Theme : 1st issues : 12 Guatemala

Guatemala is a Republic, located in central America.

In the North, it has a border with Mexico, in the East with Belize, in the South East with Honduras, and in the South with El Salvador.

It is the native land of most of the Mayan culture. Until 1821, it was under Spanish rule, till it became 'independent' as part of the Mexican Empire.

Together with Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua, they formed thé federal Republic of central America.
Around 1839, this republic was dissolved and Guatemala became it's first own constitution in 1841.

Although the national bird, the Quetzal, is on many stamps, the first issue of 1871 depicts the coat of arms.

1 st stamp of Guatemala, 1871

Guatemalan stamps are in general not expensive, and certainly worth collecting.

Odd stamps : 06 p Stamps on cotton / silk

Recently I was lucky to find a stamp that emitted in Switzerland in 2000.
It is the world's first embroided stamp, face value of 5 Swiss Francs.

Even in 2000 it was not easy to obtain the stamp, and even collectors with a subscription to the new issues of Switzerland, sometimes had to wait to get this particular stamp.

the world's first embroided stamp

The 'stamp' is auto-adhesive and rectangular, without perforations. It has a flower design and the word HELVETIA (Latin name of Switzerland).
The stamps were emitted in blocks of 4, forming a sheetlet with an additional embroided border.

One week later however, my joy was complete, as a full sheet of this stamp also came to auction.
There were no bidders (although not many Switserland collectors have the full sheet in their collection), so I obtained this piece of art, for a very affordable price.

Full sheet of the embroided Swiss stamp (2000)

to be continued...

Theme : 1st issues : 11 Great Britain

I have posted many nr 1's so far, but the absolute 1st number one is of course the famous 'black penny'.

Issued on May 1, 1840, changed the whole postal system in use at that time.
No longer the one who received the mail had to pay, but the sender could buy a 'stamp' to pay for sending a message over mail to another person.

The first stamp did not bear any name of country, as it was issued in the UK only.
This privilege is still valid until today, as the United Kingdom, is the only country in the world, that has no country name mentioned on it's stamps.

1840 Black Penny

In the image we see Queen Victoria, designed by Charles Health, after a sketch made by Henry Corbould. He was inspired by an engraver named William Wyon, who made a medal for the Queen's visit to London in 1837.

The first stamp came in sheets of 240 stamps. 24 rows of 12 stamps. Nowadays, stamps are often printed in sheets of 100 or an equivalent of 100's. But in 1840, the British were not using the decimal system yet.
A 'pound' (£) used to be the value of a pound of silver (= 0.45359237 kg).
1 pound was devided into 20 shillings, and one shilling devided into 12 pence each.
Although the decimal system is more logical (we have 10 fingers), this predecimal system had many advantages too, as 240 can be divided by 2,3,4,5,6,8,10,15,16,20,24,30,40,60, 80 and 120, where '100' only can be divided by 2,4,5,10,20,25 and 50.

The sheet of 240 stamps of this black penny, have letters in the lower corners. Each combination depends on the position on the sheet.

position of black pennies in a sheet

Each row of 12 makes one shilling, twenty rows of 1 shilling, make one pound.
The letter left on the stamp, indicates the row, and the one right the column.
The stamp shown above (B J) is therefore in position 22.

Although each stamp on the sheet has the same value, the ones in with double letters, i.e. AA, BB, CC, ... are sought. Stamps in the border of the sheet, often have better margins, some even with extra information.

From this issue, 286,670 sheets were printed, good for over 68,8 million black pennies. Estimated is, that about 1,3 million of them survived time.

Theme : 1st issues : 10 Nepal

This 'first issue' is a special one.

Nepal 1885

What is on the cover?

The stamps on the cover are genuine (Michel nrs 1Bc (light blue) - 2B (dull lilac) and 3B (yellowish green). The stamps were issued in 1881 on European paper. The cancels are genuine as well.

