorative cancellations for 2015 has yet to be released. Update 20.08.15 - The plan for special commemorative cancellations is now also available.

In our news article dated July 27, 2012, we published a letter issued by the Ministry for Information Technology and Communications which declared that it was not lawful to use stamps cut from items of prepaid postal stationery (envelopes and postcards) for any postal use. On the basis of this letter, MoldovaStamps.org declared that it was therefore not permitted to make maximum cards using such stamps.

However, the Ministry, at that time, did not explicitly mention “maximum cards” and subsequently there was debate about the applicability of the FIP rules on this topic, namely, item 3.1. of the Rules of the Commission for Maximaphily which states… “The postage stamps which are cut out from postal stationery are allowed only if the issuing postal service permits their use.” Since the Ministry had not explicitly prohibited the use of such stamps for the production of maximum cards, the regulation was open to interpretation.

Following a request for clarification from leading Moldovan philatelist, Vladimir Babich, the Ministry issued a new letter dated July 16, 2014 which finally addresses this question. The Ministry declares… “The Postal Service of the Republic of Moldova prohibits the use of postage stamps cut from postal stationery, accordingly, their use in the manufacture of maximum cards, is prohibited.”.

The UPU provides the excellent WNS (World Wide Numbering System) online database for all participating countries, including Moldova.

The purpose of the WNS database is to eliminate the circulation of fake and fictitious stamps by providing very high-quality images for each official issue of the postal authorities.

From a collectors point of view, this service is invaluable, not least because it provides the best quality images of postage stamps available anywhere on the internet.

The Republic of Moldova is an active participant in this programme and all of its 2013 stamp issues have now been added to the WNS database. MoldovaStamps.org has now added the official WNS reference number to every 2013 stamp in our catalogue, together with a direct link to the corresponding WNS database entry.

On December 20, at Post Office No. 12 in Chisinau, Posta Moldovei released its second series of Personalised Postage Stamps.

There were two templates: Firstly, stamps with customizable labels, featuring the traditional ornament «tree of life» and the flower «forget-me-not». Secondly, stamps with customizable fields, featuring the themes «Cupid» and «Zodiac».

The launch was covered by Moldovan television news and was backed up with a slick television advertising campaign (see the videos below).

It is interesting to note that at the bottom-right corner of each sheet, a QR code has been printed. This is the very first instance where Posta Moldovei deployed this device.

You can see the full details of the new issue here.

Today, October 9, is World Post Day and MoldovaStamps.org is delighted to announce the launch of its “Next Generation” website.

The new site evolution has been in development for more than two years and the original site has been online since 2004. The work was carried out by Niall Murphy and a small international volunteer team of dedicated collaborators.

Our goal has always been to promote Moldovan philately, all over the world, without any geographical, political or language barriers. In this project, we have aimed to create the best possible site, containing as much information as possible and using the highest-quality images. We believe that we have succeeded in creating the best country-specific philatelic website on the internet.

Inside the site, visitors are treated to a vast selection of information and images. As before, there are catalogues for stamps and postal stationery, but these have been substantially enhanced.

In the stamps catalogue, you can now find information for all se-tenant items, for all sheets, including full (large) sheets and for all first day cancellations.

In the envelopes and postcards catalogues, full information and images is provided for all first day covers and cancellations. This is the first time that first day cancellation information for postal stationery has been published on the internet.

There is a brand new catalogue for special commemorative cancellations which runs from 1991 to 2013. Although there is a gap between 2007 and 2010, which will be completed in the coming months, this is the first time that such a catalogue has been published on the internet.

A huge amount of research has gone into the catalogue for the mysterious “inflation tariff stamps”. During that research, much new information has come to light. Whilst we still await the publication of an official report by the Ministry of Information Technology and Communications, allowing us to completely finish our work, the new MoldovaStamps.org tariff stamps catalogue still represents the most comprehensive listing of this material, anywhere.

A new Directory of Dealers has been added. This allows registered members to nominate new dealers and to rate (evaluate) all the dealers already in the list. If enough members use this system, it will become a very valuable tool for the global philatelic community.

Registration for membership of MoldovaStamps.org is free and many benefits are planned for the future. Right now, members can utilize the “My Collection” facility which allows them to create custom reports for their own collection and for their “wants”. These lists can be saved as Excel or PDF files.

