There’s a saying in Spanish that goes something like:
There’s no worse blind man than the one who doesn’t want to see.
Popular proverb
Almost ten years ago I had the privilege of
And yet, some insist on the absolutely fantastic and unsubstantiated fable that these pieces are an unadopted essay of Venezuela’s first series. Even important auction houses like David Feldman, who is auctioning the block shown above, echoes the absurd theory.
It’s tiring… but that’s the mission of those of us who really care about our philately. And so another saying that fits this situation very well is:
Everything that needs to be said has already been said, but since no one was listening, everything must be repeated again.
— André Paul Guillaume Gide
For example, it has not been enough to show the similarity of this series with those printed in 1867, as shown below.
I imagine that could be considered circumstantial. Okay… Fair enough. That’s why I’m going to approach it differently this time. Let’s reduce it to absurdity.
Let’s get started.
By 1858, that is, shortly before the first series of stamps issued in Venezuela, the minimum postal rate was Medio Real or Cinco Centavos Fuertes.
That means the least a person would have to pay for the smallest thing they sent through the mail was 5 Centavos. Never less. That’s why it makes a lot of sense that the stamp with the lowest value in the first stamps is precisely Medio Real.
Printing stamps in those days cost money. And the country’s wallet was not in its best shape. Therefore, I estimate that in every project they executed, the economy was always a key factor.
And particularly with the projects related to La Cosa Postal, in Venezuela and the whole world, the effectiveness and efficiency in the communication and the use of the mail, were always the fundamental objectives.
So, the big question is… Why would the government issue or attempt to issue a series with values as incredibly low as MEDIO CENTAVO or UN CENTAVO?
To send a letter of less than 20g with those stamps, you would need five to ten stamps to pay for the less expensive rate!
Makes. No. Sense. Period.
It’s. Absurd. Period.
Issuing a half, one or even quarter centavo stamp only made economic sense in Venezuela after June 13, 1861, when the government decreed the approval of the Postal Agreement with Great Britain of May 1° of the same year. It was in this agreement, and not before, that special rates were created for newspapers and printed matter, which included Half and One Cent rates. The CUARTO CENTAVO stamp was contemplated only for the six-cent and one-quarter rate to be paid for any letter not exceeding half a British ounce and addressed to the United Kingdom.
On the other hand, about four years ago, I came across an interesting article in Philatelic Record magazine #40, May 1882.
This description only fits Los Godos Medio Real stamp. I understand that this can also be interpreted as another circumstantial evidence, but then we would already have one very strong evidence and two circumstantial ones.
What else does it take to start giving these pieces their rightful origin?
Anyway… since no one’s listening, I figure I’ll have to repeat it all over again tomorrow.
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