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I have brought these prices up to date and added currency selection.     I have made some additions and given them 'RH' (Revised Hiscocks) numbers to   preserve the original Hiscocks numbers and avoid confusion.   The RH number is the same as the Hiscocks number if not otherwise specified.   CheckList         Setup

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1876	1880	Submarinos	1885	1886	1889	Forgeries	Revisado	1890	1892	1894	1896	1897	Correos y Telegrafos	Revolutionary Government	Canton Isla Negros	Telegraphic Usage.

 

Philippines. Steve Hiscocks wrote: As elsewhere in the Spanish empire the introduction of Telegraph stamps was preceded by the use of revenue stamps whose telegraphic use is indicated by punched cancellations identical to those of the early telegraph stamps. All those I have seen have been 'Derechos de Firma' and I have examples from 1865 (Forbin 4), 1867 (Forbin 8), 1873 (Forbin 16) and 1878 (Forbin 19 & 20). These last, issued after the first telegraph stamps, show that revenue stamps continued to be used in times of shortage. The telegraph stamps themselves are well behaved from 1874 to 1897 with only the provisionals of 1881 to 1885 on postage stamps of different dies (explained in Notes) to confuse the issue. The issue of 'Spanish' telegraph stamps ceased in 1897 with the Spanish-American war and late 1898 or early 1899 saw the issue of two interesting telegraph stamps by the 'Revolutionary Government' acting independently of both Spanish and U.S. authorities. Morley's Journal of April 1901 contains the text of an interesting letter from 1st. Lt. Ralph Platt of the US occupying army giving full details of the discovery and occupation of a 'revolutionary post and telegraph office' in Binondo [district of Manila]. This seems to show that the revolutionary stamps were in full use — "the stamps of the Revolutionary Government were placed on all telegrams sent, and that telegraph stamps were used indiscriminately on the telegraph blanks." This use of revolutionary stamps is interesting in that propaganda is usually confined to postage stamps which are seen by the general public and not attempted on telegraph stamps which are seen only by (sometimes) the sender and by the telegraph office staff. My notes: The Eastern Extension Australasia and China laid cables linking the Philippine islands during 1897-9, then a cable from Hong Kong to Luzon in 1880. Commercial Pacific Cable Co. laid a cable from Manila to Guam in 1902. Guam had previously been connected via Midway Islands and Honolulu to San Francisco. Guam was later connected to Bonin Island, Japan in 1906 by Siemens Brothers. India Rubber, Gutta Percha and Telegraph Works Co., laid a cable from Manila to Shanghai, also in 1906.   1874 (January) White wove paper. No watermark. Perf. 14 RH # Hisc. Type. Description Mint Used RH1 H1 1 1.25P lilac-grey 100.00 20.00

Hiscocks added the following note:

Note. Up to about 1880 the normal cancellation was a roughly circular hole of about 5mm diameter.                 Handstamped cancellations of black bars, etc. are also found.

 

1876-1882 Alfonso XII, white wove paper. No watermark. Perf. 14

Type 2 - H2	Type 2 - H3 Courtesy of Rolf Lamprecht	Type 3a - H3a		Punched postage stamp 8c on 100m (Sc73) of 1879

 

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH2	H2	2	250m light brown	15.00	4.00
RH2a	H2a		imperf.	25.00	-
RH3	H3	2	250m deep ultramarine	30.00	4.00
RH3a	H3a		dull violet-blue	30.00	4.00

 

1880-1881 Alfonso XII (new design), white wove paper. No watermark. Perf. 14

Type 3 (H4)	Type 3 (H5)	Type 3 (H6)	Type 3 (H7) See also note 5 below H22.	Type 3 (H8) See also note 5 below H22.

