The series of stamps treated of in the present article are those catalogued in Gibbons as “Revenue stamps used for postage,” Nos. 501 to 521. They have been but little appreciated by collectors, partly because their status has not been fully understood, and partly because postmarked copies are exceedingly rare. Nevertheless, it has been stated on good authority that they were the only stamps used for postage in Venezuela from March, 1871, to August, 1873, and they were also largely employed for postal purposes in conjunction with the square “Arms” type, with control overprint, from this date onwards to 1879, when both were superseded by the larger-sized “Escuelas” stamp as catalogued in Gibbons under date 1879. A stamp of this design was first chronicled in the Stamp Collector’s Magazine for February, 1872, and a confession of ignorance expressed as to whether Escuelas “is one of the Venezuelan provinces or states,” and also as to the “name and claims to notoriety of the person re-presented” but it was admitted that the stamp “has a genuine look.” In the same journal for 1874, p. 74, there is a short notice by “Fentonia” on these stamps, reviewing various fantastic theories as to their employment, but coming finally to the conclusion that they were neither more nor less than “insignificant” fiscals. The mystery of the inscription “Escuelas,” which is Spanish for “schools,” is explained by the fact that the revenue accruing from the use of these stamps was intended to be applied for the purposes of public instruction, and the reason that they are so rarely found postmarked is because only a very few places in Venezuela possessed a cancelling stamp at this date, and when used on letters they are generally found pen-cancelled. At the same time it is true that the great majority of the copies found to-day have been fiscally used.
This series of stamps is, however, of considerable interest to the philatelic student, and should especially appeal to philatelists who are fond of “plating.” They are lithographed, the heads being laid down first and the frames added afterwards. The oval round the head where the head portion and the frame join afford many evidences of the process employed, and show marks of various kinds by which the different transfers can be recognised. Very definite results may therefore :ie arrived at in the case of most of these stamps, but certain of the yellow ones are difficult to examine on account of the colour, and some of the later printings are so very coarsely printed that difficulties arise on this score. Many of the sheets of these stamps were very large, consisting of 255 stamps, so that it will probably never be possible to reconstruct the whole sheets in these cases as material is not very abundant, especially in blocks. It is, however, possible to recognise the different transfers used in making up the stone, and in most cases these appear to be comparatively few in number. This method of laying down the transfers has also given rise to sundry interesting “errors” by the accidental insertion of the frames upside down. These are termed “inverted heads” in the Catalogue, but it is really the frames which are inverted. Five values have been recorded in this condition, viz. the 1 c., 2 c., 5 r., 9 r., and 15 r., but no copies are known of the 1 c., 5 r., and 9 r., so that it seems as if these should be expunged from the Catalogue.
The stamps have never yet been properly catalogued. They fall into three groups, viz.:
A. With control overprint in upright microscopic letters in two double lines reading ”BOLIVAR, SUCREM, MIRANDA” and “DECRETO DE 27 ABRIL DE 1870.”
B. With control overprint in microscopic italic letters in one double line reading “DECRETO DE 27 DE JUNIO DE 1870 “many times repeated, the lines of lettering being tete-beche.
C. With the same overprint as B, but in two double lines, As far as is known there were eight issues of these stamps, as follows :-
(I) Lithographed by Enrique Neun of Caracas and issued on the 4th March, 1871. Overprinted as “A” above. Fifteen values, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 c., yellow; 1, 2, 3, 5, and 7 r., rose; 9, 15, 20, 30, and 50 r., green.
(2) Lithographed by Felix Rasco, Caracas, and issued in June, 1871. Overprinted as “A” above. Total issue 5oo.000. The sheets of all values of this issue probably bear the inscription “2A EMISION DE 500,000” on the bottom margin. In any case blocks with bottom margin bearing this inscription are known of the following values, 1 c., 5 c., 3 r., 9 r., and 20 r. There is no 2 c. value in this issue, otherwise the values are as in (I).
(3) Lithographed by Felix Rasco, Caracas (1872 ?). Overprint as “B” above. New stones, No 1 c., 2 c., 3 c., or 4 c. in this issue, otherwise values as before.
(4) Lithographed by ? (1874?). Overprint as “B” above. Values as in first issue from 1 c. to 9 r. No 15, 20, 30, or 50 r. values.
(5) Lithographed by Felix Rasco (1874?). Clear, sharp impressions. Overprint as “C” above. Values 1 c., 2 c., 5 c., 1 r., 2 r. The 2 c. is found with inverted frame.
(6) Lithographed by Gabriel José Aramburu, March, 1875? Overprint as “C” above. Printed on laid paper. Values 1 c., 2 c., 5 c., 1 r., 2 r., 20 r.
(7) Lithographed by Felix Rasco ? Date ? Overprint as “C” above. Values 1 c., 2 c., 3 c., 4 c., 5 c.
(8) Lithographed by ? March. 1876. Coarse impressions, widely spaced. Several settings. Values 1 c., 2 c., 3 c., 4 c., 5 c., 1 r., 2 r., 3 r., 5 r., 15 r., 30 r., and 50 r. The 15 r. exists with inverted frame.
