America's ersatz empire on sale
[Updated with PRs] Kelleher offers the Jack Shartsis collection of Canal Zone and Philippines
[Update, Weds 10:45pm: Prices realized added to captions.]
IN THE AFTERMATH of the 1898 Spanish-American war, the United States found itself suddenly in possession of several overseas territories and no clear idea what to do with them: Puerto Rico, Guam, the Philippines and (temporarily) Cuba.
Around the same time, work was rapidly proceeding on the construction of a canal across the isthmus that connected North and South America, and the U.S. took control of a strip of territory in what was then the Colombian department of Panama.
In the short term, at least, one objective was clear: all five of these territories needed postal services and therefore stamps. A new philatelic area emerged—U.S. Possessions.
The former Spanish colonies had their own stamps prior to 1898. Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines (inscribed ‘Filipinas’) and the Mariana Islands (of which Guam was a part) issued definitives with a coat of arms or the effigy of the Spanish monarch. When the United States took over, U.S. stamps overprinted with the name of each territory appeared.
Stamps for the Panama Canal Zone appeared in 1904, a decade before the canal was even completed. Panama had only just gained its independence the year before, and its first issues consisted of stamps depicting a map of the isthmus, issued when it was a Colombian province, with a red overprint reading “Republica de Panama” on top of the name “Colombia.” Another issue a short time later had a red bar covering “Colombia” and a simple “Panama” at left and right.
To these provisional issues, Canal Zone authorities added a second overprint in black with the words “Canal Zone.” Due to a lack of 8¢ stamps, a surplus of the 50-centavo was surcharged with the new value. Hasty preparation and a lack of concern for consistency led to a number of varieties in the overprint, the most prominent of which is that on a small quantity of the stamps, “Panama” reads upward on both the left and right sides, whereas on a majority it is upwards on the left and downward on the right. An example of the harder-to-find variety, shown above, is lot 4 in Wednesday’s Daniel F. Kelleher sale of the Jack Shartsis collection. Only 435 examples of this stamp were issued, and its scarcity is reflected in the $1,700 opening bid.
The Kelleher sale also features a famous Canal Zone error stamp of the 1960s, the “missing bridge.” Kelleher summarizes its story in the sale catalog:
On October 12, 1962, the Canal Zone issued a stamp commemorating the opening of the Thatcher Ferry bridge across the canal. During the preparation of first day covers a clerk noticed that a plate number block was missing the silver plate number and that the stamps were missing the silver bridge. The authorities made an immediate search and found the remaining 46 stamps from that pane and two additional panes with the error. Shortly thereafter, H. E. Harris & Co. discovered the upper right pane of the error in its shipment of 5000 stamps from the philatelic agency. The Canal Zone authorities ordered that 100,000 copies of the error be reprinted for sale at face value through the philatelic agency and began accepting orders. Harris filed suit for an injunction against the special printing. After a two and a half year legal battle he won the case and halted the reprinting. The two intact sheets were laminated and gifted to the Smithsonian and the Canal Zone Library museum, and the third sheet was destroyed, leaving only Harris' sheet of fifty for philatelists.
THE PHILATELY OF THE PHILIPPINES is more convoluted, and includes some fascinating twists and turns that reflect not just that country’s own history but the wider 20th century story of conflict in the Pacific.
The first postage stamps for the islands appeared in 1854, under Spanish dominion, with a portrait of Queen Isabella II. They bore no country name; they look as if the Victorian satirist Edward Lear had done some rather unflattering cartoon impressions of contemporary Spanish stamps. These were replaced after 1898 by U.S. Bureau issues overprinted with the country name in English; eventually, stamps appeared inscribed “United States of America / Philippine Islands.”
The sale features a number of World War II-era issues with handstamped “Victory” overprints, made locally after liberation from Japanese occupation. Many of these are scarce; only 221 examples of the 1940 12-cent stamp showing President Quezon taking the oath of office received the handstamp.
This sale presents a very nice selection of hard-to-find items from a couple of important regions. Kelleher has previously sold Mr. Shartsis’ collections of Canada, Australia and other areas.
Daniel F. Kelleher Auctions is based in Danbury, Conn. You can find a PDF of the hard-copy catalog for this sale here. Sale begins at 1 pm EDT on Aug. 10. Bidders can place their bids live online via StampAuctionNetwork and Philasearch. Buyer’s premium is 20%. Read the Terms and Conditions carefully and familiarize yourself with the bidding increments beforehand.