1907 Medina
Validity: Jan 1907 - February 1911
Kihn Brothers of New York (see history of Kihn Bros in Honduras Report)
perf 14, engraved
white woven paper with yellowish gum
remainders - Yes. Mint remainders were sold directly to stamp dealers before World War 1. This turned mint Medinas into philatelic wallpaper.
counterfeits - Yes, see counterfeits. Imperforates. No Medina imperforate was ever seen or posted in Honduras. Buyer beware.
BH81A cancel on a bisected 6c Medina showing correct international postage fpr newspapers. There was a stamp shortage in 1910.
Medina imperforate wallpaper above are called "proofs."
item - value - production - remainders
1c dark green - 900,000 - 9000
2c vermilion - 600,000 - 18000
2c carmine - unknown
5c blue - 900,000 - 9000
6c purple 850,000 - 8000
10c gray brown - 500,000 - 4000
20c ultra - 90,000 - 3000
20c blue violet - unknowb
50c deep lake - 50,000 - 1000
1p orange - 50,000 - 2000
Although they went on to create the iconic engraving for RCA called His Master's Voice, there were many problems with the Kihn Brothers printing. The color of the 2c, 6c and 20c came in various shades.
Cancellations on the Medina Issue
The Medina issue has a very diverse history of common cancellations and a great hunting ground for collectors. On the other hand high value used with recognizable cancel are rare. Be careful. Most used Un Peso Orange have counterfeit cancels.
Less Common Cancels
Toward the end of their period of validity (late 1909 and 1910), a shortage of the 1c and the 5c values developed. To meet the need the 2c stamp was bisected and used as a one centavo stamp. The domestic rate at this time was 6c and the international rate was 15c.
Card mailed from Choluteca in 1908 with BH80 cancel and OSa postmark
Bisects showing stamp shortages and the rare BH90 cancel local usage in El Porvenir. See Postal History/Bisects.
Medina Counterfeits
Postmaster general Eusebio Toledo, a man of tarnished reputation, went into the stamp business and offered the Scott stamp company in New York a monopoly on the complete Medina set without perforation and even a color "error" of the 5c, color to be determined by the buyer. The offer was refused but Toledo eventually sold the imperforate stamps to American stamp dealers deciding that black would make a nice color "error."
Counterfeit imperforate with illicit BH81 cancel.
FORGED CANCELS ON MEDINAS
BH71F
This cancel is generally seen on the used, high value Guardiola issues, but shows up also on the occasional Medina issue. The only difference is the size of the font. The counterfeit is 2.5 mm tall as opposed to 3mm. It is best to determine this cancel by direct comparison with a BH71 as shown below.
FORGED COVERS
Careful here. The 2c vermillion look fine but the 2c carmine and 2c green were added at a later date to add a bit of counterfeit luster to the cover.
-Borcsok Collection of Honduran Provisionals.
-Honduras 1903-1910 Guardiola and Medina Issues in Congress Books by Roger Schnell. August 2006 pps. 149-163.
-Honduras Falls from Grace in Scott Circular, April 15, 1907 #4.
-Honduras Report by Richard Washburn from The Oxcart, winter 1989.
-Honduras Report by Richard Washburn from The Oxcart, spring 1993.
-Honduras Report by Richard Washburn from The Oxcart, summer 1993.
-Honduras Report by Richard Washburn from The Oxcart, spring 1994.
-Stamp Lover Magazine. "Stamps of Honduras" by L.W. Crouch. July 1912 p33.
-Letter from Hugo Greifort to Irving Green. Undated in Anderson Collection.
12/23
