Postage stamps and postal history of Mexico
Encyclopedia
Mexico's postal system has its roots in the Aztec system of messengers which the Spanish adopted after the Conquest. During the 18th century, Spain established a formal postal system with regular routes. In 1856, Mexico issued its first adhesive postage stamps, with "district overprints", a unique feature among postal systems worldwide, employed to combat theft of postage stamps. From the late 19th century, Mexico's stamps were generally conservative in design and often manufactured abroad. The Mexican Revolution and ensuing Civil Wars (1910–1920), however, threw Mexico into upheaval and resulted in numerous provisional and local stamps issued by the factions in control of different areas of the country. In the years preceding World War II, the look of Mexico's stamps changed dramatically, with many stamps displaying the works of modern Mexican abstract and mural artists.
Mexico is popular among philatelists particularly for its classic issues with their complex use of district overprints and invoice numbers, as well as the variety of cancellations used on those issues. Other areas that have received extensive philatelic attention are Mexico's pre-stamp postal markings, the issues of the Mexican Revolution (1913–1916), and the modern Exporta issue (1975–1983), with its complex variety of papers
, sizes, perforations and watermarks. James H. Beal has stated that "few will doubt that any single country's issues raise more and vaster questions, require more care in the avoidance of pitfalls, or more defy neat solutions, than the stamps of Mexico."
continued using them after the 1521 conquest. After 1579, the right to operate the posts was farmed out to members of the nobility, who were known as "Correo Mayor de la Nueva España". The most important part of their operation was the route between Mexico City
and Veracruz
.
In 1742, the administrator of posts in Madrid was ordered to improve the Mexican system, resulting in the 1745 establishment of a weekly post between Mexico City and Oaxaca
, followed in 1748 by a monthly service to Guatemala
. In 1765 the Spanish crown bought back the rights to the postal service, effectively "nationalizing" the posts.
During the Colonial period and continuing up to the introduction of adhesive stamps, letters were typically sent collect, the postage to be paid by the recipient upon arrival. The covers, or envelopes in which the letters were sent, were stamped by hand with the name of the originating town, and typically with a number representing the charge for postage, e.g., "3" for 3 reales
. Occasionally, mail was sent postage pre-paid, in which case the envelope would be marked "Franca" or "Franco" or "Franqueado." According to Yag & Bash (1965), some handstamps (on undated covers) date to the 1720s and the earliest known stamped postmark on a dated cover is a Veracruz mark from 1736.
Covers from the Colonial period up until the third quarter of the 1800s typically showed only the addressee's name and city; a street address was not written. See 1852 cover illustrated below. These letters were not delivered to the addressee. Instead, the letters would be held at the local post office and advertised on posted lists or in newspapers. Many of the recipients were well known businessmen or politicians. Towards the end of the 19th century, larger cities employed postmen to deliver the mail.
which ended in 1821, and which eventually led to the creation of the short-lived First Mexican Empire
. Agustín de Iturbide
was the first and only emperor. Two years later, he was deposed by the republican forces. In 1824, a republican constitution was adopted, creating the United Mexican States with Guadalupe Victoria
as its first President.
In the 1820s both the British and French began packet service to Veracruz. A British postal agent operated at Veracruz 1825–1874 and at Tampico
from around 1840 to 1876. While both were supplied with British stamps, only the Tampico stamps were used (obliterator "C76"). The British service ran continuously until 1914, while French service ended in 1835, was restored in 1862 as the Ligne de Mexico and continued until 1939.
Just as there is no consensus on what constitutes "classic stamps"
in general, there is no agreement on what is the "classic period" for stamps of Mexico. In 1926, Samuel Chapman in his The Postage Stamps of Mexico, referred to the "provisional period" as running from 1856 to 1868. In 1983, Schatzkès & Schimmer published a study of the Cancellations of Mexico from 1856-1874, but they did not specifically call that the "classic period." Pulver in his Introduction to the Stamps of Mexico (1992) included a chapter entitled "Classic Era 1856-1883." Including 1883 as the end of the classic period apparently is based on the fact that the district overprints continued to that year. However, the only stamps Pulver actually discussed in his "classics" chapter were issued before 1874, which year marked a fundamental change in the appearance of Mexico's stamps. Others view the classic period as extending to 1900 or even later.
How to define the "classic" period thus necessarily is subjective. This article will treat the classic period as running from 1856 to 1874. Before 1874, most of the stamps were locally designed and produced, often with crude or "primitive
" workmanship and imperforate or poorly perforated, characteristics that make the stamps charming and popular with philatelists. In May 1874, Mexico issued a group of stamps designed and printed by the American Bank Note Company
in New York, which were professionally designed and printed using steel engraving, and issued with perforations. These stamps were closely similar in appearance to the contemporary stamps of other countries also manufactured by bank note companies in the United States. Subsequent issues of Mexico, although usually manufactured domestically, were in a similar "modern" style.
Mexico issued its first adhesive postage stamp
s on August 1, 1856 with the image of Miguel Hidalgo
, instigator of the War of Independence. The stamps were somewhat crudely engraved
and imperforate
. Five values were issued; 1/2-real, 1r, 2r, 4r, and 8r, all The stamps usually, but not always, had district overprints with the names of district post offices applied to each stamp as an anti-theft measure (see discussion below). In 1861, the stamps were reissued in new colors on variously colored paper. As in the first issue, they were issued both with and without district overprints.
. The stamps were perforated and issued in four values: 1r, 2r, 4r and 1 peso, and were issued both with and without district overprints. Although they were intended for general use, they were soon replaced by the first issue of the Second Mexican Empire (see below) and are known to have been used only in Monterrey
and Saltillo
. Used copies are rare and expensive.
, supported by Mexican monarchists, many of whom were part of the nobility
, ultimately capturing Mexico City on 10 July 1863. The French proclaimed a Catholic Empire in Mexico and installed Maximilian I of Mexico
as Emperor of the Second Mexican Empire. Maximilian arrived in Mexico on 28 May or 29 May 1864 with his consort, Charlotte of Belgium
. Republican forces continued their opposition and the French ultimately evacuated Mexico City on 5 February 1867. Maximilian was captured in Querétaro
on 15 May 1867 and executed on 19 June 1867. The republic was restored, President Juárez returned to power, and the 1857 Constitution reinstated as the supreme law of the nation.
, an eagle killing a snake. A crown was added to the eagle to indicate the monarchy and the spelling was changed from "Méjico" to "México." The stamps were engraved and issued imperforate. Five values were initially issued; 1/2r, 1r, 2r, 4r and 8r, to which a 3c. was added in 1865. The stamps were shipped from Mexico City to the district offices where the district name usually would be added to validate the stamps. Starting in July 1864, the stamps were overprinted with the year and an invoice number prior to shipment to the districts. The various overprints were made in different sizes and based on such variations, specialists have distinguished five separate issues, referred to as "1st" through "5th" period eagles. This issue is very popular with collectors and detailed studies have been made of the issue, including information obtained from surviving postal records.