In the coming weeks, a sophisticated discussion forum system will also be launched.

The new site was rebuilt from the group up and is now totally database-driven, using a custom-built platform, developed by Niall Murphy. There is a total redesign of the user interface, with instant translations into English, Romanian or Russian. Powerful search tools have also been added.

Special thanks go to Gheorghe Plugaru, Andy van Tilburg and Vladimir Babich for their tireless work in supporting this major effort. Thanks also to all others who were involved.

We have announced the project to the Ministry and to Posta Moldovei. We hope to receive their endorsement for our efforts and to achieve some level of technical cooperation with them in the future.

In 1992, Posta Moldovei issued two series of stamps which were overprinted onto stamps of the former USSR. The original stamps of the USSR, existed in three distinct varieties: 1. plain paper/lithograph, 2. glossy paper/lithograph and 3. glossy paper/engraved. Posta Moldovei always stated that the only varieties that were valid, were those produced on stamps with plain paper.

We have known about the existence of the varieties, printed on glossy paper, for many years. We saw that some of this material was processed through the postal system. We have also observed first day covers which used these stamps. Without clear information to the contrary, MoldovaStamps.org assumed that there were inadequate quality controls during those turbulent times, which resulted in the accidental production of the «glossy paper» varieties. We therefore classified all such material «errors», yet philatelically valid.

However, yesterday we received a copy of a letter, dated 1994, sent by the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications, to the publishers of the Michel stamp catalogue. This letter officially declares that all varieties, with glossy paper, are forgeries. The letter states that two «actions» were being taken against the perpetrators. This indicates that deliberate counterfeiting was taking place and that there was no accidental production of the material with glossy paper.

On this basis, MoldovaStamps.org has now downgraded all varieties of these stamps, which use glossy paper, to the status of «forgeries», without any philatelic value. Philatelists are advised not to take this material into their collections and not to show such material at any exhibitions.

As informed by the leading Moldovan philatelist, Mr Vladimir Babich, there is a mistake on page 134 of the stamp catalogue for 2001-2006, published by Posta Moldovei.

The fourth entry reads "01.04.93 (Ord. MIIT nr. 62/30 martie 1993)". This should read "01.01.93 (Ord. MIIT nr. 356 28.12.92)". Therefore, the new rates of 2.00/6.00/3.00/6.00 were effective from January 1, 1993 and not April 1, 1993. This is an important distinction for the verification of the validity of early envelopes, postcards and inflation tariff covers.

MoldovaStamps.org has been given a reliable eyewitness account of the existence of at least one, unreleased, imperforate and ungummed copy of every postage stamp, issued by Posta Moldovei, from Michel catalogue number 495 (December 2004) to Michel catalogue number 728 (December 2010), and that they are being offered for private sale on the international market.

For legal reasons, the names of the eyewitness and the stamp dealer in question cannot be published at this time. MoldovaStamps.org awaits corroborating evidence before these names may be made public.

The stamp dealer had described these items as "proofs" and verbally confessed to the eyewitness that all of these stamps were smuggled out of the State printing company “Tipografia Centrala” by an unnamed accomplice whom, he said, was an employee of Tipografia Centrala.

The stamp dealer also verbally confessed to the eyewitness that such smuggling activities commenced in 2004 and that he stopped buying imperforate stamps at the end of 2010. However, the dealer made an additional offer to arrange the supply of all the stamps issued from January 2011 until July 2011, in imperforate form, if the eyewitness was interested in buying that material too.

The imperforate stamps were offered for sale at a price of 100 euro for each stamp (approximate total value of 20,000 euros).

Realizing the criminal nature of the offer, the eyewitness refused to purchase any of the material and after some serious contemplation, decided to inform MoldovaStamps.org about the details. MoldovaStamps.org, with the eyewitness’ full permission, immediately made a complete report to the Moldovan State anti-corruption office, the CNA, in March 2013.

