60 different beautiful Audubon bird paintings on stamps MNH only US$12.50!
stamps4collectors
paintings on stamps MNH only $12.50!
Haiti's 'unofficial' Audubon birds stamp issue:
a fascinating history - and a GREAT offer!
ONE of the most unusual 'unofficial' stamp issues, yet one prized by
many collectors for its beauty and exquisite print production values,
is the 'unofficial' long set of stamps allegedley issued by Haiti in
1975 to commemorate the renowned American bird artist,
John James Audubon.
Birds probably remain the most popular topical or thematic collecting
interest the world over, and the fabulous watercolour renderings of
American bird species by Audubon (born April 26, 1785 at Les Cayes in
Haiti) have appeared on the stamp issues of many countries.
The fact that Haiti was Audubon's birthplace was reason enough to
issue real stamps but sadly, the whole issue was hatched,
unofficially, in the minds of various corrupt officials in the regime
of Jean-Claude ("Baby Doc") Duvalier and launched on an unsuspecting
philatelic world simply as a means to make money.
The 150th anniversary in 1975 of the publication of Audubon's
masterwork, "Birds of America", provided the plotters with a perfect
excuse for the issue of a series of stamps, believed to number 75 in
all, and ranging in denomination from 5 cents to 5 gourdes. There are
believed to have been 15 different designs, each of which were printed
in Russia in five different denominations.
Eight people were arrested on March 8 1975 and accused of involvement
in forging the signature of Deputy Trade and Industry Minister, Henri
Bayard on a document authorising the New York firm of J. and H. Stolow
to issue the Audubon stamp series on behalf of the government of
Haiti. Serge Fourcand, the Haitian Trade and Industry Minister and
Baynard's superior, was sacked on the same day and placed
under house arrest.
In Haiti's independent daily Le Matin newspaper dated April 9, it was
reported that Haitian 'accomplices' of the scam were 'cheated' out of
US$23 million in profits from the stamps, receiving only 20% of the
sale proceeds.
A sensational nine-day trial followed almost six months later, in the
Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, from August 26 to September 11, 1975.
For the first time under the rule of the Duvalier dynasty, Haitians
saw corruption allegations made during the televised trial against
some of the highest authorities in the land.
In the trial verdict which was delivered on September 19, 1975 by
Judge Rock Raymond, Serge Fourcand, Pierre-Richard Maximilien and
Fritz Denis were "liberes faute de preuves" (freed for lack of
evidence). Frantz Leroy got seven years hard labour for forgery
and his wife, Marlene, two years. Guy Leroy (Frantz's brother) and
Rene Exume each got three years hard labour for complicity.
All four were fined US$14,000 each plus US$30,000 costs. Five others
were acquitted. Eugene Maximilien was sentenced later, on November 15
(in absentia) to 15 years hard labour, a substantial fine and seizure
of his property.
It is not known for certain who, if any, of the convicted found their
way to gaol at Haiti's notorious Fort Dimanche or ended up paying
their fines. And it would be another 11 years before Jean-Claude
("Baby Doc") Duvalier would flee Haiti, in 1986, in the wake of
mounting popular discontent.
In her 1988 book, "Haiti: The Duvaliers and their Legacy," Elizabeth
Abbott wrote "The 1975 Audubon stamp scandal illustrates beautifully
to just what lengths Haiti's leaders would go in their frenzied quest
for easy money.
"The scandal was an almost perfect crime, and only the most unexpected
of coincidences uncovered and revealed it.
"The architects of the stamp scandal were Jean-Claude's sister Nicole,
his ambassador to Spain, General Claude Raymond, formerly his chief of
staff, Internal Revenue Chief Franck Sterling, Port-au-Prince Airport
Security Chief Gabriel Brunet, and Haitian Consul in Miami Eugene
"Sonson" Maximilien.
"Jean-Claude himself was excluded from the scam, and in fact his
sister Nicole warned the others that they were dead men should any of
them ever reveal her role in the affair."
According to Abbott, in an effort to convince the press, dealers and
collectors of the legitimacy of the issue, the conspirators bribed
Haiti's State Press director to print a single issue of the official
government "Moniteur" announcing the Audubon stamps and validated it
with the forged signature of the appropriate Haitian Commerce Ministry
official.
"The schemers next bribed Haitian postal officials to authenticate the
stamps with a first-day-of-issue postmark," writes Abbott
"Then they delivered them to a Miami Springs bank, entrepreneur for
selling them, and began to rake in small fortunes. Nicole Duvalier's
share, $4 million, was the largest.
"But an avid Haitian stamp collector who was the Commerce Ministry
lawyer responsible for approving all stamp issues received an
advertisement for the Audubon stamps. Perplexed and suspicious, he
notified the Philatelist Society (believed to be the UPU), which
forwarded him a copy of the fake Moniteur. The official whose name had
been forged denied any knowledge of the Moniteur and the stamps, and
soon a national and then an international scandal erupted.
"Jean-Claude Duvalier's advisers convinced him that a public trial was
essential to cool scorching international disapproval, and so in
Haiti's first live television trial, a phalanx of Duvalierist
officials confessed their guilt, accused their fellows, and were
sentenced to jail.
"The international collectors were satisfied, for justice was done,
and the publicity resulting from the trial gave the stamps additional
value. The principal players in the scheme all escaped unscathed, and
Nicole Duvalier's name was never mentioned. Some officials found
guilty were innocent, but Jean-Claude rewarded them hansomely for
their compliance in agreeing to be scapegoats.
"They were released early from comfortable jail cells and given money,
jobs, and cars. The Audubon stamp scandal proved once again that in
Haiti, greed and corruption paid."
Collectors often come across odd values or short sets of the 1975
Haiti Audubon stamp issue. Perhaps surprisingly, we have never seen or
been offered the complete run of 75 different stamps. The most we've
seen is a run of 70 of the stamps currently offered by a US dealer at
US$39 (around 56 cents per stamp) on the Internet.
We do, however, have a small stock of 60 different stamps from this
issue, in superb, mint never-hinged condition, and are delighted to be
able to offer them at only US$12.50 per collection (less than 21 cents
per stamp!!!) + S&H.
Blocks of four only US$48, registered airmail free anywhere in the world.
Click here for a full-size illustration :
http://www.stampsources.com/images/haiti_birds60.jpg
Shipping & handling by airmail US$3 anywhere in the world.
(US$7 for registered). PayPal preferred (send to stam...@iprimus.com.au).
(Contact us for any other payment method.)
Brian Moore
PO Box 2162
Burwood North NSW 2134
Australia