Public Works

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Today I have some stamps from the classical Period of Angola and 3 series from the 40's and 50's of Portugal...As we all know Angola was officially 'discovered' by the Navigator Diogo Cão between 1482 and 1486..The first Portuguese Governor of Angola was nominated in 1575.. Angola became an Independent state in 11 November 1975..

So , when we talk of the Classical Period of Angola , we are talking of Portuguese stamps in Angola... The main series were the same one's that were issued in Portugal...

Since the beginning of this blog , I  always said that due to difficulties with the identification of different papers, I wont talk about the classical period in Portugal (for now ,of course!!!)..

With these Angola stamps, this knowledge is not yet needed, because there are other factors of selection that enable the classification, without the differentiation of the different papers by the 'simple touch' of our fingers.. And now you are asking.. Why can't he start to study this differentiation.??. because, some of the Portuguese Classical stamps are not cheap (for my current status.. ) and to do such a study we need to have several exemplars of each stamp, before initiating a better differentiation of the different papers.. This is not yet the time..

well, enough talking, let us start...

I will start by saying again that the stamps have the same size, but this image bonding's I use to make , sometimes have a 'not so good result'.. These are stamps from 1881/1885, but the Original series was issued in 1875 (the first series of Angola stamps..).. This new series from 1881 has a different set of colors... The main factor of differentiation in all the stamps of this period is the Perforation.. in this case and just for confirmation, we need to know of the existence of two main varieties, depending on the inferior numeral labels...for the 1st stamp , we have a perf 13.5 and clearly a type II stamp.. In the first series there is a 25r variety with Color Rose and perf 13.5, with undefined type.. well this 25r stamp I present , at a first look seems to be of rose color.., but the Center seems to be violet... that  is the real color we are after.. This was the opportunity we seek to know what is the color stated in the catalogs.. it is the the color of the background Crown center of the stamp and just that!! . a Violet stamp, Perf 13.5 and type II..  

The 2nd stamp has Perf 12.5 and type I.. the color is blue/Dark blue, so there is no confusion about this one...

1881/1885 "Crown" (5) [Des[Engr  (Augusto Fernando Gerard)][Typo (Casa da Moeda)] Sc(12,15)

These are stamps from the series of 1886 "King D. Luis I"...One of the main characteristics of this series is the Embossed Portrait and labels..The stamps are printed in Porcelain Paper and the perforations could be 12.5 and 13.5...Over this series and the next one's of king D. Carlos I, there are many Overprints and surcharges.. ahead in this post we will talk about them with examples..

1886 "King D. Luis I" (9) [Des[Engr (Frederico Augusto de Campos)][Typo (Casa da Moeda, Lisbon)] Sc(16,...,19,21,22,23)

These are stamps from King D. Carlos I , issued in 1893/1894..In the first 3 stamps, the colors are somehow faded and seem to be behind a very dense fog... The stamps could be printed using Porcelain Paper or dotted paper.. each one of these main varieties could have 3 perforations (11.5,12.5 or 13.5)..; if , after measuring the perforations, we don't reach nothing conclusive,, we have to search if the paper is dotted or not.. it is very easy to see .. with these two information's , the classification is immediate...the last two stamps have the colors Blue on blue and blue on Orange..

1893/1894 "King D. Carlos I" (12) [Des[Engr  (Manuel Diogo Neto)][Typo (Casa da Moeda)]

1st ,3rd Stamp] Dotted Paper,Perf 13.5 Sc(25)

2nd,Stamp] Porcelain Paper, Perf 11.5 Sc(28)

4th Stamp] Porcelain Paper Perf. 12.5 Sc(30b)

5th Stamp] Porcelain Paper Perf. 13.5 Sc(36)

The first two stamps, are from the Original Mouchon series of King D. Carlos I, issued in 1898/1901..It is for me the most beautiful D. Carlos I design.. it is designed and engraved by Eugene Mouchon, and there is nothing more to tell about this particular series..