On 1 August 1866 the regency issued a new set of stamps depicting a profile bust of
Emperor Maximilian. This issue was lithographed, rather poorly, and issued imperforate. The regency had previously changed the official currency under which one peso equaled 8 reales to a decimal system in which one peso equaled 100 centavos. In making the conversion postal rates were rounded up, for example, the rate of one real being equal to 12.5 centavos was rounded up to 13 centavos. The stamps, as a result, were issued in values of 7c, 13c, 25c, and 50c. These stamps were issued with the year and invoice number and with or without the district name, but some issued in exchange for Eagle stamps were issued only with the Mexico City district name.
On 16 October 1866, the lithographed Maximilians were replaced with a finely engraved version of the same design and values. These were issued imperforate and with year and invoice number, with or without district name.
. Juárez eventually set up a government in exile in Chihuahua. Parts of the country not in control of the regency would not use stamps bearing Maximilian's image and issued a few provisional stamp
s. More commonly those areas reverted to using pre-stamp postal markings with "franco" stamps. These stampless covers issued after the advent of adhesive stamps are known to philatelists of Mexico as "Sellos Negro", or "Black (hand)stamps".
In early 1872, it was announced that new stamps would soon be issued. When they were not ready on time, a number of the Full Faced Hidalgo stamps which had been demonetized and returned to Mexico City were re-issued overprinted with the word "Anotado", meaning "accounted for." These stamps were only used briefly until the new stamps were available.
The Mexican postal system divided the country into about 50 "districts", each of which had a main office and a number of suboffices. The district office ordered stamps from Mexico City
, they would be shipped by stagecoach
unoverprinted, and then the district office would handstamp each stamp with the name of the district. The overprinted stamps would then both be sold directly to postal customers, and shipped to suboffices.
In theory, only overprinted stamps were valid for postage, but given the error potential of applying the marking to each individual stamp, a small number of unoverprinted uses are known. Also, some offices failed to comply with orders and simply sold their stamps unoverprinted.
In 1864, the system was refined by shipping the stamps from Mexico City with an invoice number and year already overprinted.
Sometimes the district office's overprint included a number designating the suboffice for which the stamps were intended, and occasionally suboffices applied their own handstamps. Larger offices had several different designs of handstamp in use; Mexico City used five different devices to handstamp the stamps of 1856, each with a different appearance, while the districts of Guadalajara
, Guanajuato
, Puebla
, Querétaro, and San Luis Potosí
each had three devices.
The color of the district name was almost always black, but red, blue, and violet overprints are known. For a period in 1858, the postmaster of Zacatecas
, who had fled the city for Aguascalientes
to escape the fighting during the Reform War
, but had left his handstamp, wrote in "Zacatecas" by hand.
For many years, philatelists were mystified by the overprints, until Samuel Chapman
, a British businessman living in Mexico, took an interest and researched the postal archives. His 1926 book, since reprinted, includes extensive detail on the shipments to the various districts.
Many of the overprints are rare, and command high prices among specialists in Mexican stamps. They have also been forged.
After stamps were introduced in 1856, some post offices created new cancellation marks, while others used their existing handstamps bearing the name of the town for years to cancel the new stamps, so that very old handstamps can be found on stamped covers.
or cut in half, and sometimes cut into three-quarters, quarters and eighths pieces and used as postage for the proportionate value of a full stamp.
, 1874, the first stamps of a new Hidalgo issue were issued. These stamps were printed in New York by the American Bank Note Company and were professionally engraved on steel plates, with intricate machine turned designs like those on paper currency. In design and execution, this "Bank Note" issue closely resembles contemporary stamps manufactured by United States bank note companies for other Latin American countries such as Argentina and Brazil as well as the United States. Late in 1877, the printing plates were sent to Mexico City, and thereafter the stamps were printed in Mexico. There are a great number of varieties of this issue with differences in the overprints and type of paper and watermarks.
In 1879, Mexico joined the Universal Postal Union
which required standard rates for international mail, that were actually lower than Mexico's domestic rates Mexico accordingly released a new issue depicting Juárez for exclusive use on international mail. District overprints continued through 1883 after which they were no longer required.
In 1895, Mexico issued a series of stamps depicting various methods of delivering mail, including a letter carrier, a mail coach and a mail train. Philatelists call this the "Mulitas" issue (little mules), after the four and 12 centavos stamps depicting a mule carrying a pack of mail followed by a mailman on horse. This issue has a great number of variants, including different perforations and watermarks, and is assigned 50 major (and many minor) catalog numbers in Scott.
for the higher values. The authorities had been dissatisfied with the quality of the locally produced Mulitas issue, and had this finely engraved issue manufactured by Bradbury Wilkinson and Company in London.
This was followed in 1910 with an issue commemorating Mexico's centenary of independence and depicting important Mexican patriots and historical events such as the Declaration of Independence.
ruled Mexico with an iron fist as an agent of the wealthy, undoing previous land reforms. Opposition grew against Diaz and Francisco I. Madero
challenged him in the 1910 election. Madero was jailed by Diaz who declared he won the election. Revolutionary actions ensued in support of Madero who defeated the Mexican army in 1911 and who was elected president in a special election. Madero turned out to be a weak president and was overthrown in a coup d'état by Victoriano Huerta
, head of the army, who installed himself as president in 1913. This led to the outbreak of the first civil war in which opposition to the dictator Huerta was led by Venustiano Carranza
. Carranza's forces were called the "Constitutionalists" and captured Mexico City in 1914 and installed Carranza as president. Carranza, in turn, was opposed by Francisco Villa and Emiliano Zapata
, leader of the Zapatistas, in the second civil war and eventually driven out of Mexico City in 1915. Carranza reluctantly incorporated many reforms in the Constitution of 1917, but the opposition to him continued. Militarily, the war ended in 1920 with the death of Carranza and the ascension to power of General Álvaro Obregón
but coup attempts and sporadic uprisings continued throughout the next decade.
Philatelically, this period resulted in numerous provisional and local stamps issued by the factions in control of different areas of the country. For example, in 1913-1914, the state of Sonora
, controlled by the Madero forces, issued a series of typeset provisional issues, known as the "white" issue and the "green seal" issue. Sonora issued a typographed series of stamps known as the "Coach Seals" in 1914. The state of Oaxaca
, maintaining a neutral position, similarly issued provisionals in 1915.
In addition to the locals and provisionals, a great variety of overprints and surcharges were added to stocks of existing stamps by the powers then in control. Although many of these were printed on the stamps, they are commonly known by Mexican philatelists as "gomigrafos" or rubber stamps. Among the best known of these overprints are the "GCM" monograms, standing for "Gobierno Constitutionalista Mexicano" or the "Constitutional Mexican Government." Varieties of this overprint were first used by the Conventionalists supported by Villa, and later by the Constitutionalists and known as the Carranza overprints.
