1

Cuba

Postage Stamp History

The United States intervened in Cuba in 1898. One of the interesting and rare series of stamps occurred as a result. This was the provisional issues known as 'Puerto Príncipe', now Camagüey named after the town where they were printed. The supplies of stamps in the town included stamps imprinted with the likeness of Alfonso XIII of Spain, but the United States in December, 1898, was now in control. A peace protocol had been entered into between U.S. and Spain on August 12, 1898, and the Treaty of Paris of December 10, 1898, ceded control to the United States. On December 19, 1898 the U.S. supplied stamps were still a month away from delivery. The local authorities solved that problem by obtaining permission from the provisional U.S. military government to contract a local printer to surcharge existing supplies of Spanish Cuban stamps with a surcharge of initially four different denominations. Eventually a total of five different printings were made that resulted in a total of five different denominations. These surcharged issues are scarce. As a result, forgeries are numerous. A Puerto Príncipe stamp should be authenticated to have maximum value to a collector. By using vertical verification lines, one can get a good idea of whether on not a surcharge is original or forged.

The provisional stamp overprints on U.S. stamps initially consisted of a 1 centavo on a 1¢ Franklin, 2½c on a 2¢ Washington, 3c on a 3¢ Jackson, 5c on a 5¢ Grant, 10c on a 10¢ Webster and a 10c overprint on a U.S. special delivery stamp. It turned out that the 2½¢ stamp was in error as the postage rates had recently changed. They continued to use the 2½¢ stamps anyway and sold them for and valued them at 2¢ so as not to waste the large printing. Later a 2¢ overprint appeared.

Later in 1899, the United States printed a series of six stamps for Cuba. They are known as the 'Alegorías Cubana' or Cuban allegory stamps. Regular postage rates of 1¢, 2¢, 3¢, 5¢ and 10¢ and a special delivery 10¢ stamp comprised this series.

As with the adhesive stamps, the first provisional stamped envelopes were also overprints on U.S. stock. There were eight different U.S. envelopes that were overprinted 'CUBA.' and '1c. (or 2c.) DE PESO.'. By the late summer of 1899, the U.S. had furnished Cuba with its own Columbus design to replace the overprints. Likewise the first (and only) postal cards of the U.S. administration were a 1¢ U.S. Jefferson card overprinted with 'CUBA.-1c. de Peso.' and a 2¢ U.S. Liberty card overprinted with 'CUBA.-2c. de Peso.' U.S. rule of Cuba ended on May 20, 1902 when Cuba became an independent Republic.

This album is organized with the 'Puerto Principe' issues displayed at the end of this album for those who wish to only print the more common and reasonalby priced issues of this USA Possession.

2

Cuba

Issued Under United States AdministrationPuerto Principe Issue

In December 1898, Puerto Principe, a provincial capital now called Camaguey, ran short of 1c, 2c, 3c, 5c, and 10c stamps.The Postmaster ordered Cuban stamps to be surcharged on December 19, 1898

The surcharging was done to horizontal strips of five stamps, so vertical pairs and blocks do not exist.Five types are found in each setting, and five printings were made.

Refer to the Identifier on the last page for help in properly identifying this issueExamples of Surcharges used and other information can be found in the CUBA section of the Scott US Specialized Stamp Catalogue

Regular Issues of Cuba of 1896 and 1898 Surcharged1898-99, Black Surcharge on Nos. 156-158, 160

1cent on 1m (a)

orange brown pos1

176

1cents on 1m (b)

orange brown pos4

177

2c on 2m (c)

orange brown pos1

178

2c on 2m

inverted surcharge

178a

2c on 2m (d)

orange brown pos1

179

2c on 2m

inverted surcharge

179a

3c on 1m (k)

orange brown pos4

179B

3c on 1m (l)

orange brown pos4

179D

3c on 2m (e)

orange brown pos2

179F

3c on 2m (f)

orange brown pos2

179G

3c on 3m (e)

orange brown pos1

180

3c on 3m

inverted surcharge

180a

3c on 3m (f)

orange brown pos1

181

3c on 3m

inverted surcharge

181a

5c on 1m (g)

orange brown pos2

182

5c on 1m

inverted surcharge

182a

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Cuba

5c on 1m (h)

orange brown pos2

183

5c on 1m

inverted surcharge

183a

5c on 2m (g)

orange brown pos2

184

5c on 2m (h)

orange brown pos2

185

5c on 3m (g)

orange brown pos2

186

5c on 3m

inverted surcharge

186a

5c on 3m (h)