I proceed to add a few facts “with regard to each of these issues. Those philatelists who require fuller details are referred to the London Philatelist for 1918 and 1919.
1871. With overprint “A.” First setting. Clearly printed in bright colours. 1 c., 2 c., 3 c., 4 c., 5 c., yellow to orange-yellow ; 1 r., 2 r., 3 r., 5 r., 7 r., bright rose ; 9 r., 15 r., 20 r., 30 r., 50 r., bright green. The size of the sheets is not known, but the centavos values contained ten or more rows of 9 stamps. Each row of stamps shows the same transfer, but only five transfers were used for the whole sheet. It has been stated that the sheet of the 1 r. contained 120 stamps, and, if so, the sheets of the other values in reales, up to the 7 r., were probably of the same size. Five transfers only were used in the make-up of the sheets of each value, except in the case of the 7 r., of which there is only one type. The sheet of the 9 r. contained fifty stamps in five rows of ten, showing five types; that of the 15 r., 20 stamps in two rows of ten, showing two types; the 20 r., 30 r., and 50 r. were printed in strips of ten. There is only one transfer for each of these three values.
Second setting. The stamps of this setting may easily be recognised by their inferior printing and shades. The centavos values are in bright yellow, the real values up to 7 r. in pale dull rose, the 9 r. and upwards in grey-green. There is no 2 c. in this issue. The size of the sheets from the 1 c. to the 7 r. is again unknown, but ten transfers seem to have been employed in every case for the makeup, except in that for the 7 r., for which there is only one type. The size of the sheets for the 9 r. up to the 50 r. is the same as that for the corresponding values of the first setting, but they are not made up on the same plan. The number of transfers in each case has not yet been fully determined, but up to the present six have been recognized for the 9 r., three for the 15 r., four each for the 20 r. and 30 r., and three for the 50 r. The lower values of the setting, up to 3 r., are more often found with the control overprint inverted.
1872. With overprint “B.” The first issue of this series (see Issue (3) above) contained no 1 c., 2 c., 3 c., or 4 c. values, and the second issue (see Issue (4) above) contained no values from 15 r. upwards. Hence there is only one setting for the values 1 c., 2 c., 3 c., 4 c., 15 r., 20 r., 30 r., and 50 r., but two each of the values 5 c., 1 r., 2 r., 3 r., 5 r., 7 r., and 9 r.
The size of the sheets of the 1 c. to 4 c. is unknown, and owing to the heavy printing and unsuitable colour, viz. bright yellow, the different transfers used have not been distinguished. The last remark applies to the first setting of the 5 c., but the stamps of this value belonging to the second setting are printed in a deep brown-orange, and sixteen different transfers have up to the present been recognised. The stamps from the first settings of the 1 r., 2 r., 3 r., and 5 r. are printed in a pale dull rose. Five transfers were used in each case in making up the sheets, and the same transfer occurs in each vertical column in the sheets, the size of which is, however, unknown. The stamps from the second setting of these values are printed in bright rose, but in each case ten or more transfers were used. The 7 r. seems to occur in only one type, but the colour is the same, pale dull rose for the first setting and bright rose for the second setting. The first setting of the 9 r., green, and the single one of the 15 r. each consist of five transfers, the same in each vertical column of the sheet. The colour of the stamps from the setting of the 9 r. is sage-green. There are four types of each of the 20 r., 30 r., and 50 r.
1874 ? With overprint “C.” The first issue with this overprint (see Issue (5) above) consisted of only the values 1 c., 2 c., and 5 c. in bright orange-yellow and the 1 r. and 2 r. in bright rose. The impressions are clear and sharp, a dozen or more transfers being employed in making up the sheet. The 2 c. is found with inverted frame and exists in four types, two of which show small transfer folds.
The second issue was printed in sheets of 255 stamps, probably fifteen rows of seventeen. These may be readily distinguished as they are printed on laid paper. The shades of the centavos values are very variable, from yellow to brown-orange, the 1 r. and 2 r. are rose and the 20 r. green.
The third issue (see Issue(6) above) are very rough impressions in sheets of 255, fifteen rows of seventeen, each row showing the same transfer. The shades are variable from yellow to brown-orange.
The stamps of the fourth issue show still coarser impressions. There are two or more settings of each of the values from I c. to 5 r. and one each of the 15 r., 30 r., and 50 r. There are no 7 r., 9 r., or 20 r. stamps in this issue. In one setting of the 1 r. there are 223 stamps and one blank space where a stamp has been removed and the inscription “223 unreal” inserted. The sheet of the 15 r. contains at least one stamp with inverted frame. The shades of the centavo values are pale to deep yellow, pale ochre or brownish yellow, the reals values from 1 r. to 5 r rose, carmine, or pink, and the 15 r., 30 r., anc 50 r. blue-green.
A very informative article. I shall add this to my reference file…