I found this old stamp in a Portuguese Colonies album, in the 'St Thomas and Prince' section. However I can not find it in any of my cataloges, and the word 'Packet' at bottom make me think it's not related to any Portuguese colonies.
For me it might appears like a stamp used for ship mail, maybe issued by a private company? I like the stamp, but it's yet a mystery to me.
scotzm - Thanks a lot! That link directed me in the right direction. Found nothing there about my 3 centavos black, but I found it described on this site: http://stampforgeries.com/spud-papers-la-guaira/ As I expected it is indeed issued by a private company for mail/package by shipmail. It turns out my copy is a forgery. Still it's a new 'area' in my collection, so I am happy all the less. Think I will keep it with my DWI collection. Cheers
Thanks for those very informative links. A give-away for me, before I read the links, is knowing that La Guaira is the port city for Caracas. The Caracas airport is located there as the area around the capital city itself is too mountainous to build an airport. The stamp is also not in a Portuguese currency and "St. Thomas" is generally spelled "St. Tome."
The stamp is not from Portugal but from Venezuela. It is not listed in Scott. In the Blanco Venezuela catalog the stamp is:
San Tomas-La Guaira - Puerto Cabello
Lithographed in Caracas
1864
Blanco 13 3c black on orange paper
Approximate 1995 value: Mint: $3.50 Used: $4.70
Also issued were:
1/2c (2 varieties),1c (3 varieties),2c, 3c, 4c
This link is for the other values. If you cannot read Spanish then use the "Select Language". It does a pretty good job. I cannot locate the author's article continuation for the 3c and 4c values.
You will find the ASOFILCA site a treasure trove of information for Venezuelan stamps.
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Posted 06/10/2015 03:45 am
. Still it's a new 'area' in my collection, so I am happy all the less. Think I will keep it with my DWI collection.