Despite great disruption caused by the civil wars, opportunists took advantage of the strong interest in stamp collecting by producing for the philatelic market a number of forgeries of both the local issues as well as the overprints. In addition, many of the covers from this period were manufactured for collectors with the assistance of postal authorities and did not represent ordinary postal use.
The great complexity of the stamp issues of this period has been studied by philatelists in recent years, most notably by Follansbee in The Stamps of the Mexican Revolution 1913-1916.
In the mid 1930s, this staid format slowly began to change into a more varied concept with a more contemporary look. In 1934, a series of stamps was issued depicting ancient and contemporary Indians engaged in activities such as making pottery. The frames of each stamp differed noticeably and the central image sometimes crossed over onto the frame. The lettering began to take on a more modern aspect also, such as a distinct Art Deco
font on the 1935 stamp illustrating Zapata.
In 1934-1935, Mexico issued a series of airmail stamps depicting Aztec gods and symbols. The lettering on many of these was in a strong Art Deco style, and one stamp, the 5 centavos, was a borderless image of Aztec symbols mixed with wings, unlike any stamps Mexico had previously issued.
The appearance of Mexican stamps took an abrupt and major change with the 1938 issue commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Plan of Guadalupe
. This issue
had a thoroughly "modern art" look with drawings in a contemporary Mexican muralist style, surrounded by bold, modern lettering. These stamps were only the second issue to be printed by photogravure
, which thereafter became a common method for production of Mexican stamps.
A number of stamps were printed in the early 1940s with drawings or paintings of images in a bold, Mexican Art Deco style, in a large square format with a common appearance. Many of these were the artwork of Francisco Eppens Helguera
, a Mexican artist whose images were used on numerous Mexican stamps in the late 1930s through the early 1950s. Eppens also created the small, but iconic, 1939 postal tax stamp depicting a man attacked by a giant mosquito, issued to raise funds to combat malaria
. Beginning in the 1940s, Mexico issued a great variety of stamps in different styles and sizes (often large), typically depicting persons, places, objects or events connected with the country and its history. The stamps were mostly printed by photogravure, but lithography reappeared and became common for a number of issues beginning in 1992. Mexico's stamps were printed in one or two colors until the stamps commemorating the 1968 Summer Olympics
held in Mexico City in 1968, which were the first multicolored stamps issued by Mexico. These stamp issues included several series of stamps with common design elements which were added to over a period of time, especially as inflation increased postal rates. Several of these series have been popular with philatelists, foremost of which is the Exporta issue, discussed below. Annual stamp production increased significantly during the late 20th century.
The "Architecture and Archaeology" series also included a number of larger format airmail stamps (1950–1976) with common design, although some specialists treat the two series separately. The airmail series had even more varieties than the surface mail stamps, some of which are fairly rare, selling for over $100 each. Pulver has stated that this issue "is made to order for a modern specialist, with collecting challenge comparable to a 19th-century classic issue." Some of the later issues in this series were printed on light-active paper, coated with optical brighteners causing it to fluoresce
under ultraviolet light, or which had phosphorescent tagging added. These coatings were used for security purposes and to facilitate high speed machine sorting.
printed on their surface. Specialists have also identified 14 different weights and grades of paper used on the stamps. As a result of the collecting challenges, the Exporta issue has received a great deal of attention by collectors and is the most popular modern series.
, a poor Cuban-Mexican boy from a popular comic book, came under fire, primarily from those outside Mexico, as being a racist stereotype. The stamps received support from many in Mexico who contended the cartoon was culturally acceptable and not viewed as racially offensive. Mexican president Vincente Fox supported the stamp suggesting that critics did not understand the beloved character.
Forgeries also are common for many issues through the end of the 19th century and also the revolution and civil war period. Detailed studies of some of the forgeries include:
Mexico is popular among philatelists particularly for its classic issues with their complex use of district overprints and invoice numbers, as well as the variety of cancellations used on those issues. Other areas that have received extensive philatelic attention are Mexico's pre-stamp postal markings, the issues of the Mexican Revolution (1913–1916), and the modern Exporta issue (1975–1983), with its complex variety of papers
Postage stamp paper
Postage stamp paper is the foundation or substrate of the postage stamp to which the ink for the stamp's design is applied to one side and the adhesive is applied to the other...
, sizes, perforations and watermarks. James H. Beal has stated that "few will doubt that any single country's issues raise more and vaster questions, require more care in the avoidance of pitfalls, or more defy neat solutions, than the stamps of Mexico."
Colonial period
The postal system of Mexico may be said to have begun with the Aztecs, who operated a system of messengers; they worked well enough that Hernán CortésHernán Cortés
Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca was a Spanish Conquistador who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of mainland Mexico under the rule of the King of Castile in the early 16th century...
continued using them after the 1521 conquest. After 1579, the right to operate the posts was farmed out to members of the nobility, who were known as "Correo Mayor de la Nueva España". The most important part of their operation was the route between Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
and Veracruz
Veracruz, Veracruz
Veracruz, officially known as Heroica Veracruz, is a major port city and municipality on the Gulf of Mexico in the Mexican state of Veracruz. The city is located in the central part of the state. It is located along Federal Highway 140 from the state capital Xalapa, and is the state's most...
.
In 1742, the administrator of posts in Madrid was ordered to improve the Mexican system, resulting in the 1745 establishment of a weekly post between Mexico City and Oaxaca
Oaxaca, Oaxaca
The city and municipality of Oaxaca de Juárez, or simply Oaxaca, is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of the same name . It is located in the Centro District in the Central Valleys region of the state, in the foothills of the Sierra Madre at the base of the Cerro del Fortín...
, followed in 1748 by a monthly service to Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
. In 1765 the Spanish crown bought back the rights to the postal service, effectively "nationalizing" the posts.
During the Colonial period and continuing up to the introduction of adhesive stamps, letters were typically sent collect, the postage to be paid by the recipient upon arrival. The covers, or envelopes in which the letters were sent, were stamped by hand with the name of the originating town, and typically with a number representing the charge for postage, e.g., "3" for 3 reales
Mexican real
The real was a currency of Mexico, issued until 1897. There were 16 silver reales to 1 gold escudo, with 8 tlacos to the real. The peso, which circulated alongside the real and eventually replaced it, was equal to 8 reales....
. Occasionally, mail was sent postage pre-paid, in which case the envelope would be marked "Franca" or "Franco" or "Franqueado." According to Yag & Bash (1965), some handstamps (on undated covers) date to the 1720s and the earliest known stamped postmark on a dated cover is a Veracruz mark from 1736.
Covers from the Colonial period up until the third quarter of the 1800s typically showed only the addressee's name and city; a street address was not written. See 1852 cover illustrated below. These letters were not delivered to the addressee. Instead, the letters would be held at the local post office and advertised on posted lists or in newspapers. Many of the recipients were well known businessmen or politicians. Towards the end of the 19th century, larger cities employed postmen to deliver the mail.
