Home Catalogue index Volume 1 index Volume 2 index

Preview of Stamps Catalogue: VOLUME 2

ECUADOR 1865-1895

Return To Catalogue - Equador 1896-1920 and miscellaneous

Note: on my website many of the pictures can not be seen! They are of course present in the catalogue;
contact me if you want to purchase it.

1865 Eagle

  1/2 (medio) r blue
  1 r (un) green (for inland use only)
  1 r (un) yellow (for use to foreign countries)

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

A stamp with the "3154" numeral cancel of Quito (here in red color).

Ten pointed star with "P I" inside it (badly visible on the first stamp) for "Porte Interior"

Reprints:

I've been told that the above stamp is a reprint made from retouched original plates (probably the Rivadeneira reprints). Reprints exist of all values and are not very rare.

Forgeries:

(Primitive forgery with the side ornaments different; not enough loops). These have a "CORREOS 6.2" cancel very similar to a forged "CORREOS 7.1.60" cancel found on many other forgeries.

(Forgeries with a very large 'flag' on the ship)

Spiro(?) forgeries:

I think the above forgeries are made by Spiro. Usually they have a cancel consisting of dots or lines. Fournier also offers these stamps in his 1914 pricelist (3 values together for 1 Swiss Franc as second choice forgeries). These forgeries were also included in 'The Fournier Album of Philatelic Forgeries'. In my opinion, the line pattern in the left hand bottom side ends too high and this pattern at the right hand side ends with vertical line (in the genuine stamps I've seen it is always horizontal). Also note the strange flag on the ship. Fournier also offered first choice forgeries of these stamps by the way. I've also seen the 1/2 r with a circular cancel (with unreadable very blur text inside it).

Fournier Album with Spiro forgeries.

Other forgeries:

Note that the blue stamp has a blue dot in the circle just above the "M" of "MEDIO".

The above stamps are Rivadeneira forgeries, I have no further information about these stamps. They are probably the so-called reprints, which also exist with forged cancels.

(These forgeries are probably originating from the same source, note that he 1/2 r has the same 'defects' as in the above Rivadeneira forgeries)

Forgeries, the left ones with '100' overprint (or cancel?)

Forgery with peculiar cancel.

4 r red, bogus issue.

The above stamps are bogus stamps. There were never any stamps issued in 2 (dos) reales or 8 (ocho) reales. They were made by the Boston Gang (the forger S. Allan Taylor and his collegues). They seem to have made another bogus value 12 r red. They exist used and unused and in different shades. These stamps were described as forgeries in 'The American Journal of Philately' Jan.20, 1869 pages 8-9.

What is this? Essay? Head of the eagle very far from the pearls above it.

Forgeries of the 1 r yellow and the 1 r green exist with a forged "ROBERTO SUAREZ N. ECUADOR QUITO" cancel (source: D'Elias' book).

1865-72 Arms with eagle, various designs

  1/2 (medio) r blue
  1 (un) r orange
  4 r (quatro) red (1865)
  1 Peso red

These stamps (except 4 r) have perforation 11. The 4 r is imperforate. The 1 r and 1 P stamps exist with bogus perforations (varying from 6 to 11).

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

The 8 r was modeled after the 8 r 1865 stamp of Mexico.

Genuine 4 r stamps, note the outer thick line which can be found all around the sheet of stamps.

A stamp with the numeral "3154" cancel of Quito.

Reprints

I've been told that a reprint of the 4 r stamp exists on very thin paper (only in the type with arms in an ellipse). I've been told that 4 r stamps with the head of the condor pointing to the right are proofs, prepared by Emilia Rivadeneira de Heguy in 1886-1887, the daughter of the printer Manuel Rivadeneira (she also engraved the plates). The book of D'Elia says no such reprints exist. Most of them appeared in the 1880's and it seems that somehow Emilia Rivadeneira was somehow involved.

