Colombian Postal History

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United States of Colombia postage stamp dating from 1877

This article deals solely with the postal history of Colombia . Unless necessary, historical or political events are not discussed. The history of the country can be found under Colombia .

Colombian State Post

At the time of the first stamp issues in 1859, Colombia was a loose association of nine largely independent states under the name Granada Confederation , which on the first stamps also through a confed. Granadina Estados Unidos de Nueva Granada is expressed as an inscription. From 1861 to 1885 the country name was United States of Colombia . Some of the states subsequently issued their own brands, including Antioquia , Bolivar , Boyacá , Cundinamarca , Santander and Tolima . Also, Panama was, however, until its independence in 1903 part of the state of Colombia and issued its own stamps in 1878 out foreign transport had to be used the stamps of Colombia.

Registered stamps were used in Colombia to identify registered mail and postage at the same time

A specialty of the Colombian Post was the use of large-format value letter insurance stamps ( Cubiertas ) from 1865 to 1909. These postage stamps, measuring approximately 13 × 6.5 cm, were provided with the insurance value when a value letter was delivered and stuck on the flap of the letter to seal him like that.

Several British consular post offices were active in Colombian territory.

During the civil war from 1899 to 1902 there were various local editions. In order to prevent stocks of stamps captured by insurgents from being used, the State Post had their stamp stocks overprinted with stars, wavy lines and, locally, with registered stamps ( Cartagena ). Insurgents also produced their own expenses for areas under their control. From 1900 to 1902 insurgents occupied the city of Cúcuta and organized a postal service. For this purpose, two locally produced stamp series of 1, 2, 5, 10 and 20 centavos were issued. The first series bears the inscription Gobierno Provisorio Correos , for the second series the inscription in Gobierno Provisional Correos (both means Post of the Provisional Government ) was used.

During and immediately after the Civil War, the postal service was unable to maintain the supply of postage stamps to more remote locations. Many emergency editions made by local postal workers date from this period. These usually consisted of a value and the name of the responsible post office official, in some cases the value was also entered by hand.

In the last few decades, Colombia has been one of the states that have their own branded graphics. Also because of the many issues it is considered to be an expensive collecting area.

Until 2006, the Post was state-owned, but not very successful economically, and has been privatized since then. The postal system was called AdPostal and after privatization it was renamed to 472 (from 4 ° N, 72 ° W).

Postal codes were introduced by law in Colombia in 2009 ( Ley 1369 de 2009 ) and have been used by public authorities since August 31, 2013.

Expenditures of the department items

The following states of the Granada Confederation (and from 1885 Departamentos of Colombia) issued their own postage stamps for domestic traffic, which were in use until July 1906. State post stamps were to be used for mail to other departments or abroad.

Antioquia

Postage stamp Antioquias from 1902

Antioquia issued its own postage stamps from 1868 to 1904.

Bolivar

Postage stamps of Bolivars

The state of Bolivar began to issue its own postage stamps in 1863. The first three stamps are among the world's smallest stamps. The national hero Simón Bolívar is portrayed on most of the department's stamps .

Boyacá

Postage stamp from Boyacá from 1902

Although Boyacá, like the other states / departments, received the right to issue postage stamps in the 1860s, the first issue did not appear until 1899.

Cundinamarca

Postage stamp from Cundinamarca

State, later Department, with its own post from 1870 to 1906. Like the State Post, Cundinamarca issued some large-format insured postage stamps, the value of which represented the insurance fee.

Santander

Santanders postage stamp

Its own stamp issues existed from 1884 to 1903. Like the Colombian State Post, Santander issued Cubiertas. From 1904 to 1906, the department's post office issued special postage stamps for the eastern province of Cúcuta (today Departamento Norte de Santander ).

Tolima

Pair of handwritten canceled stamps from Tolima from 1871

State, later department, with its own post from 1870 to 1906. Tolima issued its own postage stamps with the Tolima coat of arms and a picture of a Condor as well as (like the state post) large-format Cubiertas, the value of which represented the insurance fee for a value letter.

Private postal services

From 1920 to 1932 there was an airmail network of the German-Colombian airline SCADTA , whose lines led from Barranquilla to Girardot or to Buenaventura and thus shortened transports on river boats lasting several days. The airmail surcharge for shipments was levied with special stamps that were also sold by agencies and Colombian consulates abroad. These issues have code letters printed on them, by means of which the respective country in which the stamps were sold can be recognized (e.g. A = Germany, H = Netherlands).

There were many private post offices in Colombia, including the air mail companies (CCNA, SCADTA, LANSA, Avianca ). The literature records a total of 64 private post offices so far, some of which were apparently active until the 1960s and later.

literature

  • Ullrich Häger: Large encyclopedia of philately. Bertelsmann, Gütersloh 1973, ISBN 3-570-03229-9 , p. 238.
  • James Mackay: The complete guide to stamps and stamp collection. Anness Publishing, London 2005, ISBN 1-84477-726-X , pp. 110-111.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Wolfgang Baldus: Philatelic Witnesses. Stamps of Revolutions. Album Publishing Company, Raleigh NC, 2002, ISBN 1-885184-09-3 , pp. 15-17.
  2. http://www.codigopostal.gov.co/Normatividad accessed on October 5, 2014.
  3. ^ Page with depictions of postage stamps Santander and Cúcutas , accessed on August 17, 2010.

Web links

Commons : Colombian Postage Stamps  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files