Friday, January 11, 2013

Theme : 1st issues : 04 Brazil

I have left you all waiting for a long time, but here it is, the 1st post of 2013.
No better way to celebrate a 1st post then with a 1st issue.

3 years after the first stamp ever was issued, Brazil was the second country to emit stamps.
In 1843, the first Brazilian stamp set (30, 60 and 90 réis) was issued.
Because of the shape of the design, it didn't take long before people started to call the set : the bull's eyes.
And that's the name the first stamp(s) of Brazil still bare.

Brazil N° 1 -  bull's eye
Similar to the first stamp in Great Brittain, this stamp does not bare the name of the country.
As there were only 2 countries at that time that issued stamps, it wasn't very hard to know whether the stamp was from Brazil or Great Brittain.
Besides, there wasn't many postal traffic either.
It lasted till 1866, then Brazil (and all other countries, except Great Brittain) put the name of the country on its stamps.

The name 'bull's eye' refers to the big oval shaped design, that looks like a bull's eye.
In Portuguese, the language of Brazil, they are called olho(s)-de-boi.
In German (also often spoken in South America) they are 'Ochsenauge(n)'.

This first issue of Brazil was printed on 1,148,994 copies.

more under 'Brazil'

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