Despite the stamp dealer’s description of the stolen stamps as "proofs", it should be noted that Moldovan postage stamps are usually printed in sheets of 10 or more units, before being processed in the perforation and gumming machines. Therefore it would be very difficult to cut only a single stamp from a complete sheet, without anyone noticing. On this basis, MoldovaStamps.org believes that it was likely that complete sheets would have been stolen. Evidence for this could be found of the web site of a well-known international stamp dealer in the USA, where complete imperforate minisheets of 10 stamps for the 2005 and 2006 "Chess" issues were available for sale at a price of US$1,400 for each sheet. The report to the CNA included the information about this material.

On April 18, MoldovaStamps.org received a letter from the CNA Head of Division, Mihaila Viorel, stating that they were closing the case for the following reasons:

1. "The issues raised by you in the petition were not confirmed, and results of data verification obtained were not sufficient to trigger an investigation into criminal aspects."

2. "As for the manufacture postage stamps, it is noted that this process requires special equipment for printing and perforating, thus making it impossible to manufacture by anyone, without having such equipment. However, it can not justify the idea that stamps are forged as equipment for their manufacture is quite expensive, but the stamps that are claimed to have been forged are very insignificant amount."

3. "Additionally, we must bring to your attention the fact that the stamp shops of Moldova are open to freely to trade stamps of each edition, not set any obstacles or limitations in this regard. Typically, stamps are purchased or exchanged by members of the Union of Philatelists of the Republic of Moldova, of which, the (accused) citizen… is a member."

MoldovaStamps.org responds to point 1: The CNA has not specified what "data verification" activities they undertook. It is known that the eyewitness was never contacted by them. Also, the dealer in the USA was not contacted, even though to have done so would have easily established him as a corroborating witness. Indeed, the only person that is known to have been contacted by the CNA was the accused stamp dealer himself.

MoldovaStamps.org responds to point 2: At no time were allegations of forgery made. The allegations were about theft and the trade in stolen, imperforate materials. The CNA’s mention of "special equipment" and especially of "perforating" equipment, is therefore invalid.

MoldovaStamps.org responds to point 3: The Union of Philatelists does not automatically confer any special legitimacy on the business activities of its members. Mention of the Union’s name, in the context of this matter, is irrelevant.

The contents of the April 18 letter from the CNA clearly indicates their failure to comprehend the details of the complaint and that their investigation was cursory and was ended prematurely.

MoldovaStamps.org sent a reply to the CNA on May 8, in which all of these points were stated. There has been no reaction from them to date.

MoldovaStamps.org has now contacted the dealer in the USA, directly. He was unaware of the nature of the imperforate material and had never been contacted by the CNA. Upon hearing the news, the dealer immediately removed all the imperforate material from his database and told MoldovaStamps.org, "I stopped buying these issues in 2006 as I had a queasy feeling about them..".

Whilst the American dealer will not confirm the name of the seller directly to MoldovaStamps.org, he does state that he is willing to co-operate fully with any official, government investigation.

MoldovaStamps.org had been aware of the existence of small quantities of imperforate stamps and sheets for several years, but until now, it was understood that this material had been released into circulation in error. Therefore, MoldovaStamps.org was happy to include such material in the catalogue, since it would be of great interest to collectors. Now that the truth is known, MoldovaStamps.org is making a public declaration that all imperforate material (stamps and sheets), relating to issues from Michel catalogue number 495 (December 2004) to Michel catalogue number 775 (October 2011) is illegal and has no value either in philatelic or in monetary terms.

Other questions remain to be answered:

1. The identity of the employee of Tipografia Centrala who was responsible for the theft of the material has yet to be discovered.
2. The exact quantities and the formats of any other philatelic material that may have been stolen has yet to be discovered.
3. The extent to which stolen imperforate materials have already been sold on the international market needs to be discovered.
4. The current location of and quantities of still unsold imperforate material needs to be discovered.

MoldovaStamps.org has now provided full details of this matter to the Union of Philatelists of the Republic of Moldova (UFRM). In a reply, the President of the Union, Mr Serghei Cusnir, says that he is “shocked" by the information and states that he will be taking the matter directly to Posta Moldovei and to the Ministry of Information Technology and Communications.

MoldovaStamps.org appeals to all collectors and dealers who have any information about this subject, to send the details to us by email at info@moldovastamps.org. All information will be treated in total confidence.