The last two stamps are surcharges over D.Luis and D. Carlos I stamps from 1886 and 1893 respectively, issued in 1902 .. there are two main varieties of these stamps , and the distinctive fact is the distance between the numeral and the Surcharge label /REIS' .. type 1 (3mm), type 2 (4mm).. The D. Luis stamps could have 12.5 and 13.5 perf..and are printed in Porcelain Paper..The D. Carlos I stamps could have 11.5,12.5 or 13.5 perf., and are printed in Porcelain , Dotted or Flat paper.. From this quick view over these D. Carlos I Surcharges, we can see that we must connect the 3 papers, the 3 perforations and the 2 Variations.. For the study and classification of Portuguese or Former colonies Classic Stamps, it is better to have a AFINSA Catalog, or one of the other catalogs existent until the 70's (Simões Ferreira,etc).. it is not possible to classify these stamps with a World catalog or a simplified catalog..

1st,2nd Stamps] 1898/1901 "King D. Carlos I (Mouchon Series)" (15) [Des[Engr (Eugene Mouchon)][Typo (Casa da Moeda)] Sc(39,40)

3rd Stamp] 1902 "Surcharge on 'King D. Luis'" (9) [Des[Engr (Frederico Augusto de Campos)][Typo (Casa da Moeda)] Sc(68) [Type I violet  12.5]

4th Stamp] 1902 "Surcharge on 'King D. Carlos I'" (13) [Des[Engr (Manuel Diogo Neto)][Typo (Casa da Moeda)] Sc(81) [Type II, blue on blue 12.5]

Another group of stamps, now one of Overprinted Surcharges...to talk about this next Overprint "Republica" is talking about the Assassination of King Carlos I and his son , the Prince Luis Filipe, in February 1908... King Manuel II reigned after the Death of Carlos I , until 1910, when at 05 October , the Republic was established in Portugal...This event led to the necessity of overprinting all the Monarchy Stamps with "REPUBLICA", allusive to the new Regime... 

There is also a technical detail about this Overprint.. if We look for the first 2 stamps, we can see they are identical, same value, same surcharge, same color, etc.. However , the Overprint is different but it's meaning is the same .. it is written in a different way... the 1st stamp has a Overprint typographed from the Casa da Moeda in Lisbon..the 2nd stamp has a local Overprint..

The first 3 stamps are in it's original form surcharges over King D.Luis stamps, from 1902..then , they were overprinted with "REPUBLICA" in 1914 and 1915.. in 1914 we had the Local Overprints and in 1915 the Casa da Moeda Overprints..

1st,3rd Stamps] 1915 "Overprint 'REPUBLICA' on '1902 Surcharge over  King D.Luis'" (3) [[Des[Engr (Frederico Augusto de Campos)][Typo (Casa da Moeda)] Sc(208,209)

2nd Stamp] 1914 "Overprint 'REPUBLICA' on '1902 Surcharge over  King D.Luis'" (3) [[Des[Engr (Frederico Augusto de Campos)][Typo (Casa da Moeda)] Sc(172) [Local Overprint]

4th,5th Stamps] 1915 "Overprint 'REPUBLICA' on '1902 Surcharge over  King D.Carlos I'" (6) [Des[Engr (Manuel Diogo Neto)][Typo (Casa da Moeda)] Sc(212,216)

6th Stamp ] 1925 "Overprint 'Republica' and Surcharge in c. over '1902 Surcharge on King D. Carlos I'" (1) [[Des[Engr (Manuel Diogo Neto)][Typo (Casa da Moeda)] Sc(234) [Overprint Typographed in Casa da moeda , Lisbon]

The first four stamps have local overprints on Mouchon Series.. The 2nd group of stamps , also from the Mouchon Series present's us Surcharges in r (1912) and c. (1919)

1st Group] 1914 "Overprint 'Republica' on 'King D. Carlos (Mouchon Series)'" (10)  Sc(159,161,162,167)

2nd Group] 1st Stamp] 1912 "Surcharge over '1911 Overprint 'Republica' on King D. Carlos I (Mouchon Series)'" (3) Sc(115)

2nd,3rd,4th Stamps] 1919 Surcharges in c. over 'Continental and Local 'Republic' Overprints on King D. Carlos I (Mouchon Series)'" (2)(2) Sc(217,221,222)

well, this quick passage over the New entries for Angola is ended , and now I will show 3 series from Portugal that I bought  some days ago, because they were at a very low price (I had ti buy them...)..

