Richnoddystamps

08.04.2013

How many of these rare values do we regularly see for sale of ebay and Delcampe….1000’s I suspect. Originally placed on sale as a set of 14, with values from 1c to 500c, you will see by checking any catalogue that 3 values, 18c, 75c and 150c are much more valuable. The quantity printed for each of these values was 100,000, the same quantity for the top 9 values; so why the disproportionate value? Well, mainly because the majority were overprinted Telegrafos, clearly for Telegraphic use. The quantities overprinted were, 18c…81,800, 75c…96,700, 150c…97,600. An additional 1339 of the 18c were subsequently remaindered, which left 15,861 of the 18c, 2,300 of the 75c and 1,400 of the 150c for postal use. The remaindered stamps were auctioned off by the Government, mainly because the country’s finances were in a parlous state. A Hamburg dealer bought them for $5,400US IN 1898.

Fakes are easily recogniseable in that they consist of the Telegrafos stamps with the overprint chemically removed. There are two ways to check whether this is he case. Firstly, the overprint remains visible under an ultra-violet lamp. Secondly, the chemicals used to remove the overprint also softens the black ink of the actual stamp….the result being that if you were to rub the surface of the stamp with clean white paper one will find a black inky smudge on the paper!