orange brown pos2

187

5c on 3m

inverted surcharge

187a

5c on 5m (g)

orange brown pos 1&2

188

5c on 5m

inverted surcharge

188a

5c on 5m (h)

orange brown pos 1&2

189

5c on 5m

inverted surcharge

189a

5c on 5m (i)

orange brown pos4

189C

4

Cuba

Black Surcharge on No. P25

5c on 1/2m (g)

blue green pos2

190

5c on 1/2m

inverted surcharge

190a

5c on 1/2m (h)

blue green pos2

191

5c on 1/2m

inverted surcharge

191a

5c on 1/2m (i)

blue green pos4

192

5c on 1/2m (j)

blue green pos4

193

Red Surcharge on No. 161

3c on 1c (k)

black violet pos3

196

3c on 1c

inverted surcharge

196a

3c on 1c (l)

black violet pos3

197

3c on 1c

inverted surcharge

197a

5c on 1c (i)

black violet pos3

198

5c on 1c

inverted surcharge

198a

5c on 1c (j)

black violet pos3

199

5c on 1c

inverted surcharge

199a

5

Cuba

10c on 1c (m)

black violet pos3

200

10c on 1c

broken figure '1'

200a

The following series lists only the common varieties. Many sub-varieties exist and are catalogued in the Scott United States Specialized.

Black Surcharge on Nos. P26-P30

3c on 1m (k)

blue green pos5

201

3c on 1m (l)

blue green pos5

202

3c on 2m (k)

blue green pos5

203

3c on 2m (l)

blue green pos5

204

3c on 3m (k)

blue green pos5

205

3c on 3m (l)

blue green pos5

206

5c on 1m (i)

blue green pos5

211

5c on 1m (j)

blue green pos5

212

5c on 2m (i)

blue green pos5

213

5c on 2m (j)

blue green pos5

214

5c on 3m (i)

blue green pos5

215

5c on 3m (j)

blue green pos5

216

5c on 4m (i)

blue green pos5

217

5c on 4m (j)

blue green pos5

218

5c on 8m (i)

blue green pos5

219

5c on 8m (j)

blue green pos5

220

6

CubaGeneral Postage

USA Nos. 279, 267, 267b, 279Bf, 279Bh, 268, 281, 282C, and 283Surcharged in Black

1899, Wmk. 191, Perf. 12

221

222

2c on 2c

reddish carmine type IV

222A

2.5c on 2c

reddish carmine type III

223

2.5c on 2c

reddish carmine type IV

223A

224

225

226

10c on 10c

brown type II

226A

Issues of the Republic under US Military Rule Re-engravedThe re-engraved stamps issued by the Republic of Cuba in 1905-07 may be distinguished from the issue of 1899 as follows:

Nos. 227-231 are watermarked U S-C1c : The ends of the label inscribed 'Centavo' are rounded instead of square2c : The foliate ornaments, inside the oval disks bearing the numerals of value, have been removed5c : Two lines forming a right angle have been added in the upper corners of the label bearing the word 'Cuba'10c: A small ball has been added to each of the square ends of the label

Scott 227 Original

Scott 227 Re-Engraved

Scott 228 Original

Scott 228 Re-Engraved

Scott 230 Original

Scott 230 Re-Engraved

Scott 231 Original

Scott 231 Re-Engraved

1899, Wmk. US-C(191C), Perf. 12

227

228

229

230

231

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Cuba

Special Delivery Stamps

Issued under United States AdministrationSpecial Delivery Stamp of the United States No. E5 Surcharged in Red

1899, Wmk. 191, Perf. 12

E1

Issue of the Republic under US Military RuleSpecial Delivery Messenger SD2

Inscribed: Immediata1899, Wmk. US-C(191C), Perf. 12

E2

Postage Due Stamps

Issued under United States AdministrationPostage Due Stamps of the United States Nos. J38

J39, J41, and J42 Surcharged in Black like Nos.221-226A

1899, Wmk. 191, Perf. 12

J1

2c on 2c

deep claret

J2

5c on 5c

deep claret

J3

10c on 10c

deep claret

J4

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Cuba

Puerto Principe Identification Page

The small letters in brackets next to the denomenation represent the overprint variety as above

The numbers next to the colour as in 'pos1, pos2' etc. represent the position of the overprint

For further information regarding this issue, many web sites and the Scott United States Specialized Catalogue provide useful information

As this page is purely optional, it is placed at the end for easy printing.