Independence and early republic
Mexico declared independence from Spain on September 16, 1810. This resulted in the long Mexican War of IndependenceMexican War of Independence
The Mexican War of Independence was an armed conflict between the people of Mexico and the Spanish colonial authorities which started on 16 September 1810. The movement, which became known as the Mexican War of Independence, was led by Mexican-born Spaniards, Mestizos and Amerindians who sought...
which ended in 1821, and which eventually led to the creation of the short-lived First Mexican Empire
First Mexican Empire
The Mexican Empire was the official name of independent Mexico under a monarchical regime from 1821 to 1823. The territory of the Mexican Empire included the continental intendencies and provinces of New Spain proper...
. Agustín de Iturbide
Agustín de Iturbide
Agustín Cosme Damián de Iturbide y Aramburu , also known as Augustine I of Mexico, was a Mexican army general who built a successful political and military coalition that was able to march into Mexico City on 27 September 1821, decisively ending the Mexican War of Independence...
was the first and only emperor. Two years later, he was deposed by the republican forces. In 1824, a republican constitution was adopted, creating the United Mexican States with Guadalupe Victoria
Guadalupe Victoria
Guadalupe Victoria born José Miguel Ramón Adaucto Fernández y Félix, was a Mexican politician and military man who fought for independence against the Spanish Empire in the Mexican War of Independence. He was a deputy for Durango and a member of the Supreme Executive Power...
as its first President.
In the 1820s both the British and French began packet service to Veracruz. A British postal agent operated at Veracruz 1825–1874 and at Tampico
Tampico
Tampico is a city and port in the state of Tamaulipas, in the country of Mexico. It is located in the southeastern part of the state, directly north across the border from Veracruz. Tampico is the third largest city in Tamaulipas, and counts with a population of 309,003. The Metropolitan area of...
from around 1840 to 1876. While both were supplied with British stamps, only the Tampico stamps were used (obliterator "C76"). The British service ran continuously until 1914, while French service ended in 1835, was restored in 1862 as the Ligne de Mexico and continued until 1939.
Classic stamp period 1856–1874
Classic stamp
A classic stamp is a postage stamp of a type considered distinctive by philatelists, typically applied to stamps printed in the early period of stamp production, e.g., before about 1870. However, as L. N. Williams puts it, "the term has never been satisfactorily defined"...
in general, there is no agreement on what is the "classic period" for stamps of Mexico. In 1926, Samuel Chapman in his The Postage Stamps of Mexico, referred to the "provisional period" as running from 1856 to 1868. In 1983, Schatzkès & Schimmer published a study of the Cancellations of Mexico from 1856-1874, but they did not specifically call that the "classic period." Pulver in his Introduction to the Stamps of Mexico (1992) included a chapter entitled "Classic Era 1856-1883." Including 1883 as the end of the classic period apparently is based on the fact that the district overprints continued to that year. However, the only stamps Pulver actually discussed in his "classics" chapter were issued before 1874, which year marked a fundamental change in the appearance of Mexico's stamps. Others view the classic period as extending to 1900 or even later.
How to define the "classic" period thus necessarily is subjective. This article will treat the classic period as running from 1856 to 1874. Before 1874, most of the stamps were locally designed and produced, often with crude or "primitive
Primitives (stamps)
Primitives in philately, also called natives, refer to postage stamps that were crudely designed and printed as compared with the sophisticated productions of industrialized countries such as the United Kingdom or the United States. A number of such stamps were produced in the classic stamp period...
" workmanship and imperforate or poorly perforated, characteristics that make the stamps charming and popular with philatelists. In May 1874, Mexico issued a group of stamps designed and printed by the American Bank Note Company
American Bank Note Company
The American Bank Note Company was a major worldwide engraver of national currency and postage stamps. Currently it engraves and prints stock and bond certificates.-History:Robert Scot, the first official engraver of the young U.S...
in New York, which were professionally designed and printed using steel engraving, and issued with perforations. These stamps were closely similar in appearance to the contemporary stamps of other countries also manufactured by bank note companies in the United States. Subsequent issues of Mexico, although usually manufactured domestically, were in a similar "modern" style.
Hidalgo issues 1856 and 1861
Postage stamp
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...
s on August 1, 1856 with the image of Miguel Hidalgo
Miguel Hidalgo
Miguel Gregorio Antonio Ignacio Hidalgo y Costilla y Gallaga Mandarte Villaseñor , more commonly known as Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla or simply Miguel Hidalgo, was a Mexican priest and a leader of the Mexican War of Independence.In 1810 Hidalgo led a group of peasants in a revolt against the dominant...
, instigator of the War of Independence. The stamps were somewhat crudely engraved
Engraving
Engraving is the practice of incising a design on to a hard, usually flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an intaglio printing plate, of copper or another metal, for printing...
and imperforate
Perforation
A perforation is a small hole in a thin material or web. There is usually more than one perforation in an organized fashion, where all of the holes are called a perforation...
. Five values were issued; 1/2-real, 1r, 2r, 4r, and 8r, all The stamps usually, but not always, had district overprints with the names of district post offices applied to each stamp as an anti-theft measure (see discussion below). In 1861, the stamps were reissued in new colors on variously colored paper. As in the first issue, they were issued both with and without district overprints.
- Numerous examples of the 1856 issue may be seen on the http://districtnameoverprints.stampsofmexico.org/MEPSIMexico Elmhurst Philatelic Society International, better known as MEPSI, is an organization devoted to the study of all aspects of the postal history of Mexico since 1952...
website].
- An extensive study of the 1856 and 1861 issues, with much information on the district overprints from Chapman's book is on Jesper Andersen's site.
- Many examples of the 1856 and 1861 issues, including covers, may be seen on the Asian Philatelist website.
- Another extensive collection of the 1861 issue is on the Stamps of Mexico site
"Juárez" issue 1864
In 1864, Mexico issued with a stamp with a finely engraved image of Hidalgo. These stamps were printed by the American Bank Note Company in New York by order of President JuárezBenito Juárez
Benito Juárez born Benito Pablo Juárez García, was a Mexican lawyer and politician of Zapotec origin from Oaxaca who served five terms as president of Mexico: 1858–1861 as interim, 1861–1865, 1865–1867, 1867–1871 and 1871–1872...
. The stamps were perforated and issued in four values: 1r, 2r, 4r and 1 peso, and were issued both with and without district overprints. Although they were intended for general use, they were soon replaced by the first issue of the Second Mexican Empire (see below) and are known to have been used only in Monterrey
Monterrey
Monterrey , is the capital city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León in the country of Mexico. The city is anchor to the third-largest metropolitan area in Mexico and is ranked as the ninth-largest city in the nation. Monterrey serves as a commercial center in the north of the country and is the...
and Saltillo
Saltillo
Saltillo is the capital city of the northeastern Mexican state of Coahuila and the municipal seat of the municipality of the same name. The city is located about 400 km south of the U.S. state of Texas, and 90 km west of Monterrey, Nuevo León....
. Used copies are rare and expensive.
- Examples of the 1864 issue may be seen on the MEPSI website.
