A is for Aden and Z is for Zanzabar


A is for Aden and Z is for Zanzibar... Now what is between? For the world wide classical era philatelist and stamp collector, a country specific philatelic survey is offered by the blog author, Jim Jackson, with two albums: Big Blue, aka Scott International Part 1 (checklists available), and Deep Blue, aka William Steiner's Stamp Album Web PDF pages. In addition, "Bud" offers commentary and a look at his completely filled Big Blue. Interested? So into the Blues...

Wednesday, September 5, 2018

Brazil 1881-1899: a closer look

1885 Scott 86 10r orange "Dom Pedro"
Into the Deep Blue
The classical era stamps of Brazil are fascinating, and, after taking a look at the 1843-1879 era, here is an overview of the 1881-1899 issues.

A closer look at the 1881-1899 stamps and issues
1000 Reis = 1 Milreis
1881 Scott 79 50r blue "Dom Pedro"
Small Heads
On July 15, 1881, there was a three stamp issue with three designs, all with a side view of "Dom Pedro", and with a smaller format, compared to the spectacular 1866-1879 issues.

Of interest, this issue and the next (1882-84) were on horizontal laid paper,

This issue is also known as the "Small heads" stamps, because comparatively, the next two issues (1882-84, 1884-85) had larger heads for the vignette.

Note the hair above the ear curls forward on the 50r blue (above), a characteristic of this 1881 stamp.

CV  is $20+-$100+.

1882 Scott 82 10r black
Larger Heads
Between 1882-1884, a four stamp issue (major numbers) was released. They had similar frames to the 1881 issue, but with larger heads.

CV ranges from $4+ to $30.

1882 Scott 83 100r olive green
Type I
The 1882 100 Reis comes in two types.

100 Reis: Type I
Groundwork formed of diagonal crossed lines
and horizontal lines
Type I (Major Number Scott 83: CV $4+) shows, within the groundwork of the oval vignette, horizontal lines and diagonal crossed lines.

1882 Scott 83b 100r dark green
Type II
The Type II (Minor number Scott 83b:CV $10+) has a different groundwork pattern.

100 Reis: Type II
Groundwork formed of diagonal lines 
and vertical lines
The Type II shows diagonal lines and vertical lines.

1882 Scott 84 200r pale red brown
Type I
There are also two types for the 200 Reis, distinguished by color of the stamp and groundwork.

The above example (Type I) is "pale red brown", and has groundwork formed of diagonal and horizontal lines.

Type II (not shown) is "pale rose", with a groundwork formed of diagonal lines only.

1884 Scott 87 20r slate green
1884 Scott 87a 20r olive green
The 1884-85 five stamp issue consists of "Numerals" and "Heads".

As one can tell, the 20 Reis is found in both a "slate green" and a "olive green" color.

CV is $3+ for either one. 

1885 Scott 88 50r blue
Head Larger
Here is an 1885 "Larger Head" version of the 1881 50r "Small Head" stamp, shown earlier.

Note the hair above the ear is drawn backward.

Overall, CV ranges from $2+ to $5 for the five stamp 1884-85 issue.

1887 Scott 93 50r chalky blue
In 1887, there were three stamps issued, all with different designs.

1887 Scott 94 300r gray blue
"Southern Cross"
The 1887 300 Reis gray blue was the first stamp from Brazil showing the "Southern Cross", which is only viewable in the sky from the southern hemisphere.

1887 Scott 95 500r olive "Crown"
The 500 Reis stamp shows the "Crown", but the Empire was soon coming to an end.

CV for the 1887 three stamp issue is $5 to $30.

1888 Scott 98 1000r dull blue
"Entrance to Bay of Rio de Janeiro"
I must admit that this stamp quite possibly has the ugliest heavy cancel of any in my collection. ;-)

The 1000 Reis stamp was part of a three stamp issue of 1888.

CV is $1+-$100+ for the issue, with the 1000r dull blue above no doubt worth considerably less than the CV $100+. 

1890 Scott 99 20r gray green
"Southern Cross"
We are now entering into the era of the Issues of the Republic.

The 1890-91 "Southern Cross" ten stamp issue is a collectors delight.

1890 Scott 101 100r lilac rose
The stamps come in thick to thin wove paper, multiple perforations, multiple minor number color shades, and often can be found with a nice SON cancel.

All of the stamps are engraved except.....

