| MAIL FROM THE PROLIFIC FORGER Raoul De Thuin, British Honduras postal history THE FRENCH PHILATELIC AGENCY, P.O. Box 206, Belize was just one of numerous printed address aliases used by the prolific stamp forger Raoul de Thuin to circumvent the spotting by the U.S. Post Office of his fraudulent activities to particular persons or firms (full details in Around The Caribbean 7). This cover with KG6 2c, 3c pmk'd Belize 3 OC 39 to Berlin, USA. De Thuin (born Belgium 1890, died Guayaguil Ecuador 1975) started his philatelic “work” as early as 1916 leading to a shop in Brussels in 1927. He entered Mexico in 1931 on the run from French and Belgian police who wanted him for forgery. He was expelled from Mexico for setting up a forgery ring and moved to Tegucigalpa, Honduras where he was jailed and expelled in 1936, and then lived in Belize until moving back to Mexico in 1941 where he settled until 1968 when he moved to his wife’s home in Guayaguil. He specialised in forging overprints of Central and South American countries, especially Mexico, turning common stamps into rarities. “The Yucatan Affair” published by The American Philatelic Society illustrates his fabrications on much of the 523 pages. He is quoted as saying that “I have no conscience at all at having deceived all those foolish people. They are just fanatics who neglect their families for their passion.” £250 | |