King Alfonso II

1875 2 centimos de peso

1876 25 centimos de peso

1877 6 centimos de peso

1877 10 centimos de peso

1878 50 milesimas de peso

1878 25 milesimas de peso

1879 12 centimos de peseta surcharge on 1878 25 milesimas de peso

1879 100 milesimas de peso

1878 125 milesimas de peso

The second king to be portrayed on Philippine stamps was King Alfonso II of this design. The first was King Amadeo.

In 1875, the 2 centimos de peso was issued, after which came the following:

(1876) 12 centimos de peso, 20 centimos de peso, 25 centimos de peso

(1877) 2 centimos de peso, 6 centimos de peso, 10 centimos de peso

(1878) 50 milesimas de peso, 25 milesimas de peso, 62 1/2 milesimas de peso, 100 milesimas de peso [carmine], 125 milesimas de peso

(1879) 25 milesimas de peso, 100 milesimas de peso [yellow green], 200 milesimas de peso [rose], 200 milesimas de peso [violet rose], and 250 milesimas de peso.

King Amadeo

1 peseta 25 centimos, perforated proof

12 centimos de peseta

The first man, and the first king, to be portrayed on a Philippine stamp was King Amadeo.

There are five values of this set:  12 centimos de peseta, 16 centimos de peseta, 25 centimos de peseta, 62 centimos de peseta, and 1 peseta 25 centimos (which has a different color from the proof shown above).

These stamps were the first to be inscribed FILIPINAS. Previous issues from 1854 to 1871 didn't bear the country's name.

This issue came out in 1872.

King Alfonso II specimen

 1878 King Alfonso II 100 milesimas de peso

Looks like part of a MINISTERIO DE ULTRAMAR MUESTRAS handstamp, signifying a specimen stamp.

CORREIO

1892 King Alfonso XIII 2 centavos de peso

Another type of bogus CORREIO cancel on a "Baby Head" stamp.

first newspaper stamps

1886 1/8 de centavo

A known bogus cancellation. CORREIO is Portuguese, not Spanish.

1889 1 milesima de peso

1889 2 milesmas de peso

1889 5 milesimas de peso

Another bogus cancellation?

The first set of newspaper stamps of the Philippines came out on 1886-89 with 4 denominations portraying King Alfonso XII. The inscription IMPRESOS means printed matter.

There are bogus cancellations on these stamps made by fakers because used copies cost more than mint.

first perforations

10 centimos de escudo

The first perforated Philippine stamps were the "España" issue of 1871.

There are four values: 5 centimos de escudo, 10 centimos de escudo, 20 centimos de escudo, and 40 centimos escudo.

These also were the first allegory on Philippine stamps.

Baeza cancellation

1859 Queen Isabella II, 5 cuartos vermilion

1859 Queen Isabella II, 5 cuartos vermilion

1859 Queen Isabella II, 5 cuartos vermilion

The cancellation on these Spanish-Philippines stamps is known as the "Baeza" cancel.

On the stamps shown here, these are the large Baeza type, which differs from the small Baeza type (in the diameter of the entire circular date stamp, and another feature of the design). These cancellations were handstruck.

Baeza was the name of the General Director of the postal services in Spain at the time, Don Juan Baeza.

Filipinas was No. 31.
Spanish Cuba was No. 30.

The inscription FRANCO on the stamps above is Spanish for "frank" (not the honest kind) but to indicate postage use.

H & S B C

1882 King Alfonso XII 20 centimos de peso bister

H & S. B. C. is a business handstamp for Hong Kong & Shanghai Banking Corporation.

FSCC February 2016 auction

There were 532 lots, philatelic and nonphilatelic, in today's auction sale of the Filipinas Stamp Collectors' Society held at the Philpost lobby.

About 30 bidders came. 

Shown above is the club's bid card.

pen cancel

1859 Queen Isabella II, 5 cuartos

1859 Queen Isabella II, 5 cuartos

Pen cancels.

Bago

New Issue alert:

City of Bago: 50th Charter Anniversary

February 19, 2016 The City of Bago: 50th Charter Anniversary Stamps and Official First Day Covers will be available starting February 19, 2016 at the Post Shop, Philately and Museum Division, Manila Central Post Office, Door 203, Liwasang Bonifacio, Manila and at all Regional Offices of the Philippine Postal Corporation.

[press release added later]

PRESS RELEASE: PHLPost issues stamps to mark the 50th Anniversary of the City of Bago

March 22, 2016   Posted By: Corp.Comm

The Philippine Postal Corporation (PHLPost) releases commemorative stamps to celebrate the 50th charter Anniversary of the City of Bago in the province of Negros Occidental.

The commemorative stamps feature the famous Babaylan Festival, an annual celebration held during the Charter Anniversary of the City. It is a representation of the rituals performed by the Babaylans or high priestesses, like rituals of marriage, baptism, baptism, healing, and harvest.

The festival displayed the colorful and exotic character of the Babaylans who were very common in the Visayan provinces before the Spanish colonizers came. The participants are completely adorned with intricate and beautiful costumes while dancing, singing and drumming to please the spirits.

Chartered in 1966 as a “City” through Republic Act 4382 – Bago City is composed of 24 barangays, 16 of which are rural and 8 are urban. It is the fifth chartered city in Negros Occidental.

