Raoul de Thuin

Raoul Charles de Thuin (1890–1975) was a prolific stamp forger and dealer who was originally a citizen of Belgium but who operated from Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico, of which country he eventually became a naturalised citizen. De Thuin's work was considered so dangerous to philately that his tools and stock were purchased by the American Philatelic Society in 1966 in order to curtail his activities. Origins and travels De Thuin stated that he was engaged in philatelic "work" as early as 1916 and the philatelic world began to be aware of him between the two World Wars. In 1927 he had a shop Maison de Thuin, at 35 Boulevard Lambermont in Brussels, Belgium. Services included the removal of fiscal cancellations from British stamps and the application of forged overprints to Siamese stamps. In a 1969 letter to Carl Walske, de Thuin stated that he was a good friend of Angelo Panelli, who was closely associated with the forger Erasmo Oneglia. A photograph of de Thuin from 1927 may be found in the work on Oneglia by Robson Lowe and Carl Walske.