 

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH4	H4	3	25c blue-grey	20.00	3.00
RH5	H5	3	1p brown	12.00	2.00
RH6	H6	3	2p dull blue-green	12.00	2.00
RH7	H7	3	5p violet grey	20.00	2.00
RH8	H8	3	10p lake	50.00	4.00

 

1881 - Revenue stamp of 1878 (Forbin No. 13 of Judicial) overprinted as type 5 in black. No watermark. Perf. 14
It is unclear why this was done since the face value of 2 Reales is equivalent to the 25c stamp above.
According to Wiki the Real was replaced in 1852 and went out of circulation in 1864,
so perhaps they wanted to make use of these rather than printing more 25c.
But that does not explain why the Forbin No. 13 was produced with values in Reales in 1878 (when the Real went out of use in 1852)
and not replaced with values in Pesos until 1882. I suspect the Wiki is wrong with its dates.

Steve Hiscocks quoted July 1881 for this, but the only example I have seen is on a form dated 8 April 1881 (shown near the bottom).

Type 5	H9	Another H9 courtesy of Rolf Lamprecht

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH9	H9	4, 5	2 reales (25c) blue	60.00	10.00

 

My note: many of the following use fractions with a denominator of 8 (pieces of eight ?) — i.e. 2/8 or 4/8.
This is probably because 1 Peso = 8 Reales. Since I cannot easily represent such fractions on the computer screen,
I have replaced some of them with the normally used arithmetic equivalent of ¼ or ½.

 

1885(?) Postage stamp of 1880-82 (SG 95) overprinted as type 7 or 8 in red. White wove paper. No watermark. Perf. 14
The example of type 6 shows that they were being used telegraphically before the overprint was added.

Type 6	Hiscocks Type 7	Hiscocks Type 8 (forgery)

Note the telegraph cancel on the Type 6 postage stamp.

Type 9A (Original) - Courtesy of Rolf Lamprecht	Type 9 (1st retouch) - Courtesy of Rolf Lamprecht	Type 10 (2nd retouch) - Courtesy of Rolf Lamprecht

Hairline differences as in note below.

H10	H10a forgery made to defraud the Government	RH10b "SUBMARIИOS" Courtesy of Rolf Lamprecht

N reversed and stop after the "S".

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	1885 Description	Mint	Used
RH10	H10	6, 7, 9	1p on 2⁴͏/͏₈c dull ultramarine (shades)	20.00	1.00
RH10a	H10a	6, 8, 9	fake overprint similar but smaller (2mm letters at top)	20.00	1.00
RH10b	-	6, 7, 9	N reversed - "SUBMARIИOS"	-	-
RH11	H11	6, 7, 10	on stamp of second type (see note below)	20.00	1.00
RH11a	H11a	6, 8, 10	as No. 11 but smaller, fake overprint	20.00	1.00
RH11b	-	6, 7, 10	N reversed - "SUBMARIИOS"	-	-

Hiscocks added the following note:

Note. SG 95 exists in several forms, two of which were overprinted for telegraphic use.                 In one the hair line at the temple is pointed and highlighted with a white strip:                 in the other the hairline is more rounded and the white strip is absent.                 See illustrations 9 and 10 [ABOVE].

My note: In 1938, Arnold H. Warren published an article "Unlisted Varieties and Forgeries of a Philippine Telegraph Stamp" in the AFF magazine.
It refers to the type above and lists 8 types of forgery intended to defraud the Government.
It was very lucrative and the same forger went on to forge some of the overprints used on the series below.
The examples shown for H20 and H21 are probably more forgeries intended to defraud the Government.

 

1885-1887 Postage stamps of 1880-82 (SG 95 and, in one case SG 94) overprinted and surcharged in various types and colours as indicated below.
White wove paper. No watermark. Perf. 14

Types 11-18 from Hiscocks book page 244

H12 - Courtesy of Rolf Lamprecht	H13 - Type 9.	H14 - Type 10.	H15	H16	H17

 

H18	H19	H20	H21 Courtesy of Mathew Stephenson.	H22 - Courtesy of Rolf Lamprecht

My note: The overprints on the examples shown for H21 is probably a forgery intended to defraud the Government.
The overprints on H19 and H22 are probably genuine. (see my note under H11b above)