PHLPost commissioned security printer Amstar Co. to print 101,000 copies of the stamps, to be sold at P15 each. The stamps were designed by PhlPost layout artist Victorino Z. Serevo.

The stamps and official first day cover are now available at the Post Shop, Central Post Office, Door 203, Liwasang Bonifacio, Manila and area post offices nationwide. For inquiries, please call 527-01-08 or 527-01-32.

Certificado

King Alfonso XIII 2 centavos claret

1886 King Alfonso XII 2 4/8 centimos de peso ultramarine

1882 King Alfonso XII 12 4/8 centimos de peso rose

1892 "Baby Head" 12 4/8 centimos de peso orange

Cancellations on Spanish-Philippines stamps reading CERTIFICADO mean these stamps were used on registered mail.

Revisado

1883 10 cuartos on 1880 2 centavos de peso, green surcharge

1883 1 real on 1878 10 cuartos Derecho Judicial stamp, green surcharge.
Inverted surcharge!

1883 20 centimos on 1880 8 centimos de peso

1887 8 centimos on 1883 2 4/8 centimos de peso

The "Re" on these stamps spelled Revisado entirely on two attached stamps. These were handstamped on surcharged issues of the 1880's.

Revisado in my dictionary means "to revise" and the handstamp denoted a revision of the surcharge back to the original face value of the stamp.

Raon Street

 

The address for Manila Stamp Co. included Pacific Ocean...but didn't mention a street.

Postman probably wrote the "Raon" for the street name.

parilla cancel

1871 "España", 10 centimos de escudo

1859 Queen Isabella II, 5 cuartos orange, with pen cancel.

1872 King Amadeo, 12 centimos de peseta

The cancellation on these Spanish-Philippines stamps is called "parilla" as it resembles a grill (used in cooking steaks).

Oval in shape

This cancellation was handstruck by the postal clerk.

Leprosy awareness

New Issue alert:

Leprosy Awareness and Control Week

February 15, 2016 The Leprosy Awareness and Control Week Stamps and Official First Day Covers will be available starting February 10, 2016 at the Post Shop, Philately and Museum Division, Manila Central Post Office, Door 203, Liwasang Bonifacio, Manila and at all Regional Offices of the Philippine Postal Corporation. 

J. & H. Stolow

Julius and Henry Stolow were brothers and stamp dealers.

The Manila Stamp Co. was established in 1936 and owned by Yu Sio Chong. His son Jimmy today continues to sell stamps and other philatelic items, although the store has closed.

1864 issue

A crude forgery of the 25 centimos de peso fuerte value of the 1864 issue.

Compare the 12 4/8 centimos de peso fuerte value shown below.

There are four values of this set: 3 1/8 centimos de peso fuerte, 6 2/8 centimos de peso fuerte, 12 4/8 centimos de peso fuerte, and 25 centimos de peso fuerte.
 
For the Spanish era, these stamps were the last ones to portray Queen Isabella II since the first issue of 1854.

Alyssah and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Take your time in looking at pictures
and reading Miss Alyssah Xenia C. Alcala's website on --

http://www.freewebs.com/alvier/

-- for some philatelic inspiration!

So much have been her philatelic accomplishments, which you will read about, that any Filipino collector would take pride in her successes.

Here's her introduction to the site:

Mabuhay and welcome to my website devoted to my philatelic collection and exhibit entitled "Her Majesty QUEEN ELIZABETH II."   As you browse each page,  you'll have a glimpse of my previous exhibitions, achievements, and future undertakings.   Likewise,  you will also find out the generous people who in one way or another have significantly improved my collection and made it possible to compete in various philatelic exhibitions.  Hope you will enjoy your visit in this humble website of mine and I'll be yearning for your frequent visit as I will be updating this website from time to time. May your visit here be the start of our philatelic friendship and cooperation in our beloved hobby of stamp collecting.   I am also interested with philatelic items about Soccer and Philippine Presidents.

Happy Philately !

Yes, yes indeed. Happy philately!

punched hole

Looks like a black eye!
King Amadeo 25 centimos de peseta stamp of 1872

1876 King Alfonso XII 20 centimos de peso

1879 King Alfonso XII 250 milesimas de peso

1876 King Alfonso XII 25 centimos de peso

1879 King Alfonso XII 200 milesimas de peso, telegraph cancel

1879 King Alfonso XII 200 milesimas de peso, remainder

1880 King Alfonso XII 2 1/2 centimos de peso

Punched but didn't go all the way through in making a hole
1882 King Alfonso XII 20 centimos de peso

1882 King Alfonso XII 20 centimos de peso

Surcharge type of 1883 on King Alfonso XII stamp of 1880
1 real on 2 centimos de peso

1883 2 reales surcharge on 1882 King Alfonso XII 2 4/8 centimos de peso

1880 King Alfonso XII 10 pesos telegraph stamp

There are two purposes for the punched holes on Spanish-Philippines stamps: first was to cancel remainders (for destruction by the post office), and second was to cancel for telegraph use on receipts (either postage stamps or telegraph stamps were used). The punched holes used telegraphically are usually a smaller hole.