The Cuba First Issue of 1855-63 saw usage during what must have been "interesting" times. The letters from this period tell stories of an era that seems far removed from ours. Most of the issues I study are from the 1980s to date. This issue is an exception. I acquired some of these stamps as far back as 1982. To the right is the back of a block of nine of the 1855 1 Real on blue paper showing the loops watermark of 1855. The first row below shows the three values on blue paper. The second row below this one shows the three values on white paper. I have authored a representative sample of articles, and all are lined at the bottom of this page. Below each stamp, I link only to some representative pages. In a separate page, I show examples of the watermarks.

1855 Blue Paper

1855 First Printing: bluish paper, watermark loops

1855 White Paper

1855 on white paper

1855 Second Printing: white paper, watermark loops

1856

1856 clean printing (emerald)

1856, watermark crossed lines

The 1856 issue is shown in the row above for the early printings, and in this row for printings with the plate very dirty. Notice that both the 1/2 Real and the 1 Real have completely different colors for the clean and dirty printings.

1856

1856 dirty printing (lemon)

1857 early and worn impression

1857 First Printing Orange, clean plate and 1857 Second Printing Rust Red, worn plate

The 1857 issue is shown in the row above for the early printings, in this row for transitional printings, and in the row below for the acid-cleaned plate printings. Notice that the 1/2 Real to the left is a very worn out printing. Some of these dies where replace with the new die, shown to the right of the worn out example. The new die has a pearl missing in the upper left field in the third row.

1862 Cleaned Plate

1857 Third Printing Rust Red, bleached plate

Information about the stamps in this issue may be found in the following articles (including the present one):

1: The Color Varieties of the Cuba 1855 1/2 Real: A brief look at the bluish and white paper color varieties.

36 (Postal History Part 1): Some of these stamps were also used in other Spanish Colonies; only the Cuban usages are discussed here, with the exception of one cover used in Puerto Rico. This article is divided into three major sections:
1. Covers with the 1855 and 1856 Baeza postmarks.
2. Covers with smaller postmarks of varying design.
3. Covers from the 1860s with the small, and final postmarks.
A very interesting characteristic of postal history before the invention of the envelope is that the letter is almost always preserved with the cover. I find no better way to place these stamps in their times than to include a family letter from 1856 with a poignant and interesting tale.

46 (Postal History Part 2): 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.

51 (Cuba "I Griega" or the first Havana local issue): 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.

64 (The 2 Reales Values): 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

136: Cuba 1855-1863 Half Real I have previously shown the color varieties of the 1855 half real. I expand here by adding some larger images for the 1855 printings, and many more from the later printings, including many plate varieties. Quick links: main page / 1855 Blue Paper / 1855 White Paper / 1856 / 1857-61 Dirty Plate / Postal Forgeries / Plate Varieties main page : CORRFOS / CORRFOS detailed image / Early line breaks / Late line breaks / Plate Wear / 1862 Cleaned Plate

193: Cuba First Issue 1 Real Value This is the last article in this round of Cuba First Issue articles. Quick links: 1855 on blue paper / 1855 on white paper / 1856 dirty printing (lemon) / 1856 clean printing (emerald) / 1857 early and worn impression / 1862 cleaned plates / blocks with pen cancel / postal forgery