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH12	H12	6, 9, 11	1c on 2⁴͏/͏₈c dull ultramarine in violet	2.00	1.00
RH13	H13	6, 9, 12	1c on 2⁴͏/͏₈c dull ultramarine in black (Jan. 1887)	20.00	8.00
RH14	H14	6, 10, 12	1c on 2⁴͏/͏₈c dull ultramarine in black (Jan. 1887)	2.00	1.00
RH15	H15	6, 9, 13	2⁴͏/͏₈c on 2⁴͏/͏₈c dull ultramarine in carmine (7.3.86)	2.00	1.00
RH16	H16	6, 10, 14	2⁴͏/͏₈c on 2⁴͏/͏₈c dull ultramarine in blue (7.3.86)	2.00	1.20
RH16a	H16a		overprint in black	4.00	2.00
RH17	H17	6, 9, (13)	5c on 2⁴͏/͏₈c dull ultramarine in carmine (7.3.86)	2.40	1.00
RH18	H18	6, 10, (13)	5c on 2⁴͏/͏₈c dull ultramarine in brown-yellow (Jan. 1887)	3.00	1.00
RH19	H19	6, 9, 16	20c on 2⁴͏/͏₈c dull ultramarine in black (7.3.86)	4.00	2.00
RH20	H20	6, 10, 16	20c on 2⁴͏/͏₈c dull ultramarine in vermilion (Jan. 1887)	4.00	2.00
RH21	H21	6, 9, (18)	25c on 2⁴͏/͏₈c dull ultramarine in carmine (10.3.85)	20.00	4.00
RH22	H22	17, 18	25c on 25c brown (SG94) in green (10.3.85)	15.00	2.00

Hiscocks added the following 5 notes:

Note 1. Where a type number is in brackets, the particular overprint                 is not illustrated but is similar to that indicated.

Note 2. No. 16 is listed in all catalogues as having a blue overprint                 but my copy has a black overprint which I have shown                 as a variety (No. 16a) pending clarification.

Note 3. The dates of this series are uncertain. Morley gives 1885                 while others give 1882-88. The specific dates given                 above are taken from W. C. Stones listing in                 'The American Philatelist' 1891.

Note 4. There are reported to be many variants on the above                 overprints — double printings, inverteds, etc.                 These would command a premium of x5-x10 but have                 not been listed separately for lack of specific information.

Note 5. Punched cancellations had apparently been abandoned in                 the 1880-85 period and the provisionals are normally                 cancelled with a special oval office stamp with a                 'burst of thunderbolts' motif in the centre — black or,                 less often, blue. Pen cancels are also commonly found                 as is a blue handstamp with a large 'T' in thick wavy                 style and smaller letters 'Y' and 'G' on either side,                 thus   YTG   .

For examples of the 'YTG' cancel in note 5, see H7, H8 & H11a above.
Nigel Gooding provides the following useful information:
"This is actually YTC (fancy C). It stands for Ynternational Telegraph Company
(Y being used during the Spanish period). This company was known in
Manila from 1881 through early 1890s. Believed to be a private firm
under contract to the Spanish Government to operate the telegraph
service in Manila during the 1880s. They sometimes overprinted the
stamps affixed to the telegraphs with the YTC cancel (with or without
application of the telegraph punch hole)."

 

1886 Type similar to that of 1880 (Alfonso XII) in new colours and values. White wove paper. No watermark. Perf. 14

Type 19 (H23) courtesy of treasurings-jewelry	Type 19 (H24) Courtesy of Paul & Les Bottomley	Type 19 (H25)	Type 19 (H26) Courtesy of Paul & Les Bottomley

 

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	1886 Description	Mint	Used
RH23	H23	19	25c bronze-green	3.00	1.50
RH24	H24	19	2p sepia	20.00	2.00
RH25	H25	19	5p blue green	40.00	2.00
RH26	H26	19	10p dark blue	40.00	2.00

 

1888 As above. New values and colours.
Though Hiscocks distinguished between the retouch states of the submarinos issue of 1885, he does not on these.
A glance at them shows that there is a mixture, wide up to 20c then narrow. I would really welcome any images the I'm missing.

Type 19 (H27) Courtesy of maseratiaxel on eBay.	Type 19 (H28) Courtesy of maseratiaxel on eBay.	Type 19 (H29)	Type 19 (H30)	Type 19 (H31) Courtesy of maseratiaxel on eBay.