But the back side has handwritten text speaks of 1885.
We are talking about a registered mail with stamps from the 1st issue of Nepal (1881), and there are 3 different stamps on the cover, used in 1885...

This is what the experts say (CH - October 2022):

"The stamps are stuck at the bottom of an envelope with a handwritten departure stamp Parewadada March 12, 1885 on the back, and an entry registration of March 24, 1885. They do not belong on this cover and are intended to simulate an extraordinarily rare registered postage from the first edition."

Were the stamps added later on, to make it more valuable?
Never the less, the three stamps are real and postally used, which makes it a rare document in my collection.

Nepal 1Bc (blue) and 2B (lilac) according Michel

Nepal 3B (green) according Michel

to be continued...

Theme : 1st issues : 09 Belgium

The first stamp ever issued, was the Black Penny in the UK.
This happened in 1840. In the first ten years, only few countries followed this idea, where the cost of sending a letter was no longer paid by the receiver of the mail, but by the sender.

Two Swiss cantons, Zürich, and later Geneva, followed by Brazil, joined the system in 1843.
In 1847, the first US-stamp was issued, and the isle of Mauritius has its first stamp too in that year.
Bermuda issued its first stamp in 1848, and in 1849,  3 European countries, France, Belgium and Bavaria (independent at that time), closed the list of the 10 countries that issued stamps before 1850.

Belgium was a relatively young country in 1849.
In 1815, after the lost of Napoleon in Waterloo, 'The Netherlands' got independent.
The forced 'marriage' between the mainly protestant, and Dutch speaking north, and the catholic, french bourgeoisie in the south, didn't last very long. In 1830 both parts split up, the north remains 'the Netherlands' while the southern part becomes Belgium.

Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (later Saxe-Coburg and Gotha) who rejected the Greek throne in 1830, became Belgium's first King in 1831.
Yes, we survived a year without king, between 1830 and 1831, as well as we survived 541 days without newly elected gouvernment in 2010-2011 (world record!)

Under Leopold I, the first railway line (Brussels-Mechelen) was established in 1835, and the first postal stamp was introduced in 1849.

Belgium's first 1849

The stamp was lithographed by Charles Baugniet (1814-1886) after a painting by Liéven De Winne (1821-1880).

Leopold I by Liévin De Winne

This first issue of Belgium's postal stamps is called 'the epaulettes' (shoulder pads).
The watermark is the monogram of the king, an intertwined letter L.

Monogram Leopold I

watermark intertwined L - Belgium

This stamp of 10 cents (brown), was followed by a 20 cents (blue).
Catalog prices for a cancelled stamp are around € 100 for a nr. 1 and € 50 for a nr. 2.

To be continued...

Theme : 1st issues : 08b Colombia (Dept. Bolivar)

Between 1863 and 1904, the 9 states and the 3 territories have issued their own stamps. From 1904 on, all stamps are issued under 'Colombia'.

State of Bolívar - Colombia

For the state Bolívar (North Colombia), Michel mentions 73 issues.
Here the first issue of 1863 is truely a very special issue.

Colombia - state Bolívar 1863

The green version is nr. 1 - nr 2 is a 10 cents red and nr 3 is a 1 peso red.
When we have a closer look underneath the coat of arms, we see 6 stars. This indicates the cheapest (?) version of the stamp. The same stamp with 5 stars only, quadruples the catalogue value!

6 stars under the CoA - Michel 1 I

The stamp of 10 cents, measures 6 x 8 mm only and exist even cut into 2 on letters (used as 5 cents).
This makes this stamp... the smallest stamp in the world (known 2017).

Certificate of authenticity - 1974

With a catalogue value of € 750, this stamp of less then 1 cm² ... is, compared to its size, more valuable than gold.

Theme : 1st issues : 08a Colombia (Dept. Bolivar)

For the next 1 issue, a short overview of the history of Central/South America between 1819 and 1863.
The country, currently known as Colombia, was Spanish posession in 1819.
Simón Bolívar, who had concurred the remaining Spanish rulers, united the republic of Venezuela and the viceroyalty Nueva Granada (part of the kingdom of Peru) with the current Colombia, Ecuador, parts of Panama. Bolívar named it República de Colombia (later named Grand-Colombia to destinguish from the current county Colombia).

