Provisional Government of Spain

December 1868

On September 30, 1868, the Revolutionary Committee in Spain, prompted perhaps by a revengeful spirit as well as a desire to emphasise the change in form of the government, decreed that the legend "HABILITADO POR LA NACION" should be surcharged on all stamps while awaiting a new issue ordered from the Fabrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre in Madrid.


Many varieties of hand stamping dies for these surcharges were made at the Casa de la Moneda, in Madrid. On October 21, 1868, a total of 27 of these metal handstamps were sent to the Civil Governor of the Philippines with an order to surcharge all current postage stamps. All the dies sent were, fortunately, of the so-called "Viscaya type", so there are no varieties of type to complicate these surcharges. The dies were received at Manila in December 1868 and the stamps then on hand were surcharged and issued as soon as possible.

The surcharging was done very hastily by Filipino employees of the ordinary class, and because there were no specific instructions given on how to apply the overprint to the stamps, there are many varieties in usage, as well as errors. As a result, stamps are found with the surcharge applied vertically, reading upward or downward; sideways, reading upward or downward; inverted; doubled; or in any combination of these possibilities.

Naturally enough, the first stamps to be overprinted for use were those of January 1864, being the stamps commonly in use at the actual time of the Revolution:


STAMP ISSUES OF 1864 OVERPRINTED "HABILITADO POR LA NACION"


3-1/8 centimos de peso fuerte. (Scott #35; SG #31; Edifil #20M)

6-2/8 centimos de peso fuerte. (Scott #36; SG #32; Edifil #20N)

12-4/8 centimos de peso fuerte. (Scott #37; SG #33; Edifil #20O)

25 centimos de peso fuerte. (Scott #38; SG #34; Edifil #20P)

Note: Authorities tend to disagree with the actual first day of sale for this issue, as follows:
1) October 21, 1868 - Mencarini, (1896). This being the date the dies were despatched to Manila.
2) December 1868 - Bartels, (1904) and Palmer, (1912).
3) 1869 - Lopez, (1890); Yvert, (1912); and the Edifil Unificado Catalogue.
4) February (?) 1869 - Hanciau, (1905).

 

VARIETIES AND ERRORS

The various varieties found on the original stamps are also present on the each of the overprinted issues, as follows:


With No Period under "o" of "Po"

 

With No Period under "e" of "Fe"

 

With No Period under "o" of "Po" and "e" of "Fe"

 

 

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