The Philatelic Database – Archive of Stamp Collecting Articles

This is one of the most extravagant advertising covers I have written about, and it is also the third cover to the Congo I have recorded.

This article was written by Bertram W. H. Poole and first published in “Mekeel’s Weekly Stamp News” Feb 25, 1911 Volume XXV, Number 8, Whole Issue Number 1052.

The Horta district of the Azores had its own stamps from 1892 until 1905, and subsequently used the stamps of the Azores until 1931.

Most of the forgeries of this issue, with the exception of Fournier forgeries, are easy to spot. They are crude and have obvious changes from a genuine stamp. Aside from forgeries, there are also reprints of this issue. Reprints are on smooth white paper with shiny gum and are clean cut perforated 13½. The difficulty comes with Fournier forgeries.

This fascinating article, which is extracted from “The Postage Stamp” (15 October, 1910) and refers to the researches of a Portugal specialist, J. N. Marsden, in the “London Philatelist”, with useful background material, concerning the reprints of the stamps of Portugal and Colonies (1853-1905).

Here is a very brief history of Portugal and Colonies from 1861 until 1910, useful to stamp collectors and postal historians alike.

The decline of the Portuguese Empire and the rise of Dutch and British mercantile interests in the East led to the isolation and neglect of Portuguese outposts, none more so than Timor.

Selos-postais.com is an interesting site that is a must for collectors of Portuguese material. Postal historians, with an interest in this part of the Iberian Peninsula, will find much of interest in this site. Unfortunately the text is completely in Portuguese, which restricts many English speakers. However, serious collectors should not be discouraged from looking [...]

On Wednesday 26th December 2007, the world’s first stamp made entirely from cork was issued in Portugal. Designed by the Portuguese engraver Joao Machado, it is made from wafer-thin “paper cork”, a thickness of just 0.35mm, and is the first in a print run of 230,000. Every stamp is unique due to the cellular nature [...]