1890 Scott 102 100r red lilac
Redrawn
...This one, the typographed redrawn 100r red lilac.

Characteristics are: an absence of shading of the curved lines in the left side of the central oval, and there is less shading at right and left of "CORREIO" and "100 REIS".

Redrawn 1890 Scott 102 100r red lilac
Note pearl above "S" of "REIS" is touching upper border
But the easiest marker to pick up is that the pearls in the oval are not well aligned, specifically the pearl above the "S" of "REIS".

1890 Scott 103 200r purple
As mentioned, there are many shades listed in the Scott catalogue. For the 200 Reis stamp, there is purple (major number), and violet and violet blue (minor numbers).

1890 Scott 104 300r dark violet
The 300r here is the major number "dark violet" shade.

CV for the issue (major numbers) range from $1+ to $10+.

1890 Scott 104a 300r gray
The 300r color shade above is minor number Scott 104a gray. CV is $10.

1890 Scott 104b 300r gray blue
This 300r is a gray blue to a blue shade (looks more blue to me).

Color shades have a CV up to $30.

The "Southern Cross" issue is one that a WW collector could "specialize" in with rewarding results.

1891 Scott 109 100r blue & red
"Liberty Head"
The 1891 typographic "Liberty Head" comes in many perforations, and two color variations.

The major number stamp is "blue & red".

1892 Scott 109c 100r ultramarine & red
"Liberty Head'
An "ultramarine & red" color is also common.

CV is $1+ for both color variations.

1894 Scott 112 10r rose & blue
"Sugarloaf Mountain"
"Dez 10 Reis" Inscription
Another iconic release for Brazil was the 1894-97 eleven stamp lithographed issue, available with multiple perforations, and various color shades.

The stamps will be cut into on one or two sides because of the narrow spacing between stamps. There are stamps perforated 11 1/2 reissued between 1902-1905 with wider spacing (Scott 113a-122b).

There are  two major kinds of 10 Reis stamps. Here, note the "Dez 10 Reis" inscription.

1897 Scott 113 10r rose & blue
"Reis 10 Reis" Inscription
The second kind has a "Reis 10 Reis" inscription.

1894 Scott 118 200r orange & black
"Liberty Head"
CV for the eleven stamp issue varies from <$1 to $20.

1894 Scott 119 300r green & black
"Liberty Head"
Some perforations apparently command premiums, but neither Scott nor Michel break them down, so one would need to go to specialty resources for information.

I should mention that Michel breaks down and illustrates the 1894-97 100 Reis carmine & black or  100 Reis red & black vignette ("Liberty Head") into six types, partially based on a new plate printed in 1897. I don't have enough 100 Reis material to show here: perhaps for a future time.

1894 Scott 124a 2000r black & gray lilac
"Hermes"
A somewhat goofy looking "Hermes" vignette was used for the 1000r green & violet and 2000r black & gray lilac stamps. That is one long neck. ;-)

1899 Scott 158 200r on 1000r bister
Perf 11 1/2
Issue of 1890-93 Surcharged in Violet or Magenta
On June 25, 1899, the 1890 "Southern Cross" issue was surcharged in violet or magenta as shown on eight stamps. CV is $2+-$9+.

Deep Blue
1898 Surcharged 1889 Newspaper Stamps Issue in Deep Blue
Black Surcharge
Deep Blue (Steiner) provides spaces for all the Scott major numbers: here surcharged newspaper stamps used for regular postage.

I note that Steiner provides an extra page for minor number color shades for the 1890-91 "Southern Cross" Issue.

1890 Scott 100 50r gray green
Out of the Blue
So ends our review of the classic 19th century stamps of Brazil.

But we are not done with the stamps of this fascinating nation. The next two posts will look at the interesting Brazil issues and commemoratives for the early 20th century. 

Links
Brazil  & BB Checklist
Brazil 1843-1879: a closer look
Brazil - Bud's Big Blue

Comments appreciated!

4 comments:

  1. That Hermes head reminds me of Judge Reinhold's clueless kidnapper character in Ruthless People. BTW how are you getting such good photos of your stamps? Nothing I have tried seems to work.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, that Hermes Head is quite a character. ;-)

      I use an Epson scanner @ 1200 with no compression of the jpeg stamp image - nothing that fancy.

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    2. May I ask if you remove the pages from the album and place them on the scanner, or the stamps from the pages, or something else?

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    3. The stamps are removed and placed face down directly on the scanner. Black paper is placed over, and the lid is closed. Each stamp is scanned individually @ 1200. The Windows Photo program is opened, and each stamp image is straightened and cropped.

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