1916 Souvenir of the Second Presidency of Bertrand
The Stamp without a Country???
National Printing Works in Tegucigalpa. Color is pale orange, not red orange or any other color.
perf 11.5, typographed in sheets 10 wide by 4 tall
remainders - no record of any remainders
fakes - many illicitly and poorly printed "reprints" in a variety of colors including double impressions. These were probably printed from stored, corroded fiches by employees eyeing a quick buck.
counterfeits - none known
The 1c stamp was intended for local use in Tegucigalpa, but there are no known covers showing this city rate usage. It was for sale only one day (February 1, 1916) as a souvenir of Betrand's presidency. In fact the stamp reads "souvenir of February 1." Very strangely the stamp has no indication of its issuing country nor intention for mail franking! There are two small UPU marks in the upper corners, but it is far from meeting UPU requirements for international mail!
Twice president of Honduras, Bertrand was forced out of office by the United States military at the request of the United Fruit Company, an American corporation. He fled to El Salvador in 1919.
The Lazarus Cover
This is the rare Lazarus cover from the Anderson collection. It was mailed from Tegus on Feb 10, 1916 with BH81A cancel and registration postmark. If you look closely below the return address you will see a small ink calculation of required fees totalling 1 Peso and 18 centavos.
Add up the 19 centavos of postage on the front to the multiple stamps on the back. Does the total come to 1 peso and 18?
Fake printings come in all colors of the rainbow.
1918 Corriente Overprint of 5c Ulua Bridge Official
National Printing Works in Tegucigalpa.
perf 11.5, typographed. .
remainders - no record of any remainders
illicit reprints - none known
counterfeits - yes, by de Thuin
A shortage of 5c stamps developed while awaiting the arrival of the Morazán statue issue.
Cover mailed from Tela August, 1918 with BH81A cancel and LO postmark. Most covers bore censorship seals long after the war ended.
It is a mystery why so much effort was made to counterfeit the Corriente issued during the Baraona administration.
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-American Architecture and Building News vol. 33 August 1891 p. 100.
-Anderson cover collection
-Fundamentals of Philately by L.N. and M. Williams. 1971 pps. 405-407.
-Guia de Honduras by F. Somoza from Tipografia Nacional 1905 p. 54.
-Honduras Report by Richard Washburn from The Oxcart, fall 1995.
-Honduras a Study of the provisionals of 1922 and 1923
by Irving Green in Billig's Handbook 1954 volume 20 pps 40-66.
-handwritten letter written by Irving Green on January 3, 1976.
-handwritten letter written by Richard Washburn in April, 1984.
-La Gaceta, April 9, 1919 and October 20, 1920
6/2023