Type 19 (H32)	H33, 10c brown. Image needed.	Type 19 (H34) courtesy of treasurings-jewelry	Type 19 (H34a) Courtesy of maseratiaxel on eBay.	Type 19 (H34b)

Type 19 (H35) Courtesy of maseratiaxel on eBay.	Type 19 (H36) Courtesy of maseratiaxel on eBay.	Type 19 (H37) Courtesy of maseratiaxel on eBay.	Type 19 (H38) Courtesy of maseratiaxel on eBay.

 

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH27	H27	19, 10	1c olive-sepia	2.00	1.00
RH27a	H27a		pale olive-sepia	2.50	1.00
RH28	H28	19, 10	2c carmine	50.00	12.00
RH29	H29	19, 10	2⁴͏/͏₈c brown	1.00	0.80
RH29a	H29a		dark brown	6.00	4.00
RH30	H30	19, 10	5c blue	1.00	0.80
RH31	H31	19, 10	10c yellow-green	80.00	20.00
RH32	H32	19, 10	10c lilac	2.00	0.80
RH32a	H32a		deep lilac	15.00	4.00
RH33	H33	19	10c brown	4.00	0.80
*RH33a	-		imperf.	-	-
RH34	H34	19, 10	20c pale dull lilac	2.00	0.80
RH34a	H34a	19, 10	deep dull lilac	8.00	4.00
*RH34b	-	19, 9	25c ultramarine	-	-
RH35	H35	19, 9	1p rose	60.00	8.00
RH36	H36	19, 9	2p carmine	8.00	2.00
RH37	H37	19, 9	5p yellow-green	40.00	1.20
RH38	H38	19, 9	10p dark brown	40.00	8.00

*Added due to example seen.

Hiscocks added the following note:

Note. No. 31 is said to have been for 'Postal Union' use.

 

1889

Hiscocks also gave this general note:

General Note. A shortage of telegraph stamps in 1889 led to a decree of                 30 March 1889 authorizing the use of telegraph stamps overprinted                 "Recargo de Consumes. Habilitado" in an oval containing the value in                 black — i.e. returning telegraph stamps which had been converted                 to fiscals to their original use.                 The values authorized were 5, 7½, and 10 cents on No. 34 (20c lilac)                 (Forbin 30-32) which are known, together with 11¼c (Forbin 33) on                 No. 34 and 17½, 25, 40 and 75c and 1 and 1.25 pesos, unlisted by                 Forbin, not seen, but possibly also on No. 34. It seems unlikely that                 those above 10c were used.                 They were withdrawn from telegraph use on 10 August 1889.                 They have not been listed since they are effectively undifferentiated                 fiscal stamps and were presumably mainly used for that purpose.

For ease of reference, this is (my interpretation of) the list of Fiscal stamps authorized for use as Telegraph stamps, as in the General Note above.
The Forbin list of these is on page 350 of the third edition (1915). Number 33 is the last on the page, and the next page is a new section.
Rather an abrupt finish.

My Ref. No.	Forbin No.	Description	Authorized	Seen by Hiscocks	Forbin Price (Fr)
-	23	2⁴͏/͏₈c on 1c olive-sepia (H27)	No	?	2.50
-	24	2⁴͏/͏₈c on 2c carmine (H28)	No	?	1.00
-	25	2⁴͏/͏₈c on 2½c brown (H29)	No	?	0.30
-	26	2⁴͏/͏₈c on 5c blue (H30)	No	Yes	0.25
-	27	2⁴͏/͏₈c on 10c yellow-green (H31)	No	?	0.25
-	28	2⁴͏/͏₈c on 10c lilac (H32)	No	?	2.50
-	29	2⁴͏/͏₈c on 20c lilac (H34)	No	?	1.00
F1	30	5c on 20c lilac (H34)	Yes	Yes	0.75
F2	31	7⁴͏/͏₈c on 20c lilac (H34)	Yes	Yes	25.00
F3	32	10c on 20c lilac (H34)	Yes	Yes	12.50
F4	33	11²͏/͏₈c on 20c lilac (H34)	Yes	No	30.00
F5	-	17⁴͏/͏₈c on 20c lilac (H34)	Yes	No	-
-	-	25c on 20c lilac (H34)	Yes	No	-
-	-	40c on 20c lilac (H34)	Yes	No	-
-	-	75c on 20c lilac (H34)	Yes	No	-
-	-	1p on 20c lilac (H34)	Yes	No	-
-	-	1.25p on 20c lilac (H34)	Yes	No	-