In response to a direct enquiry by a leading Moldovan philatelist, Mr Vladimir Babich, to Mr Pavel Filip, the Minister for Information Technology and Communications, Deputy Minister Jakob Michaela has confirmed this is is unlawful to use postage stamps cut from prepaid postal stationery items (envelopes and postcards) for any postal use.

Accordingly, MoldovaStamps.org warns all collectors who are involved in the production of private Maximum Cards that they should discontinue the use of such stamps right away. Additionally, the FIP Maximaphilately regulations are very clear on this matter. Maximum cards that bear stamps cut from postal stationery are only admissible at exhibition provided that the issuing postal authorities permit this.

An exciting and highly ambitious new project has just been launched. This is the "SOTW" - Stamps of the World catalogue. This website looks like a real winner. It is intended to show high-resolution images and quality technical information for every stamp in the world.

SOTW was developed using the familiar Wiki platform, thus allowing registered users to add/edit all the content information directly. We think that SOTW represents a real and modern contribution to the promotion of world-wide philately.

MoldovaStamps.org is very proud to have been invited to supply the creators of this project with all the necessary images and technical details for the stamps of Moldova.

The SOTW catalogue for Moldova is at http://www.stampsoftheworld.co.uk

Today we received notification that Posta Moldovei has abandoned its plans for the emission of stamps to commemorate the 2012 European Football Championships.

Apparently, the controlling body, UEFA, were demanding a huge fee from Posta Moldovei for permission to use their emblems. Being unable or unwilling to pay, Posta Moldovei has decided against the emission of the stamps.

The Moldovan Post Office, Posta Moldovei, maintains a list of all the stamps it has emitted from the beginning (1991) up to 2008 at its website page at http://www.posta.md/ro/filatelia/. Here you will find much useful information about each stamp emission. However, it should be noted that in nearly every case, the stamp images displayed are quite incorrect. The colours being displayed have little or no resemblance to the physical, printed stamp.

Yesterday, we received a letter from Posta Moldovei which confirms that Moldovan postage stamps are protected by copyright but that it is perfectly permissible to publish images of them on websites and in printed materials, in their original form. The copyright protection simply exists to prevent forgeries, alterations and other unauthorized reproduction of the stamps.

This is certainly a big relief for us and for all other publishers of Moldovan stamp images. This also firmly closes any debates on Wikipedia/Wikimedia regarding the right to publish images of the stamps. Thanks to Posta Moldovei for clarifying this matter.

A letter received yesterday from Posta Moldovei has confirmed that it is illegal to make private First Day Covers which reproduce the cachet designs of the officially-emitted First Day envelopes. Posta Moldovei have also confirmed that they will take actions against any person who is found to be producing or selling such material.

If MoldovaStamps.org becomes aware of the existence of such material, their images will be published on this website but they will be classified as "Fake Official FDCs" with no philatelic value. This will be done in an effort to discourage the manufacture and sale of such material and to warn collectors not to take these into their collections.

Many thanks to Posta Moldovei for their co-operation in this matter.

MoldovaStamps.org has now performed a complete review of all its listings with a view to identifying any examples of the material described above and has clearly indicated the true nature of such material.

Finally, MoldovaStamps.org encourages all stamp dealers to prepare their own private FDCs. The practice enriches the field of Moldovan Philately by introducing new and creative materials. However, MoldovaStamps.org will only consider such material to be legitimate provided that the envelope designs are not unauthorized, fake reproductions of the official FDC cachets, which mislead collectors into believing that the items are official emissions of the Moldova Post Office.

In 2007, the Moldovan Post Office published a report into its findings in a special internal investigation into the production of the inflation tariff stamps. This investigation was requested by Mr Vladimir Babich following the publication of a monograph titled «Poşta Moldovei: Ştampile Tarifare de Inflaţie 1991-1993» authored by Ş. Ciobanu, C. Ciobanu and M. Godorozea in Chişinău in 2005.

Poşta Moldovei have clearly stated that they wish this report to be published by the philatelic press. The complete report (in Russian) can be downloaded here in PDF format.

Summary of the Findings:

I.) The monograph quotes Order No. 91 dated December 22, 1992 of Ministry of Information, Computer and Communications, for the authorization to produce tariff stamps with the face values "1.95", "1.96", 1.97" and "2.95". Officials from the Ministry retrieved the said Order No. 91 and discovered that it was actually dated March 30, 1992 and that it did not relate to the production of tariff stamps at all.