This is a series from 1940 that presents Sir Rowland Hill , one of the most represented personalities in stamps of all over the world..

Portugal 1940 "Centenary of First Adhesive Postage Stamps" (8) [Des (Pedro Guedes)][Engr (Arnaldo Fragoso)][Typo (Casa da Moeda)] Sc(595,...,602)

Portugal 1944 "Birth Bicentenary of Avellar Brotero (botanist)" (4) [Des (Jaime Martins Barata)][Engr (Gustavo de Almeida Araujo $10, 1$75)(Marcelino Norte de Almeida $50,1$00)][Typo (Casa da Moeda)] Sc(638,...,641)

The 3$50 stamp is definitely not in good condition , but in the end it was a good 'buy'...  

Portugal 1952 " Centenary of Ministry of Public Works" (4) [Des (Antonio Maria Veloso Reis Camelo)][Litho (Casa da Moeda)] Sc(757,...,760)

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Through the Bridge

New Entries

Today I have another of those posts with not so many "talk" and several beautiful, beautiful stamps..some Turkish series from the Ottoman period and 2 others from the Republican Days..

Let us start , without delay...

two stamps from the series "Recapture of Adrianople" from 1913 Surcharged in the first case and overprinted in the second..This series in it's original form as 3 stamps with this common design representing the Mosque of Selimiye. this series was the first one of  Turkish Philately to have designed pictures of monuments ,people or Natural Landscapes .. I couldn't find the right Sc codes for the 2nd stamp (I'm sure it is there , but I missed it..)..

1) 1913 "Surcharge  over 'Recapture of Adrianople'" (4) [Recess (Bradbury Wilkinson Co.)] Sc(J62)

This is a Magnificent series, with great designs from Oskan Effendi.. The series is divided into Paras values and Piastra values.. the first 4 values (Paras) are [Litho] Printed and the others (Piastras) are [Recess] Printed .. the series is not completed (4 stamps are missing),because some of the high values are really High!!! Monuments and Landscapes are represented in these stamps with great detail.. I remember you that  for a closer view of the stamps, just click them..! the last stamp represented shouldn't be there , because it is not from the desired color.. the value is the same , and the design also, but the color is from a stamp issued in 1920 for another series of Landscapes..

1914 "Sights and views from Turkey" (17) [Des (Oskan Effendi)][Litho (Paras values)][Recess (Piastra Values)(Bradbury Wilkinson Co Ltd, London)] Sc(254,...,265,596)

I bought last year a Turkish Catalog (Pulko 2006), and it  divides this series in two different one's..This is a natural fact, because Scott ,sometimes merge series in order to facilitate the reading of the catalog and posterior classification of the stamps.. In most cases, I use the Scott version ...well, Pulko divide the series in two, the first part issued in 1916/1917 and the second in 1917/1918..The 1st is called (by Pulko) "Dolmabahce Series" (Dolmabahce is the Sultan's Palace) and correspond to the Recessed printed stamps, the final values higher or equal to 10pi... The 2nd is called the "Vienna Issue" , because the stamps were engraved and [typo] printed in that city..(values smaller than 5pi)... I want to highlight that in this blog the stamps sometimes are not displayed in the right  position within the series...this happens because I can only bond images with similar measure properties....so , I recommend a cautious approach to the stamps , always seeing what is their 'face' value...
This time , I present some stamps in duplicate, and others that I already have in the collection (presented in a previous post with Turkey stamps...) , both cases , because after analysis I could saw that there are color variations...  
[from left to right [Up/Down]]
1,2) Artillery at Sedd-Ul-Bahr 3,4)Mosque at Ortakeui 5) Map of Gallipoli 6) Seraglio Point 7) Pyramids 8,9) Dolmabahce Palace 10) Map of Gallipoli 11) Lighthouse 12)Martyrs Column 13) Sentry 14,15) Sultan Mohammed V
1916/1918 "Various Designs" (15) [Typo (2pa,5pa,10pa,50pa,2pi,5pi)][Recess (20pa,1pi,3x10pi,25pi,3x50pi)(Engraved and Printed in Vienna)] Sc(420,...,432,434,439)

