somestamps

1 to 24 (Apri to July 2004) / 25 to 48 (August to December 2004) / 49 to 72 (January to April 2005 / 73 to 96 (May to August 2005) / 97 to 126 (August 2005 to December 2005) / 127 to 144 (January to May 2006) / 145 to 180 (May to December 2006) / 181 onwards (2007)

Article 1: The Color Varieties of the 1855 Spanish Antilles 1/2 Real

The two printings of this stamp show a wide range of color varieties. The article includes a page discussing the first issue of the Spanish Antilles, which I refer to as the Cuba First Issue 1855-63.

I am able to plate 168 of the 170 positions. This article also includes images of the Cuba 1864 Issue, a web page dedicated to the path I followed to plate this stamp, the two RL positions, several distinctive positions,and plate positions with reduced periods in the lower

The Brazil 1891 100 Reis has poor color control and plates that show significant wear. I include pages for some of the color varieties, some of the plate varieties as well as examples of under-inking and smudging.

A gorgeous stamp. Here are a few detailed scans showing printing variations and plate varieties.

This article is divided into three major sections: Covers with the 1855 and 1856 Baeza postmarks, Covers with smaller postmarks of varying design, Covers from the 1860s with the small, and final postmarks. I include one cover used in Puerto Rico, as well as a family letter from 1856 with a poignant and interesting tale.

I show a fews specimens of this beautiful stamp.

I describe three Spain prephilatelic covers from the 1840s. The first cover is from Seville (Sevilla), and is postmarked in 1842. The second cover is from Barcelona, and is postmarked in 1844. The third cover is from Zaragoza, and is postmarked in 1845.

In yet another installment of the postal history of this issue, I show the basic cancellers, and focus on some covers from the ramirez y oro correspondence, including a postal forgery on cover, bayamo Baeza postmarks, and cauto region modified Baeza postmarks.

Article 43: Argentina 1877-78 Issues

The rouletted Argentina stamps of 1877 and 1878 were in use well into the 1880s. Here are quick links to pages with large images of each of the four values: 8 centavos Rivadavia / 16 centavos Belgrano / 20 centavos Dalmacio Velez Sarsfield / 24 centavos San Martin ; to pages with high quality specimens of each of the four values: 8 centavos Rivadavia / 16 centavos Belgrano / 20 centavos Dalmacio Velez Sarsfield / 24 centavos San Martin ; to pages with some postmarks for three of the values: 8 centavos Rivadavia / 16 centavos Belgrano / 24 centavos San Martin ; and pages for the 24 centavos San Martin showing: plate varieties / banknote selvage / perforation varieties

The first issue of the local mail of the city of Havana consists of four very rare stamps. I show here the two printed with the taller, thinner Y. The thicker Y issues, also printed in these two colors, are considerably scarcer. The overprint plate consisted of 7 top rows of thin Y stamps, and three bottom rows of thick Y stamps. The plate consists of 10 rows of 17 stamps. Quick links here are for a page showing side-by-side the three carmine red specimens and the single orange specimen I have that I consider genuine. Each of the specimens also has its own page that enables to show the overprint under higher magnification: carmine red specimen 1, pictured below, bears a Habana circular postmark, and there are also carmine red specimen 2, and carmine red specimen 3, as well as a dedicated page for the orange specimen pictured here. I also include a filtered image of the overprint, and a page dedicated to forgeries, one dangerous, and one crude.

This is the highest value of the Cuba First Issue. Both 1855 printings were surcharged for the Havana local mails, as I have previously described in an article. Follow the links and thumbnails for each image below to a page for each printing of this value. This issue was superseded in 1864 by the Cuba Second Issue. Here are quick links to this article: the main page / 1855 First Printing: bluish paper, watermark loops / 1855 First Printing Blocks ( 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 ) / 1855 First Printing with forged postmark / 1855 Second Printing: white paper, watermark loops / 1855 Second Printing blocks ( 1 / 2 ) / 1855 Second Printing paper and watermark / 1856, watermark crossed lines / 1857 First Printing Orange, clean plate / 1857 Second Printing Rust Red, worn plate / 1857 Third Printing Rust Red, bleached plate / 1857 Third Plinting block of eight

This issue was printed over the course of fifteen years. The specimens shown here are from a sample lot I came across a few months ago. I have a limited knowledge of this issue. A survey of these specimens shows that the first, or Belgian printing, can be clearly distinguished from later printings. The 50 Lepta page has some of these specimens. The later printings, except for the major color changes, are difficult to tell apart by the novice collector. I attempt to label the printing for each specimen shown here. However, I am only making a novice assessment. Quick Links: 1 L / 2 L / 5 L / 10 L / 20 L / 25 L Blue / 25 L Purple / 25 L Blue Purple / 40 L Purple / 40 L Blue / 50 L / 1 Drachma

I show the major values in mint blocks of four. Missing is the rare 1/2 real on salmon paper, for which I havo only a few used specimens. I include a second block of the 1 real, printed in bright blue. I have previously shown the basic stamps of this issue, and presented a fairly extensive discussion of the plate varieties of the 1 real value. Here I show the major values in blocks of four, the color varieties of the 1/2 real on salmon, 1/2 real on white, 1 real, and 2 reales. The 1/4 real was printed in a small run and seems to have just one color: black. I also show specimens cancelled with the regular canceller and other cancellers. This issue was replaced in 1866 by a similar issue in a different currency.

I show here the four major types for this stamp. There are two issues dvivided by perforation, and both are common. I gloss over any perforation variations in this article and concentrate instead on using this selection of 48 stamps as a statistics example (more about that in the statistics section), and show various aspects of this stamp, as shown in the quick links listed here. All of the selections from the stamps shown here are from 1200 d.p.i. scans that have not been reduced. This is an important point: all of the high definition images are exactly the same scale. Quick links: main page / Stamp list for all 48 / Group One: Stamps 1 to 8 / Group Two: Stamps 9 to 16 / Group Three: Stamps 17 to 24 / Group Four: Stamps 25 to 32 / Group Five: Stamps 33 to 40 / Group Six: Stamps 41 to 48 / Selections from sections of the stamp: crown for selected stamps between 4 and 16 / 19 to 32 / 33 to 47 / eagle for selected stamps between 6 and 20 / 21 and 34 / 35 and 47 / Numeral seven showing various types of background shifts and wear of plate for selected stamps between 1 and 16 / 18 and 29 / 32 and 40 / Selections from stamps with various line breaks / background shifts / Lower legend selections.

The 1868 10 centimos stamp is a one-year issue stamp. Quick links: images of the center design, details of the top and bottom legends.

Here are two specimens of the first stamp, issued in 1840 by England (now U.K.). The penny black, along with the two pence blue stamp, was issued May 8, 1840, although there is an instance of postal use on May 6. The use of stamps became such an important innovation for England that, within 20 years, most countries had adopted the use of stamps (for example: Brazil in 1843, the United States in 1847, France in 1849, Spain in 1850). Quick links: main page / FB specimen / KL specimen / attempt at plating / design highlights

Here are six commercial letters spanning 127 years of postal history. Quick links: main page / 1702 letter to Avignon / 1791 letter from Marseilles to St. Gilles / 1820 letter from Amiens to Paris / 1827 letter from Aurillac / 1812 letter from Angers / 1829 letter from Troyes to Saint Dizier

The three items shown here are a single 1 kreuzer Orange, a 6 kreuzer Brown on cover, and a 9 kreuzer Lime Green on cover. The 9 kreuzer cover is shown below. Quick links: main page / 6 kreuzer on cover / letter for 6 kreuzer cover / 9 kreuzer on cover