A block of 'reprints'; note that the 3rd and 4th stamp in the bottom row hae the head of the eagle inverted! These are Type 5 forgeries of the book of d'Elia.

Note the scratches on this forgery (looks like defacing lines from a printing plate which was made unusable?). I believe these are also the Type 5 forgeries of d'Elia.

"Proof" with head of eagle in the wrong direction. Here it is printed in red and golden yellow, it also exists in blue, black and green. Usually cancelled with the above purple cancel "ROBERTO SUAREZ N. ECUADOR QUITO". In D'Elias' book this is referred to as forgery Type 1. The borders are very wide (genuine stamps have very narrow borders), but is different in between different printings. They were printed in minisheets of 8 stamps. The D'Elias' book mentions that forged cancels "3154" (numeral with dots), "Quito Franca, 27 Feb" and a double bordered ten pointed star exist. These last 3 cancels are genuine cancelling devices, fraudulently used here. Note that in the above forgeries, there is a blotch of ink in between "CORREOS" and "ECUADOR", although this is not always the case.

Forgery type 1 in different colors.

Forgeries

Examples:

In the genuine 8 r stamps, the "S" of "REALES" looks more like an "8".

Forgery of the 4 r value with dividing lines which do not exist on genuine stamps (only a very thick line all around the whole sheet). This is forgery type 2 of d'Elia's book being the right part of a miniblock of 2 stamps. The left and right stamp are different. The left forgery has two circles to the left and right of "CUATRO REALES", genuine stamps never have perfect circles here. The right stamp has small circles with a dot at both sides of "QUATRO REALES", furthermore the hanging leaf on the left touches the ornaments below it. The left forgery was used as an illustration for a 1958 Ecuador commemorative stamp instead of an illustration of a genuine stamp. According to D'Elia's book the following cancels exist on these forgeries: ten pointed star, dot cancel with "3154", "Quito Franca 27 Feb", "Balzar Franca", "Alausi Franca" and "Ambato Franca" as well as manual cancels.

A dangerous Type 3 forgeries is described in D'Elias' book, it was printed in minisheets of two stamps. According to D'Elias, the distance between "C" and "O" of "CORREOS" is too large.

Another forgery.

Other forgeries:

I think the above forgeries are made by Spiro. They are also offered by Fournier in his 1914 pricelist where they are offered 1 Swiss Franc (all values except the 4 r, as second choice forgeries). These forgeries can also be found in 'The Fournier Album of Philatelic Forgeries'. I've seen them cancelled by a pattern of dots or the above shown lines cancel (typically Spiro cancel). Fournier also offered first choice forgeries of these stamps by the way.
These Spiro forgeries are quite deceptive. In my opinion, in the 1/2 r and 1 P values, the central hook-shaped line ornament in the upper right corner should almost touch the central circle in the genuine stamps. In the Spiro forgeries, it is quite far from this circle.
The 1 r forgery is quite deceptive and is described in Album Weeds. However, in the genuine stamps, the horizontal lines behind the eagle, arms and flags, is much coarser than the horizontal lines at the outer part of the stamp. In the Spiro forgery, however, the lines show everywhere the same coarseness. The condor's neck is also thicker than in the genuine stamps.

Fournier Album with Spiro forgeries.

The stamp forger Dona Emilia Rivadeneira de Heguy (daughter of the printer) is known to have made deceptive forgeries of the 4 r value in 1886-1887.

Further reading: http://guayaquilfilatelico.org/biblioteca/salinas_4_reales.pdf ("El 4 reales de 1866 del Ecuador" by J.Salinas de Lozada, 1944; more than 95% of all stamps of the 4 r found in collections are forgeries according to this book).
A very good study of the 4 r forgeries is "Ecuador the four reales of 1866" by Robert A.d'Elia (1984).

Another forgery of the 1 P is listed at http://stampforgeries.com/forged-stamps-of-ecuador-coat-of-arms/.