  

1939 "Opening of the Ankara-Erzurum Railway" (4) [Typo (Damga Matbaasi)] Sc(829,...,832)

1939 "1st Death Anniv of Kemal Ataturk " (8) [Photo (Courvoisier)] Sc(835,836,838,839)

I hope this post increase Your will to collect Turkish Stamps.. Rich History , Culture and nice stamps are always a call to the collector...Enjoy Turkey!!..

SeeYou

The Mystery Man

New Entries

Here I am again to start a new post about Mexico stamps..

Let us start by the beginning , as usual..

The first two stamps I have to present are both very damaged stamps but are presented because I don't have others...

Both of them represent Miguel Hidalgo Y Costilla  but they are from different dates and series.. The 1st stamp is from the first series from Mexico..from 1856 to 1865 , Mexico was a Federal Republic , and the Country label was "Mejico" and the Currency was the "Real"

in 1866 Mexico became a part of the "Mexican Empire" created by emperor Maximilian and the name became "Mexico" and the currency "Centavo".... In 1968 we are again in a Federal Republic..

The first design , at the left, is shared by two series , issued in 1856 and 1861, respectively.. In the 1861 series , the colors have changed...This is a 2r stamp from the 1856 series.. there are several varieties of this stamp, depending on the shade of green used.. I don't have another stamp of this value (neither from this series..!!) , but i think it is the most common and cheap variety, the Yellow Green ..The stamps of this series are all imperforated and all of them are hand-stamped with the name of the district... I don't understand what is written at the right side of the stamp, but if it is not the district name, than We are in front of a stamp a little bit more expensive.. 

Of course, i'm talking here about values for the 2r stamp, but it isn't this one, because this has no value at all.. it is physically damaged ( value = 0, in my opinion..)

1856 "Miguel Hidalgo Y Costilla" (5) [Engr (Villegas)][Recess (Government Printing Works)] Sc(3)

The 2nd stamp, at the right,, is from the After-Empire period.. as we just said it represents Hidalgo, again, and in my opinion it is a very beautiful stamp, much more than the previous one we presented..the design is very clear and it is a perfect work.. the stamps from this 1868 series have the district name Hand-Stamped and Overprints of the district number and abbreviated date.. The overprints are clearly visible (2º and 68) , but the district name appear somehow obscured by the design it self and cancel , so I made a closer image (at the Center)  , and yet , without knowing the District names, I cannot identify what's written.. perhaps "VERACRUIZ" or "VERACRUZ".. these district names are very important in these earlier issues , because there are some of them who are scarcer than others , and the value fluctuates according to this.. 

 There are two main series with this same design.. A) Normal Numeral (the numeral is written with the same letter as the currency label...)(Normally, between Numeral and Label there is no dot [.]) B) numeral appears BOLD and normal label..( a dot [.] appears after the numeral..)

for each of the stamps of these series there are several varieties...in this case, I noticed when I was scanning the stamp , that it is printed using a blueish paper..so I can for certain tell that this is a "Black on blue Green" Variety.. at a first look there is the temptation to tell that the paper is of a color linked to yellow.. ( or a yellow green...).., but after looking carefully I could see that the paper is blue..to end this series appreciation, I must say that there are imperforated and perforated stamps, from all values...( the Value of this stamp is for me obviously =0.. it is highly damaged..)