Second Mexican Empire
Between 6 January and 8 January 1862, French troops invaded MexicoFrench intervention in Mexico
The French intervention in Mexico , also known as The Maximilian Affair, War of the French Intervention, and The Franco-Mexican War, was an invasion of Mexico by an expeditionary force sent by the Second French Empire, supported in the beginning by the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Spain...
, supported by Mexican monarchists, many of whom were part of the nobility
Mexican nobility
Mexican nobility refers to the titled nobles and untitled gentry families of Mexico. Most of the descendants of these families still live in Mexico today, but some can be found in Europe and other countries....
, ultimately capturing Mexico City on 10 July 1863. The French proclaimed a Catholic Empire in Mexico and installed Maximilian I of Mexico
Maximilian I of Mexico
Maximilian I was the only monarch of the Second Mexican Empire.After a distinguished career in the Austrian Navy, he was proclaimed Emperor of Mexico on April 10, 1864, with the backing of Napoleon III of France and a group of Mexican monarchists who sought to revive the Mexican monarchy...
as Emperor of the Second Mexican Empire. Maximilian arrived in Mexico on 28 May or 29 May 1864 with his consort, Charlotte of Belgium
Charlotte of Belgium
Charlotte of Belgium is remembered today as Carlota of Mexico as empress consort of Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico, ex-Archduke of Austria.-Princess of Belgium:The only daughter of Leopold I, King of the Belgians by his second wife,...
. Republican forces continued their opposition and the French ultimately evacuated Mexico City on 5 February 1867. Maximilian was captured in Querétaro
Santiago de Querétaro
Santiago de Querétaro is the capital and largest city of the state of Querétaro, located in central Mexico. It is located 213 km northwest of Mexico City, 96 km southeast of San Miguel de Allende and 200 km south of San Luis Potosí...
on 15 May 1867 and executed on 19 June 1867. The republic was restored, President Juárez returned to power, and the 1857 Constitution reinstated as the supreme law of the nation.
Eagle issue 1864
On 15 May 1864 the regency replaced the existing stamps with the Eagle stamps depicting the Coat of arms of MexicoCoat of arms of Mexico
The current coat of arms of Mexico has been an important symbol of Mexican politics and culture for centuries. The coat of arms depicts a Mexican Golden Eagle perched upon a prickly pear cactus devouring a snake. To the people of Tenochtitlan this would have strong religious connotations, but to...
, an eagle killing a snake. A crown was added to the eagle to indicate the monarchy and the spelling was changed from "Méjico" to "México." The stamps were engraved and issued imperforate. Five values were initially issued; 1/2r, 1r, 2r, 4r and 8r, to which a 3c. was added in 1865. The stamps were shipped from Mexico City to the district offices where the district name usually would be added to validate the stamps. Starting in July 1864, the stamps were overprinted with the year and an invoice number prior to shipment to the districts. The various overprints were made in different sizes and based on such variations, specialists have distinguished five separate issues, referred to as "1st" through "5th" period eagles. This issue is very popular with collectors and detailed studies have been made of the issue, including information obtained from surviving postal records.
- Numerous examples of the Eagle issue may be seen on the MEPSI website.
- Another extensive study of the Eagle stamps is on Jesper Andersen's site.
Maximilian issue 1866
Emperor Maximilian. This issue was lithographed, rather poorly, and issued imperforate. The regency had previously changed the official currency under which one peso equaled 8 reales to a decimal system in which one peso equaled 100 centavos. In making the conversion postal rates were rounded up, for example, the rate of one real being equal to 12.5 centavos was rounded up to 13 centavos. The stamps, as a result, were issued in values of 7c, 13c, 25c, and 50c. These stamps were issued with the year and invoice number and with or without the district name, but some issued in exchange for Eagle stamps were issued only with the Mexico City district name.
On 16 October 1866, the lithographed Maximilians were replaced with a finely engraved version of the same design and values. These were issued imperforate and with year and invoice number, with or without district name.
- Numerous examples of the Maximilian issues may be seen on the MEPSI website.
Sellos negro
Maximilian's Empire was never in control of the entire country and was in constant battle with Republican forces led by the ousted president Benito JuárezBenito Juárez
Benito Juárez born Benito Pablo Juárez García, was a Mexican lawyer and politician of Zapotec origin from Oaxaca who served five terms as president of Mexico: 1858–1861 as interim, 1861–1865, 1865–1867, 1867–1871 and 1871–1872...
. Juárez eventually set up a government in exile in Chihuahua. Parts of the country not in control of the regency would not use stamps bearing Maximilian's image and issued a few provisional stamp
Provisional stamp
Linn's World Stamp Almanac defines a provisional stamp as "a postage stamp issued for temporary use to meet postal demands until new or regular stocks of stamps can be obtained."...
s. More commonly those areas reverted to using pre-stamp postal markings with "franco" stamps. These stampless covers issued after the advent of adhesive stamps are known to philatelists of Mexico as "Sellos Negro", or "Black (hand)stamps".
- A number of Sellos Negro covers are illustrated on the Mexico Philatelist site
- A study of the Guadalajara provisionals is on the Stamps of Mexico site.
Republic restored
In June and July 1867, Maximilian's Empire was defeated and the Republic restored with Benito Juárez resuming the presidency. As a provisional measure, remainders of the 1861 Hidalgo issue were overprinted with "Mexico" handstamped in Gothic letters. Gothic overprints also were added to new printings of the 2 and 4 reales stamps. Some of these stamps are extremely rare and expensive.- Examples of the Gothic overprints may be seen on the MEPSI website.
Hidalgo issue 1868 & "Anotado" 1872
On 8 September 1868, Mexico issued a new Hidalgo design, referred to by collectors as the "Full Faced Hidalgo". The stamps were lithographed and issued both with and without perforations in denominations of 6c, 12c, 25c, 50c, and 100c. Two issues have been identified, the first with the numbers thinner and without a period; the second issue with thicker numbers followed by a period. There also are a multitude of minor variants and plate flaws, all of which, combined with the various overprints used, led Pulver to state that "In many respects, the issue of 1868–72 offers almost everything a specialist could want."- Numerous examples of the 1868 issue may be seen on the MEPSI website.
- An extensive study of the 1868 issue is on the 1868 Stamps site.
- Another extensive study of the 1886 issue, with covers showing different uses, is available here.
- Roberto Garcia Larrañaga's extensive collection of the 1868 issue can be downloaded from the Meximail site.
In early 1872, it was announced that new stamps would soon be issued. When they were not ready on time, a number of the Full Faced Hidalgo stamps which had been demonetized and returned to Mexico City were re-issued overprinted with the word "Anotado", meaning "accounted for." These stamps were only used briefly until the new stamps were available.
Hidalgo issue 1872
On 2 April 1868, Mexico issued a new series, also depicting Hidalgo. These were lithographed and issued both imperforate and perforated, in values of 6c, 12c, 25c, 50c, and 100c. This issue has been less popular with collectors and has been called "the nadir of Mexican stamp design."- Numerous examples of the 1872 issue may be seen on the MEPSI website.