Territory of Grand-Colombia (1819)

The union only lasted till 1830, and due to internal disagreements, and Ecuador and Venezuela left the group. What remained, was named New-Granada, consisting in Colombia, Panama, parts of Venezuela, Ecuador, and even Brazil, Peru and Costa Rica.

Flag of New-Granada (1819-1830)

At the end of this era, one, then two more, later 5 more, and finally one last independent state was created
This republic, New Granada, dissolved into the Confederation Granadine, in 1858.
The States were :
Panama (1855), Antioquia and Santander (1856) - Bolívar, Boyacá, Cauca, Cundinamarca and Magdalena (1857) and Tolima (1861) - used to be in the Cundinamarca state before.

Situation in 1858

From 1863 on, we speak of the United States of Colombia (including 9 'states' and 3 territories: Caquetá Territory, San Martin Territory and Nevada and Motilones Territory.

At this point of time, the first stamps were being issued in the area....
And that will be for my next entry :-)

Theme : 1st issues : 07 Bulgaria

Until 1879, Bulgaria was part of the late medieval Ottoman Empire, and therefore using Turkish (Ottoman) stamps at first.
From April 28, 1879 it became a principality until 1908 when it became an independent kingdom.

From 1879 on Bulgaria thus issued its own stamps.
For two years they used the french denomination 'centimes and francs' - 'САНТИМ - ФРАНКЪ'
The first set of 5 stamps (used between 1879 and 1881) are : 5C - 10C - 25C - 50C - 1FR.

In the second set of 1881 some of the values are replaced by the 'stotinki' - 'СТОТИН.' denomination.

Bulgaria N° 1 - 1879

    

MI 0001 - santim.

Mi 0007 - stotin.

Theme : 1st issues : 06 Costa Rica

Costa Rica, a country situated between Nicaragua and Panama in Central America, issued its first stamps from 1862 on.

The first set of stamps consists of 4 (or 5) stamps, and 3 forgeries.

The official stamps, 1/2 (medio) réal is considered according Michel Catalogue to be n° 1, altough they were issued in 1863 and in 1875 -  blue or dark blue.
A 2 réal stamp equaly was issued in 1863, the 4 réal and 1 peso (orange) stamps appeared a year later.
2 and 3 cent and 1 Peso (brown) are fanasy prints.

Michel states that there are two versions of the 1 stamp (aparently both in the 1863 and 1875 printing).
The difference can be found in the background of the image :

Costa Rica 1 - without lines

Costa Rica 1 - with lines

Its clear that one stamp has horizontal lines behind the five stars, the other stamp doesn't have those lines.
It raises the question of there were 2 different plates of the stamp, where on one of the plates the lines were missing, or added afterwards.
However it's more likely that the background lines were supposed to be on all stamps, but worn out plates made later stamps look incomplete.

A nice example I found on another stamp, where have of the image shows a background without lines, the other (darker) half, the lines are clearly visible again.

Costa Rica 1 - with and partly without lines

Another nice thing about this last stamp is, that in on the side, the printing company is mentionned: American Bank(Note Company).

This first set of stamps is very cheap, but good quality of cancellations is not easy to find.
Cancels 'SAN JOSE - COSTA RICA - 10 EN '83 are forgeries.

Theme : 1st issues : 05 Ecuador

The first stamps of Ecuador were issued in 1865.
Yet the first stamps aren't too difficult to find and not too expensive either.

The country, litteraly on the equator, issued 4 stamps between 1865 and 1872, showing the coat of arms of this South American republic.

Michel-catalogues point out the 1/2 real as the first stamp.
Yvert states, as Michel did, the blue 1/2 real as the first stamp (1865).
It's quite possible that Yvert took over the information mentionned in Michel.
Scott  however starts with Yvert's number 3, the yellowish 1 real , but mention a later date of issue (1872), than its own n° 2, 4 and 6 (1866 and 1867).