1868 "Miguel Hidalgo Y Costilla" (5) [Litho] Sc(59)

In the last post I made about Mexico stamps, I showed two more stamps of these series.. not with the "Eagle and Snake" but with views of Mexico (two very beautiful stamps..) ; the series has 10 stamps, so there is one (5P) , the most expensive as usual, still missing... the first 7 stamps of the series represent the Famous Mythological duel between the Eagle and the snake.. I want to say a few words about the Unknown designer of these stamps.. it was certainly , just one more worker of Bradbury Wilkinson, but this man was with 90% sure responsible for many stamps from this and the next ' very agitated ' period.. Yes , as you can see by the Scans I leave here of Overprints and Surcharges of the civil War days (next..!) , the design is very similar to the frames of the 10 stamps of this series.. We can find a pattern in the utilization of these complex graphic work . 
1899 "Eagle and Snake & views from Mexico" (10) [Recess (Bradbury Wilkinson & Co.)] Sc(294,...,300)

Another series of the "Eagle and snake issue" .. the last value is missing (50c).. we have the same frames for each value , but new colors..

1903 "Eagle and Snake" (6) [Recess] Sc(304,...,308)

 

Here are some Civil War Overprint and Surcharges on stamps of the 1910 Issue :

1) 10c surcharge on 1910 1c Josefa Ortis stamp 

2) fake Villa-Zapata monogram on 1910 1c

3) [1914 Overprint "Gobierno $ Constitucionalista" + 1916/1918 5c surcharge] on 1910 1c

4) [1914 Overprint "Gobierno 'inv $' Gonstitucionalista" + 1916/1918 5c surcharge] on 1910 1c

5) Villa-Zapata Monogram on 1910 2c Leona Vicario

6) [Villa-Zapata Monogram + 1916 'Silver Currency' Overprint] on 1910 2c

Here we got a postage due stamp from 1908 , surcharged in 1916/1918.. it is another work of our mystery Designer, as you can see by the beautiful frames and for the surcharge , also... the recess printing is very good , but I don't have info about the company who made it.. probably Bradbury Wilkinson, again..

1916/1918 Surcharge 1P on "Postage due stamp 1908" (10) [Recess] Sc(600)

stamps from a series with various designs, one coat of Arms , one Sculpture and 4 portraits..This time , the missing stamp is the first from the series, the coat of Arms with the Eagle and Snake.. The stamps represent  (left to right):

A) statue of Cuauhtémoc B) Ignacio Zaragoza C)José Maria Morelos D) Francisco Madero E) Benito Juarez

1915 "Various Designs" (6) [Des (T.A. Rico)][Litho (American Book and Printing Company.Co, Mexico city)] Sc(501,...,505)

These are stamps that after a first look , could all be part of the same series.. but , in fact, they are part of the same group of 3 series that have the designs in common and some small differences in other aspects.. To correctly classify this series , you need to have an "attack plan.."..: AP) see if the stamps present Wmk.. We cannot see the Wmk clearly , but it is always visible , at least parts of it.. if it don't present a Wmk, than the stamp is from the 1923/1925 series (Rouletted 14.5 Unwmk) .. if it presents the Wmk , then it could have Perf 12 ( series 1924/1926 Wmk Perf 12) or 14.5 (series 1924/1934 Wmk Rouletted 14.5) ; now I will present the codes for each stamp, left to right Up/Down :

1) Pyramid of the Sun, Teotihuacan 1923/1925 Sc(635)

2) Chapultepec Castle 1924/1926 Sc(643)

3) Juarez Colonnade 1923/1925 Sc(638)

4) Morelos Monument 1924/1934 Sc(?)

5) "El salto De Agua" Fountain 1924/1934 Sc(650)

6) Columbus Monument 1924/1934 Sc(654)

7) Cuauhtemoc Monument  1924/1934 Sc(655)

8) Monument to Dona Josefa Ortiz de Dominguez 1924/1934 Sc(656)

9) Cuauhtemoc Monument 1924/1934 Sc(657)

All these stamps are printed at the "Oficina Imp. de Hacienda, Mexico"

Well, I've got stamps to do just one more post about Mexico stamps.. I don't know about you , but they begin to be in the group of my Favorites.. not only by the History, the papers, watermarks, Overprints and surcharges, everything, it is a very challenging Philately.. I will see if  I arrange some money to buy more Mexican stamps.. I really like them.. perhaps in the future we can look into the 30's, 40's,50's and 60's to see how it look's.. very nice indeed..!

SeeYou

Three Women...