- An award winning exhibit of the 1872 issue with many covers is on Fritz Aebi's collection site.
District overprints
Virtually all the early stamps of Mexico have district overprints, which were added as an anti-theft device. These overprints came into use in 1856, with the first stamps of Mexico, and continued officially until the end of 1883.The Mexican postal system divided the country into about 50 "districts", each of which had a main office and a number of suboffices. The district office ordered stamps from Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
, they would be shipped by stagecoach
Stagecoach
A stagecoach is a type of covered wagon for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach travelers...
unoverprinted, and then the district office would handstamp each stamp with the name of the district. The overprinted stamps would then both be sold directly to postal customers, and shipped to suboffices.
In theory, only overprinted stamps were valid for postage, but given the error potential of applying the marking to each individual stamp, a small number of unoverprinted uses are known. Also, some offices failed to comply with orders and simply sold their stamps unoverprinted.
In 1864, the system was refined by shipping the stamps from Mexico City with an invoice number and year already overprinted.
Sometimes the district office's overprint included a number designating the suboffice for which the stamps were intended, and occasionally suboffices applied their own handstamps. Larger offices had several different designs of handstamp in use; Mexico City used five different devices to handstamp the stamps of 1856, each with a different appearance, while the districts of Guadalajara
Guadalajara, Jalisco
Guadalajara is the capital of the Mexican state of Jalisco, and the seat of the municipality of Guadalajara. The city is located in the central region of Jalisco in the western-pacific area of Mexico. With a population of 1,564,514 it is Mexico's second most populous municipality...
, Guanajuato
Guanajuato, Guanajuato
Guanajuato is a city and municipality in central Mexico and the capital of the state of the same name. It is located in a narrow valley, which makes the streets of the city narrow and winding. Most are alleys that cars cannot pass through, and some are long sets of stairs up the mountainsides....
, Puebla
Puebla, Puebla
The city and municipality of Puebla is the capital of the state of Puebla, and one of the five most important colonial cities in Mexico. Being a planned city, it is located to the east of Mexico City and west of Mexico's main port, Veracruz, on the main route between the two.The city was founded...
, Querétaro, and San Luis Potosí
San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí
San Luis Potosí, commonly called SLP or simply San Luis, is the capital of, and most populous city in the Mexican state of the same name. The city lies at an elevation of 1,850 meters...
each had three devices.
The color of the district name was almost always black, but red, blue, and violet overprints are known. For a period in 1858, the postmaster of Zacatecas
Zacatecas, Zacatecas
Zacatecas is a city and municipality in Mexico and the capital of the state of Zacatecas. It is located in the north central part of the country. The city had its start as a Spanish mining camp in the mid 16th century. Prior to this, the area's rich deposits in silver and other minerals were known...
, who had fled the city for Aguascalientes
Aguascalientes
Aguascalientes is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 11 municipalities and its capital city is Aguascalientes....
to escape the fighting during the Reform War
Reform War
The Reform War in Mexico is one of the episodes of the long struggle between Liberal and Conservative forces that dominated the country’s history in the 19th century. The Liberals wanted a federalist government, limiting traditional Catholic Church and military influence in the country...
, but had left his handstamp, wrote in "Zacatecas" by hand.
For many years, philatelists were mystified by the overprints, until Samuel Chapman
Samuel Chapman
Sir Samuel Chapman was a Scottish Unionist Party politician.He unsuccessfully contested the Perth constituency in 1906 and January 1910, and the Greenock constituency in December 1910 and in 1918, but was elected as Member of Parliament for Edinburgh South at the 1922 general election and held...
, a British businessman living in Mexico, took an interest and researched the postal archives. His 1926 book, since reprinted, includes extensive detail on the shipments to the various districts.
Many of the overprints are rare, and command high prices among specialists in Mexican stamps. They have also been forged.
- See Classic District Name Overprints, on the MEPSIMEPSIMexico Elmhurst Philatelic Society International, better known as MEPSI, is an organization devoted to the study of all aspects of the postal history of Mexico since 1952...
website, attempting to display photographs of all district overprints used on each classic issue.
Postal cancellations
The postal cancellations used on Mexico's classic period stamps have been very popular among philatelists and have been the subject of extensive study. As stated by Schatzkès & Schimmer, "Amongst the collections of cancellations, Mexico is pre-eminent. No other country possesses such a remarkable selection of ornamental cachets of unusual dimensions and of an extraordinary variety."After stamps were introduced in 1856, some post offices created new cancellation marks, while others used their existing handstamps bearing the name of the town for years to cancel the new stamps, so that very old handstamps can be found on stamped covers.
Bisects and splits
During the classic period, some stamps were bisectedBisect (philately)
Bisects and splits refer to postage stamps that have been cut in part, most commonly in half, but also other fractions, and postally used for the proportionate value of the entire stamp, such as a two cent stamp cut in half and used as a one cent stamp....
or cut in half, and sometimes cut into three-quarters, quarters and eighths pieces and used as postage for the proportionate value of a full stamp.
Late nineteenth century
The 1872 Hidalgo issue marked the end of the earlier period of Mexican stamp production with mostly crude designs and poor printing, and with a distinct Mexican character. On Cinco de MayoCinco de Mayo
Cinco de Mayo is a holiday held on May 5. It is celebrated nationwide in the United States and regionally in Mexico, primarily in the state of Puebla, where the holiday is called El Dia de la Batalla de Puebla...
, 1874, the first stamps of a new Hidalgo issue were issued. These stamps were printed in New York by the American Bank Note Company and were professionally engraved on steel plates, with intricate machine turned designs like those on paper currency. In design and execution, this "Bank Note" issue closely resembles contemporary stamps manufactured by United States bank note companies for other Latin American countries such as Argentina and Brazil as well as the United States. Late in 1877, the printing plates were sent to Mexico City, and thereafter the stamps were printed in Mexico. There are a great number of varieties of this issue with differences in the overprints and type of paper and watermarks.
In 1879, Mexico joined the Universal Postal Union
Universal Postal Union
The Universal Postal Union is an international organization that coordinates postal policies among member nations, in addition to the worldwide postal system. The UPU contains four bodies consisting of the Congress, the Council of Administration , the Postal Operations Council and the...
which required standard rates for international mail, that were actually lower than Mexico's domestic rates Mexico accordingly released a new issue depicting Juárez for exclusive use on international mail. District overprints continued through 1883 after which they were no longer required.
- Numerous examples of the 1874–1882 issues may be seen on the MEPSI website.
- A detailed study of the 1874 issue is on The Mexican Philatelist site.
- A detailed study of the foreign mail issue of 1879–1883 is on the Foreign mail site.
- Yet another study of the 1874–1883 issues is on the Stamps of Mexico site.
- A study of the Medallions issue of 1882-1884 is here.
