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.