Upon further investigation, the officials did discover the Order No. 46, dated March 10, 1993 and that this Order authorized the production of tariff stamps with the face values "1.96", 1.97" (on postcards) and "2.93", "2.95" (on envelopes). These stamps were to be prepared for "all districts and towns of the Republic of Moldova". Under this Order, these stamps were to be issued on March 20, 1993, and only after delivering an initial stock of 10,000 pieces (of each stamp) to the official Philately Store in Chisinau.

According to the accounting records of Poşta Moldovei, the tables on pages 2-4 of their report, indicate the actual production data. The quantities produced and the dates of delivery are clearly not in compliance with the specifications of the Order.

II.) Whilst Poşta Moldovei were unable to locate the specific official Order for the production of tariff stamps with the face values "1.75" and "1.95", they did find some records showing the production of the "1.75" stamps on pre-paid postcards issued by Poşta Moldovei. The information about these is indicated in the table at the top of page 2 of the report. However, there are no records of any official Order authorizing the production of tariff stamps with a face value of "1.95". Therefore the tariff stamps with a face value if "1.95" have been deemed to be fake.

III.) The report (pages 4 to 8) goes on to declare that the images of postally cancelled envelopes and postcards with tariff stamps having the values "1.96", "1.97", "2.93" and "2.95" having cancellation dates before March 20, 1993, that are illustrated in the monograph, are all invalid fakes. A full list of the stamp models and cancellation dates is provided.

IV.) The report (page 8) goes on to declare that the official Order No. 34 dated September 20, 1993, authorized the production of tariff stamps with the face values "8.00", "12.00", "30.00" and "100.00". The order stated that the stamps were to be issued after September 20, 1993 and following delivery to the official Philately Store in Chisinau.

According to the accounting records of Poşta Moldovei, the tables on pages 8-11 of their report, indicate the actual production data.

The report (pages 8 to 14) goes on to declare that the images of postally cancelled envelopes and postcards with tariff stamps having the values "8.00", "12.00", "30.00" and "100.00" having cancellation dates before September 20, 1993, that are illustrated in the monograph, are all invalid fakes. A full list of the stamp models and cancellation dates is provided.

V.) Finally, the report (page 14) declares that the tariff stamps with the face values "1.96", "1.97" and "2.95" were all to be prepared with the dimensions 25mm x 15mm and that no valid examples of tariff stamps with these face values exist with other dimensions, as suggested in the monograph.

Additionally, the report (page 14) declares that the tariff stamps with the face values "8.00", "12.00" and "30.00" were all to be prepared with the dimensions 35mm x 30mm and that no valid examples of tariff stamps with these face values exist with other dimensions, as suggested in the monograph.

MoldovaStamps.org Editor's Comments and Opinions

The investigation report makes no reference to the tariff stamps with the face values "0.45", "0.46", or "0.65" I think that is safe to conclude that these items did not form part of the investigation and that they are all valid.

It is noteworthy, when examining the production tables of the "surviving accounting records" on pages 2-4 of the official report, to see that several of the town designs are missing from the lists. For example, the " 1.96" postcards table does not mention: Anenii Noi, Bender or Hancesti. Yet all of these town names are mentioned further down the report as being fakes, so long as the postmark is dated before March 20, 1993. The report does not declare the status of these stamps in cases where they have not been cancelled and does not explicitly state that they are fakes in this event. I can only conclude, therefore, that non-cancelled examples of these items have a "questionable" status.

Equally, when examining the production tables of the "surviving accounting records" on pages 8-11 of the official report, I notice that  several of the town designs are missing from the lists for the tariff stamps with face values "8.00", "12.00" and "30.00". For example, the "8.00" postcards table does not mention: Basarabeasca, Briceni, Cainari, Camenca, Cantemir, Causeni, Ciadar Lunga, Cimislia, Comrat, Dubasari, Edinet, Falesti, Floresti or Rezina. Yet all of these town names are mentioned further down the report as being fakes, so long as the postmark is dated before September 20, 1993. The report does not declare the status of these stamps in cases where they have not been cancelled and does not explicitly state that they are fakes in this event. I can only conclude, therefore, that non-cancelled examples of  these items have a "questionable" status.