In 1895, Mexico issued a series of stamps depicting various methods of delivering mail, including a letter carrier, a mail coach and a mail train. Philatelists call this the "Mulitas" issue (little mules), after the four and 12 centavos stamps depicting a mule carrying a pack of mail followed by a mailman on horse. This issue has a great number of variants, including different perforations and watermarks, and is assigned 50 major (and many minor) catalog numbers in Scott.
Early twentieth century
In 1899, Mexico issued a definitive series depicting the Mexican coat of arms with the eagle and snake for the lower values and images of Mexican landmarks such as the National cathedralMexico City Metropolitan Cathedral
The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary of Mexico City is the largest and oldest cathedral in the Americas and seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mexico. It is situated atop the former Aztec sacred precinct near the Templo Mayor on the northern side of the Plaza de la...
for the higher values. The authorities had been dissatisfied with the quality of the locally produced Mulitas issue, and had this finely engraved issue manufactured by Bradbury Wilkinson and Company in London.
This was followed in 1910 with an issue commemorating Mexico's centenary of independence and depicting important Mexican patriots and historical events such as the Declaration of Independence.
Mexican revolution and civil wars 1910-1920
Between 1910 and 1920 Mexico was torn apart by a violent revolution and subsequent civil wars. In the first decade of the 19th century, President Porfirio DiazPorfirio Díaz
José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori was a Mexican-American War volunteer and French intervention hero, an accomplished general and the President of Mexico continuously from 1876 to 1911, with the exception of a brief term in 1876 when he left Juan N...
ruled Mexico with an iron fist as an agent of the wealthy, undoing previous land reforms. Opposition grew against Diaz and Francisco I. Madero
Francisco I. Madero
Francisco Ignacio Madero González was a politician, writer and revolutionary who served as President of Mexico from 1911 to 1913. As a respectable upper-class politician, he supplied a center around which opposition to the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz could coalesce...
challenged him in the 1910 election. Madero was jailed by Diaz who declared he won the election. Revolutionary actions ensued in support of Madero who defeated the Mexican army in 1911 and who was elected president in a special election. Madero turned out to be a weak president and was overthrown in a coup d'état by Victoriano Huerta
Victoriano Huerta
José Victoriano Huerta Márquez was a Mexican military officer and president of Mexico. Huerta's supporters were known as Huertistas during the Mexican Revolution...
, head of the army, who installed himself as president in 1913. This led to the outbreak of the first civil war in which opposition to the dictator Huerta was led by Venustiano Carranza
Venustiano Carranza
Venustiano Carranza de la Garza, was one of the leaders of the Mexican Revolution. He ultimately became President of Mexico following the overthrow of the dictatorial Huerta regime in the summer of 1914 and during his administration the current constitution of Mexico was drafted...
. Carranza's forces were called the "Constitutionalists" and captured Mexico City in 1914 and installed Carranza as president. Carranza, in turn, was opposed by Francisco Villa and Emiliano Zapata
Emiliano Zapata
Emiliano Zapata Salazar was a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution, which broke out in 1910, and which was initially directed against the president Porfirio Díaz. He formed and commanded an important revolutionary force, the Liberation Army of the South, during the Mexican Revolution...
, leader of the Zapatistas, in the second civil war and eventually driven out of Mexico City in 1915. Carranza reluctantly incorporated many reforms in the Constitution of 1917, but the opposition to him continued. Militarily, the war ended in 1920 with the death of Carranza and the ascension to power of General Álvaro Obregón
Álvaro Obregón
General Álvaro Obregón Salido was the President of Mexico from 1920 to 1924. He was assassinated in 1928, shortly after winning election to another presidential term....
but coup attempts and sporadic uprisings continued throughout the next decade.
Philatelically, this period resulted in numerous provisional and local stamps issued by the factions in control of different areas of the country. For example, in 1913-1914, the state of Sonora
Sonora
Sonora officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 72 municipalities; the capital city is Hermosillo....
, controlled by the Madero forces, issued a series of typeset provisional issues, known as the "white" issue and the "green seal" issue. Sonora issued a typographed series of stamps known as the "Coach Seals" in 1914. The state of Oaxaca
Oaxaca
Oaxaca , , officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca is one of the 31 states which, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided into 571 municipalities; of which 418 are governed by the system of customs and traditions...
, maintaining a neutral position, similarly issued provisionals in 1915.
In addition to the locals and provisionals, a great variety of overprints and surcharges were added to stocks of existing stamps by the powers then in control. Although many of these were printed on the stamps, they are commonly known by Mexican philatelists as "gomigrafos" or rubber stamps. Among the best known of these overprints are the "GCM" monograms, standing for "Gobierno Constitutionalista Mexicano" or the "Constitutional Mexican Government." Varieties of this overprint were first used by the Conventionalists supported by Villa, and later by the Constitutionalists and known as the Carranza overprints.
Despite great disruption caused by the civil wars, opportunists took advantage of the strong interest in stamp collecting by producing for the philatelic market a number of forgeries of both the local issues as well as the overprints. In addition, many of the covers from this period were manufactured for collectors with the assistance of postal authorities and did not represent ordinary postal use.
The great complexity of the stamp issues of this period has been studied by philatelists in recent years, most notably by Follansbee in The Stamps of the Mexican Revolution 1913-1916.
The twenties and thirties
Stamps produced in the two decade period from 1917 to the mid thirties retained a conservative character similar to those of other countries including the United States. The stamps were engraved and had a standard format consisting of a frame with inscriptions surrounding a portrait of an historically important person, building or scene.In the mid 1930s, this staid format slowly began to change into a more varied concept with a more contemporary look. In 1934, a series of stamps was issued depicting ancient and contemporary Indians engaged in activities such as making pottery. The frames of each stamp differed noticeably and the central image sometimes crossed over onto the frame. The lettering began to take on a more modern aspect also, such as a distinct Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
font on the 1935 stamp illustrating Zapata.
In 1934-1935, Mexico issued a series of airmail stamps depicting Aztec gods and symbols. The lettering on many of these was in a strong Art Deco style, and one stamp, the 5 centavos, was a borderless image of Aztec symbols mixed with wings, unlike any stamps Mexico had previously issued.
- Several Mexican stamps are illustrated in Art Deco stampsArt Deco stampsArt deco stamps are postage stamps designed in the Art Deco style which was a popular international design style in the 1920s through the 1930s. The style is marked by the use of "geometric motifs, curvilinear forms, sharply defined outlines, often bold colors", and a fascination with machinery...
.
The appearance of Mexican stamps took an abrupt and major change with the 1938 issue commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Plan of Guadalupe
Plan of Guadalupe
The Plan of Guadalupe was a document drafted on March 23, 1913 by Venustiano Carranza in response to the overthrow and execution of Francisco I. Madero, then President of Mexico...