New Entries

This will be a post different from the last ones, with  stamps of 4 countries...today I will not present many technical data about the stamps, some because I don't have it  but other because I am currently with a little time problem...

let's begin with a series we all know...

Continuing the effort to have all the Commemorative's from the beginning until 1945, I bought this 1937 famous series..it is a beautiful series representing famous Generals of the Army and Navy, several famous boats and the US Army Academy at West Point..I will not present here the designers and engraver's data , as stated above..

USA 1937 "Army and Navy Heroes Series" (10) [Recess] Sc(785,...,794)

now for something Completely different , some stamps I bought recently... 

I was wandering through the Net , when I saw this little group of Japanese Telegraph stamps.. I had for a long time a 15s stamp like the one presented here, but in lousy conditions... When I saw it, I immediately want to buy it.. so ,I bought them ,even with a repetition and an invalid imperforated stamp in the group... it was just to have that stamp... they are beautiful stamps with the usual beautiful cancel, and strangely ,after a quick look , I didn't find the codes in Scott catalog..

Japan 1895 "Telegraph Stamps" (10)[Typo] SAK(3TE,5TE,5TE,6TE,7TE,8TE)

in the same day , when I was visiting the seller's online shop,I found 3 more stamps of the "Men of culture Series"..as we know it is not a frequent series to see complete, and it is expensive , even when we are talking about used stamps..so I always buy those stamps I find occasionally...they are beautifully engraved and certainly good additions to any collection..

Japan 1949/1952 "Men of culture Series" (18) [Des (M. Kimura)][Engr (F. Watabe)][Recess] Sc(480,482,483)

some Classic stamps from Iran with a new "Lion and Sword" design , very usual in these early issues...I think these are the first classical stamps from Iran , that I show here in the blog..I must , when I have the money, invest a little more in these stamps because they are really beautiful.. the lion and the sword are together with a shining Sun in the Center, topped by a beautiful Crown and Arabic Labels...There are two series that share this same design, one from 1894 (1st group) and other from 1898 (2nd group)...same values have different colors in each of these two series , and this is an aspect that facilitates the classification... 

1st Group) Iran 1894 "Lion and Sword" (11) [Typo] Sc(90,91,92)

2nd Group) Iran 1898 " (16) [Typo] Sc(105,108,110,111)

These are stamps from the first commemorative Series from Iraq.. it is a very beautiful series with designs of Iraq Culture, monuments and Landscapes...

As you know , I have another blog about stamp Designers..during the research for Biographical data from the Designers of this series , Miss Edith Cheesman and Mrs. C.C. Garbett, I found several aspects I think I should focus here...we are talking about a series from 1923 , and the first aspect that troubled me is why and how two British Women Designers could exist at the same time in Iraq and what was the relation between them..first I found some data about Miss Edith Chessman through the life of her brother Major Robert Cheesman..I found out that she traveled with her brother to Iraq and other places in the Middle East..He was already a famous Ornithologist, and made significant discoveries in the Arabian Peninsula.. about Mrs. C.C. Garbett I found nothing , except the fact that she was married to Mr. C. C. Garbett..this was the Central point to discover the relation between these two women..Both ,Mr. C.C. Garbet and Major Cheesman, were chosen by Sir Percy Cox, to help him in the establishment of the British Secretariat in Iraq..so there they were , with our two Designers in 1923, Iraq.. 

another aspect I like to emphasize is the fact that at the same time , another British woman was playing an important role in Iraq's History.. i'm talking about Gertrude Bell ... after reading her letters , I realized she was indeed a women ahead of her time , perhaps one of the most Powerful women of her days...

And now a challenge to Hollywood Producers...How about a movie about the life of Gertrude Bell.!??!.

Sorry for this long talk about my research , but I feel it was adequate..

Iraq 1923 "Various Designs" (13) [Des (Miss Edith Cheesman 0.5A,1A,4A,6A,8A)(Mrs. C.C. Garbett 2A,3A,1R)][Typo(Bradbury Wilkinson)1R][Recess (Bradbury wilkinson) others] Sc(1,...,9)

This post was a little shorter , but as I said before I was with a 'time' problem during the preparation of the post..

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