So the 1/2 real wins the "who's first" competition...

Ecuador n° 1 - used

The quality of my first Ecuadorian, is not too good (also the paper is quite thin), but then the catalogue value of a good copy is hardly € 20 / $ 25.
Among all 1st issues, (and certainly among the ones of the 19th century) certainly not an expensive stamp.

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'

Collecting : my collection 03b

In France, a similar project started.

In 1861 the first 'real' stamp catalogue appeared, as the "Catalogue des timbre-postes crées dans les divers états du monde".
It contained 1080 ! stamps and and 132 postal stationeries.
Alfred Potiquet, the author, had access to the stamp registration by Oscar Berger-Levrault, a bookshop owner in Strasbourg (France) who made the first stampcatalogue in the world. This book was not intended for public and Poitiquet added illustrations, and published the book.
However the book was far from complete.  Some stamps weren't know yet in 1861.
Among those 'missing' stamps, the blue and red Mauritius for example.

From then on, more countries started to publish their own 'world catalogues'.
As I can't mention them all, I want to add one special one, that appeared in 1862.
It was issued in Belgium by Jean-Baptiste Moes. Member of the city board of the city Elsene (near Brussels). As a 15 year old boy, he organised the first stamp sale.
As he was working as a dealer, he's known as the first stamp dealer in the world.
He published several manuscripts on stamp collecing and one of the first world catalogues :  "Manuel du Timbromane".
Among his customers, was Philippe de Ferrary, one of the world greatest collectors. He was impulsive in his buying and seemed to be indifferent to price, so dealers and counterfeiters took advantage of him. Exceptionally dangerous forgeries gained the nickname, "Ferrarities".

J-B Moens was also the first publisher of a book on forgeries. This book, "Manuel du Collectionneur de Timbres-Poste" was translated the same year into English by E. Doble.

Jean-Baptiste Moens

JB Moens on a Belgian stamp + label (1973)

Collecting : my collection 03a

Collecting should be fun, and the financial part should always come on the last place.
First you should enjoy obtaining your stamps/coins/notes/... without wondering if a set is complete or not. Quality of an item doen't matter at first, and damaged items can be replaced by better ones later on.

That's how collections start, that's how collectors start.

In fact if there weren't catalogues, people would be happier, as they would not know what they DONT HAVE and only what they HAVE.
But of course the purpose of a catalogue is not only to know how small your collection is, or how worthless the stamps you have in that collection.
No, a catalogue is a treasure, a 'Fundgrübe', a history book, a cook book, a manco list provider, ...
a holy book,... !

Having such a 'holy book' depends mainly on the place you were born.
And for most people it' s often the only 'holy book' they read.
Sad, because every catalogue has its own value, it's own truth and it's on (dis)advantages.
Those who have read all those books can decide what book is best according their needs.

So...
in this third part of 'my collection' I will try to tell you more about catalogues, their (dis)advantages, their use ...

But first things first ...
who started the fire ?

As we all should know, the first stamp was emitted in the United Kingdom, in 1840.
The 'black penny' was the first stamp that was put on a letter, to pay and prove it was paid, for sending letters.

And this is the country where I like to start.

John Gray was the first 'philatelist'. When the black penny was sold on May 6, 1840, he bought a couple of stamps to keep them. He collected stamps from all over the world and in 1861 he was the first to emit a kind of catalogue, named the Hand Catalogue of Postage Stamps.

John Edward Gray

In this first work, there were no pictures and the 'catalogue' wasn't ment to be used as a reference for individuals either.

first 'catalogue 1961'

There were 5 editions of this catalogue (second edition in the picture).
On auctions, a copy like this one for 1,000 USD is a bargain :-)

Theme : 1st issues : 03 Estonia

Who said that the first stamp of a country is hard to find and always expensive?
Not for Estonia.