Only one tariff stamp, No. P13 "1.95" for Soroca, is explicitly declared to be a fake, as its production was never ordered by the Post Office.

The production of tariff stamps with the face values "8.00", "12.00" and "30.00" was ordered to replace and to supersede the earlier Order for the stamps with the face values quot;1.96", "1.97" and "2.95" because inflation had required a major increase in the postal rates. The newer stamps were to have been put into circulation after September 20, 1993, however, the data tables clearly indicate that the earlier stamps, which by this time were using out-of-date postal delivery rates, were still being delivered to the Official Philatelic Store up to February 1994, even though there were, by that time, of no postal use.

Readers must draw their own conclusions having read the official report but It seems clear to me that a person or persons who were responsible for the production of the tariff stamps were performing some unauthorized activities entirely outside of their authority:

1. Stamps with certain face values were being produced without any official Order.
2. Stamps were being released into circulation before the correct printed stock quantities, as directed in the official Order, had been achieved.
3. The delivery deadlines specified in the official Orders were not being achieved.
4. Stamps with expired postal rates were still being put into circulation.
5. Stamps were being falsely produced on postcards and envelopes with pre-cancelled postmarks bearing dates earlier than their official dates of issuance.
6. Some of the stamps that were being produced did not meet the required specifications, in terms of physical dimensions, as directed in the official Orders.

In Moldova, it is permitted to bring an envelope or postcard, bearing genuine postage stamps, to the Post Office and have the envelope or postcard cancelled with the official First Day cancellation. This permits the local stamp dealers to create "private" but perfectly legitimate First Day Covers and Maximum Cards. The website catalogue will attempt to list all known examples of these items. The "private" FDCs and MCs are clearly indicated and are categorized separately from the "official" emissions of the Moldovan Post Office.

However, it has been brought to our attention that some dealers are making fake reproductions of the official FDC envelopes and then having them cancelled with the official First Day postmark by unwitting workers at the Post Office. The dealers are then selling these items as if they were official emissions of the Post Office, whereas in truth, they are privately made.

MoldovaStamps.org wishes to discourage and denounce this practice for two main reasons: 1. Collectors are being misled into believing that the material was officially emitted by the Moldovan Post Office, which devalues and degrades the field of Moldovan Philately and 2. Whereas the postage stamps and cancellations emitted by the Moldovan Post Office may be copyright-free and in the public domain, the First Day Cover envelopes are protected by copyright under Moldovan and international law. Any unauthorized reproduction of those envelopes is in violation of those laws and is illegal.

MoldovaStamps.org admits that we have erroneously included some of the material described above in our listings as "private" First Day Covers (with legitimacy implied). MoldovaStamps.org now commits to perform a complete review of all its listings with a view to identifying any examples of the material described above and to clearly indicate the true nature of such material.

Unlike other stamp catalogue publishers, MoldovaStamps.org has a policy of listing all philatelic materials, even if that material is bogus, forged, fake or otherwise and to clearly indicate the nature of the items. This is done in the hope that collectors will be properly informed. On this basis, MoldovaStamps.org will continue to list the fake official FDCs mentioned above, but will reclassify them to indicate their true nature.

It has also been known for stamp dealers in Moldova to acquire surplus, officially emitted FDC envelopes which have not had any stamps or cancellations applied to them, and then to make private FDCs from these. This is a grey area. The envelopes are official, the stamps and cancellations are genuine but the Moldovan Post Office never emitted the cover officially. In these rare cases, special notes will be provided.

Finally, MoldovaStamps.org encourages all stamp dealers to prepare their own private FDCs. The practice enriches the field of Moldovan Philately by introducing new and creative materials. However, MoldovaStamps.org will only consider such material to be legitimate provided that the following three conditions are met:

1. The envelope has genuine Moldovan postage stamp(s) affixed
2. The stamps(s) are cancelled using the official First Day postmark as designed by Moldovan Post Office
3. The envelope is not a fake reproduction of the official FDC envelope designed by the Moldovan Post Office and does not have the word "Official" printed thereon (in any language)