1881 New arms type, inscription "EQUADOR CORREOS", various frames

(Reduced sizes)

  1 c brown
  2 c red
  5 c blue
  10 c orange
  20 c violet
  50 c green
  80 c olive (1887)

These stamps exist overprinted "OFICIAL" to be used as official stamps. The overprint can be considered more as a cancel.

Surcharged

  'DIEZ CENTAVOS' on 50 c green (1882)

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

1887 Arms type, inscription "UNION POSTALE UNIVERSELLE"

(Reduced size)

  1 c green
  2 c orange
  5 c blue

These stamps have perforation 12.

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

These stamps exist overprinted "OFICIAL" to be used as official stamps (more or less a cancel):

1892 President Juan Flores

(Reduced size)

  1 c orange
  2 c brown
  5 c red
  10 c green
  20 c brown
  50 c red
  1 S blue
  5 S violet

These stamps have perforation 12. The 10 c was used bisected in the city of Cuenca in 1895.

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

Surcharged

(Reduced size)

  '5 CENTAVOS' on 50 c red
  '5 CENTAVOS' on 1 S blue
  '5 CENTAVOS' on 5 S violet

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

Official stamps; overprinted "FRANQUEO OFFICIAL" in red

  1 c blue
  2 c blue
  5 c blue
  10 c blue
  20 c blue
  50 c blue
  1 S blue

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

These stamps were printed by Seebeck, who made a large number of reprints. This is the first set of Equador to be printed by Seebeck.

1894 President Rocafuerte

(Possibly reprints)

(Reduced size)

Inscription '1894'
  1 c blue
  2 c orange
  5 c green
  10 c orange
  20 c black
  50 c orange
  1 S red
  5 S blue

These stamps are perforated 12 (the 5 c also seems to exist with perforation 14 and the 5 S imperforate). These stamps were printed by Seebeck, who made a large number of reprints (different colour shades and paper).

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

Inscription "1894", overprinted "FRANQUEO OFFICIAL" (red) (official stamps)

  1 c black
  2 c black
  5 c black
  10 c black
  20 c black
  50 c black
  1 S black

Reprints exist of these official stamps (slightly different colours and paper).

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

Inscription "1895"

(Reduced size)

  1 c blue
  2 c brown
  5 c green
  10 c red
  20 c black
  50 c orange
  1 S red
  5 S blue

These stamps have perforation 12. Reprints exist with slightly different colour shades and paper.

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

Inscription "1895", overprinted "FRANQUEO OFFICIAL" (red) (official stamps)

  1 c black
  2 c black
  5 c black
  10 c black
  20 c black
  50 c black
  1 S black

Reprints exit of these stamps (colours and paper slightly different).

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

Inscription "1894", provisional overprint "1897-1898"

(Reduced size)

  1 c blue
  2 c orange
  5 c green
  10 c orange
  20 c black
  50 c orange
  1 S red
  5 S blue

Four types of overprint exist. Price: c to R.

Inscription "1895", provisional overprint "1897-1898"

(Reduced size)

  1 c blue
  2 c orange
  5 c green
  10 c orange
  20 c black
  50 c orange
  1 S red
  5 S blue

Five types of overprint exist. Price: * to ***. Type 5 reads '1897 Y 1898'.

1895 Fiscal stamp of 1891-92 overprinted "1894-95 CORREOS DOS CENTAVOS"

(Sorry, no picture available yet)

  2 c on 2 c red

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

1895 Fiscal stamps of 1895-96 overprinted "CORREOS" and surcharged (issued for Guaranda during the revolution)

(Sorry, no picture available yet)

  5 c on 1 c blue
  5 c on 2 c orange
  5 c on 4 c brown
  5 c on 10 c grey
  5 c on 1 S red
  5 c on 5 S violet
  5 c on 10 S green

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

For stamps of Equador issued from 1896 to 1920 and miscellaneous click here.

Copyright by Evert Klaseboer