. This issue
had a thoroughly "modern art" look with drawings in a contemporary Mexican muralist style, surrounded by bold, modern lettering. These stamps were only the second issue to be printed by photogravure
Photogravure
Photogravure is an intaglio printmaking or photo-mechanical process whereby a copper plate is coated with a light-sensitive gelatin tissue which had been exposed to a film positive, and then etched, resulting in a high quality intaglio print that can reproduce the detail and continuous tones of a...
, which thereafter became a common method for production of Mexican stamps.
From World War II to end of the century
Francisco Eppens Helguera
Francisco Eppens Helguera or Francisco Eppens was a Mexican artist known for his paintings, murals and sculptures of images and scenes distinctly Mexican...
, a Mexican artist whose images were used on numerous Mexican stamps in the late 1930s through the early 1950s. Eppens also created the small, but iconic, 1939 postal tax stamp depicting a man attacked by a giant mosquito, issued to raise funds to combat malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
. Beginning in the 1940s, Mexico issued a great variety of stamps in different styles and sizes (often large), typically depicting persons, places, objects or events connected with the country and its history. The stamps were mostly printed by photogravure, but lithography reappeared and became common for a number of issues beginning in 1992. Mexico's stamps were printed in one or two colors until the stamps commemorating the 1968 Summer Olympics
1968 Summer Olympics
The 1968 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Mexico City, Mexico in October 1968. The 1968 Games were the first Olympic Games hosted by a developing country, and the first Games hosted by a Spanish-speaking country...
held in Mexico City in 1968, which were the first multicolored stamps issued by Mexico. These stamp issues included several series of stamps with common design elements which were added to over a period of time, especially as inflation increased postal rates. Several of these series have been popular with philatelists, foremost of which is the Exporta issue, discussed below. Annual stamp production increased significantly during the late 20th century.
- See also Eppens Gallery of Postal Stamps
Architecture and Archaeology series
From 1950 to 1975, Mexico issued a series of small format definitive stamps with similar basic design for surface mail. Although this series is known by philatelists as the "Architecture and Archaeology" series, it in fact included some other subjects such as the centennial of the Mexican constitution. Many of stamps in this series were reprinted over the years, with differences in color, perforation and paper types.The "Architecture and Archaeology" series also included a number of larger format airmail stamps (1950–1976) with common design, although some specialists treat the two series separately. The airmail series had even more varieties than the surface mail stamps, some of which are fairly rare, selling for over $100 each. Pulver has stated that this issue "is made to order for a modern specialist, with collecting challenge comparable to a 19th-century classic issue." Some of the later issues in this series were printed on light-active paper, coated with optical brighteners causing it to fluoresce
Fluorescence
Fluorescence is the emission of light by a substance that has absorbed light or other electromagnetic radiation of a different wavelength. It is a form of luminescence. In most cases, emitted light has a longer wavelength, and therefore lower energy, than the absorbed radiation...
under ultraviolet light, or which had phosphorescent tagging added. These coatings were used for security purposes and to facilitate high speed machine sorting.
Exporta series
From 1975 to 1993, Mexico issued a series of definitive regular and airmail stamps in a uniform style depicting a great variety of products Mexico exports, such as beef, bicycles. tomatoes and chemicals, each stamp bearing the Exporta Logo. The series was added to over the years, and there are a great number of variants of papers, sizes, colors, watermarks, and plate flaws. A number of the stamps had burelageBurelage
Burelage , also burelé, is a French term referring to an intricate network of fine lines, dots or other designs printed over or as the background of some postage or revenue stamps to prevent counterfeiting...
printed on their surface. Specialists have also identified 14 different weights and grades of paper used on the stamps. As a result of the collecting challenges, the Exporta issue has received a great deal of attention by collectors and is the most popular modern series.
- Ronald Hill, Who Put That Big Red Tomato On That Little Bitty Stamp?
- The Mexico Exporta Definitives
- John R. Endsley,Jr., A Comprehensive & Specialized Catalogue of the Exporta Issues of Mexico
- See Checklist of Exporta Definitives in Pulver pp. 103–107.
- See Michael D. Roberts, A Bibliography for the Exporta, Mexicana, vol. 57, no. 3, p. 121 (July 2008).
- See James O. Vadeboncoeur, The Exporta Issue of Mexico.
Twenty first century
In 2005, a Mexican stamp issue, part of a series commemorating Mexican cartoons, was the subject of widespread media attention. The issue of five stamps depicting Memin PinguinMemín Pinguín
Memín Pinguín is a fictional character from Mexico. Stories featuring him, a very poor Cuban Mexican boy, first appeared in the 1940s and have remained in print since....
, a poor Cuban-Mexican boy from a popular comic book, came under fire, primarily from those outside Mexico, as being a racist stereotype. The stamps received support from many in Mexico who contended the cartoon was culturally acceptable and not viewed as racially offensive. Mexican president Vincente Fox supported the stamp suggesting that critics did not understand the beloved character.
Forgeries
Most of the classic issues of Mexico have been forged, primarily for the philatelic market, and numerous cancellations and district overprints have also been faked. In the early 20th century, Mexico sold the original printing plates for the 1856, 1861 and 1867 issues, as well as genuine handstamps, cancellation devices and paper to stamp dealers in the United States who made unauthorized reprints for sale to collectors. Some of the district names added in fact were fabricated and never existed.Forgeries also are common for many issues through the end of the 19th century and also the revolution and civil war period. Detailed studies of some of the forgeries include:
- Nicholas Follansbee, The Stamps of the Mexican Revolution 1913-1916.
- Fernand SerraneFernand SerraneFernand Serrane was a Belgian philatelist who was a popular philatelic author in France and published one of the classic works in the field of identifying forged stamps.- Masterwork :...
, Serrane Guide: Stamp Forgeries of the World to 1926, Pennsylvania, 1998, pp. 235–239, covering forgeries and reprints from 1856-1879. - Roberto Liera Gutiérrez, Características de Algunas Falsificaciones de Timbres de México, covering forgeries from 1856 - c.1915.
- James H. Beal et al., Mexico, in James M. Chemi, The Yucatan Affair, Pennsylvania, 1980 (2d. printing), pp. 146–286, covering the extensive cancellations, district names and revolutionary period overprints forged by Raoul de ThuinRaoul de ThuinRaoul Charles de Thuin was a prolific stamp forger and dealer who was originally a citizen of Belgium but who operated from Merida, Yucatan in Mexico, of which country he eventually became a naturalised citizen...
- Joe D. Stuart, The Counterfeits of Mexico's 1856, 1861 and 1867 Issue, Mexicana, Vol. 50, No. 1 (Jan. 2001), p. 20.
- Forgeries of the 1856-1867 issues illustrated
External links
- Why Collect Mexico?
- Servicio Postal MexicanoServicio Postal MexicanoCorreos de México is the national postal service of Mexico.- Overview :On February 17, 1907 the president of Mexico Porfirio Diaz founded the "Palacio Postal" also known as the "Quinta Casa de Correos" .But Mexico had had a postal service since 1580...
- Cerrado Y Sellado: The Post Office Seals of Mexico (official seals used to reseal mail)