Estonia was part of the Russian Empire until the end of the first World War.
It was independent until the start of the second World War, and was occupied by Germany and later on the Sovjet Union, until it regained independency in 1991.

Since the first stamp was printed in 1919, it's not really a difficult stamp to find, and above that, it's not an expensive stamp at all.

The stamp is unperforated and is part of a set of 4.
The second stamp also was emitted with perforation.

Estonia 001 MNH

Estonia 001 cancelled

Brazil : 00 Early issues - Intro 1

It's easy to make a blog with stamps you find all around the internet.That's why I'm only posting stamps that are in my collection.
However, in this topic of Brazilian stamps, I can't skipp the 'most famous' of them all. I.e. the first series of stamps.
Secondly, there are so many forgeries among those stamps, that you almost need to be an expert to distinguish right from wrong.

The shown stamps are not mine, and were taken from the internet.
It's a small summary of the first sets, and some 'fine' examples of the fake items that are sold, or might be in your possession.

Brazil was the second country that issued stamps.
The black penny was issued in 1840, the first Brazilian stamp in 1843!

The design of the first brazilian issue, was inspired by banknotes issued by the Imperial Bank of Brazil before. Long time was assumed that the stamps were printed in London, as the notes were also printed by Perkins, Bacon & Company. However, in 1841 Brazilian customs authorities had confiscated an engraving printing press and that this press was used by the Brazilian Mint. By the end of December 1842, all necessary equipment was bought to allow the Mint to start producing their own stamps in Rio de Janeiro.

Brazil 1843 - real 'bull's eye' stamps - internet picture

The typical round shaped design of the first stamps gave this issue the world know name of the 'bullseye' stamps (olhos de boi).
They were printed until 1844 and therefore relatively long in use. Genuine ones however are very expensive and only few collectors have 'real' copies.

In 1890 an 1891, a lilac reprint was made.

Brazil bull's eye reprint  - real - internet picture

The second issue is called the 'goat eye' (or also 'snake eye'), but because of the itallic printint of the numbers, brazilians prefer to call them "inclinados".

I have some 'inclinados' in my collection but probably all fake.
Real stamps are clearly printed, lines are complete, and not blurry.
Some forgeries are such bad copies that they are easy to recognise. Other are way more difficult to distinguish.

internet picture - real brazilian 'inclinado'

internet picture - real brazilian 'inclinado'

internet picture - real brazilian 'inclinado'

internet picture - fake 'inclinado'

internet picture - fake 'inclinado'

internet picture - fake 'inclinados'

internet picture - fake 'inclinados'

internet picture - fake 'inclinado'

Theme : 1st issues : 02 Luxemburg

Guillaume III had very few direct dealings with Luxembourg for most of his reign. On February 5, 1850, he appointed his brother, Prince Henri, as his lieutenant in the Grand Duchy, and Henri took on most of the responsibilities of a governor. Prince Henri became a very popular personality as he governed Luxembourg under this authority until his death on January 13, 1879.

Indeed, Guillaume III (or Willem III) is the same ruler as the one in The Netherlands at that time.
He was the 963rd Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece in Spain in 1842, the 777th Knight of the Order of the Garter in 1882 and the 72nd Grand Cross of the Order of the Tower and Sword.
 
He died in Het Loo in 1890.
Of William III's legitimate children, only three reached adulthood, two sons from his marriage to Queen Sophie and one daughter from his marriage to Queen Emma. Because Wilhelmina (his daughter) had not yet reached adulthood, Emma became regent for her daughter. She would remain regent until Wilhelmina's eighteenth birthday in 1898. Because the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg could only be inherited through the male line at the time, under Salic law, it went to Adolphe, the former Duke of Nassau.

The first Luxemburgian stamp was emitted in 1852, same as in the Netherland.
The picture of Willem III, Guillaume III, is facing to the left on the Luxemburg stamp, and to the right on the Dutch stamp.

n° 1 of Luxemburg - cancelled (1852)