 

This implies that other values, or on postage stamps, such as these 2⁴͏/͏₈c on various postal values (F17, F19 and F21)
Forbin 16-22 was this overprint on 7 similar postage stamps.

Were NOT authorized for Telegraphic use, and remained Fiscal stamps.

The ones below are Fiscal stamps, F23 - F25 which were also not NOT authorized for Telegraphic use.
First three courtesy of Mike Palmer.

The first could yield 150% profit to a forger, the second 25% and the rest would be a loss. To me it does look suspicious, but there actually is quite a bit of variability in these surcharges.

The last is an example of Forbin F25 with a Telegraph cancel. The image is supplied by Harry Patsalos who tells me that he has about half a dozen like this, all with gum. The cancel is of Tanduay, famous for its Rum Distillery. There are plenty of examples that show telegraphic use of stamps intended for other purposes. I also know that in busy offices using stamps, many of them pre-cancelled stamps to save time at peak periods, but this is an inspectors cancel normally used on whole sheets. Since it is gummed, my feeling is that these were cancelled by favour. I would welcome further similar examples, with or without gum.

The ones below are Fiscal stamps, F26 - F29 which were also not NOT authorized for Telegraphic use.

Images courtesy of Mike Palmer

However these were authorized:

F1 (Forbin 30) Courtesy of Rolf Lamprecht	F2 (Forbin 31) Courtesy of Mike Palmer	F3 (Forbin 32) Courtesy of Rolf Lamprecht	F5? - (inverted overprint) Courtesy of LiquidationGirl on eBay	Bogus, 17⁴͏/͏₈c on 10c

I am not convinced that the "F5" has a genuine overprint, the + symbols are noticeably smaller. The last is a Bogus, 17½c on 10c lilac with apparently the same surcharge.
Anyone have a Forbin 33 (11²͏/͏₈c on 20c lilac) ?

 

Having said all that, usage of stamps for telegraphic purposes in the Philippines (and many other places)
was not always constrained by what was authorized. It also depended on what was available and whether the staff knew what was authorized or even cared.

 

A block of Forbin #26 (half size) courtesy of Mathew Stephenson

 

 

Revisado.

1889 (1 January or perhaps earlier) Revisado (Revised?) Handstamp.

According to Nigel Gooding, citing Don Peterson, IPPS Newsletter, 4th Quarter 1997,
though this looks like a manuscript cancel, it is a handstamp that was intended to be applied to
surcharged stamps on telegraph receipts to return the value to what it was without the surcharge.

An 1890 type :

HOWEVER :
Examples on "Receipts" show that stamps with this handstamp were given the full value of the surcharge, so it would seem that Don Peterson was incorrect. So then what was this for ?
"Revisado" can also mean "Reviewed" and it would seem that due to the discovery of forgeries, "Receipts" may have been reviewed to check for forgeries.

There is an account in a Letter from F.L. Palmer, Manila to J.M. Bartels, New York Dated August 17 and 27, 1905 (Philippine Philatelic Journal, vol 29 no 3 pp. 9-14).
Both are key US philatelists of Philippine philately of that time and in 1904 they produced a handbook of Philippine postage and telegraph stamps, which has stood the test of time and is a valuable reference even today.
In 1905 Palmer was a resident in Manila. He is nevertheless recounting information second hand:

"As to telegrams, I enclose two stamped telegraph receipts showing different methods at different times, 1884 and 1899. From the latter, you will also see how much value as to be [sic] set on stamps of other departments cancelled “CORREOS” etc. I understand that, when the Inspector came around, usually once a month, to check up the office accounts, he cancelled the stamps which had been originally put on the blank [telegraph receipt]. This accounts for the difference in date between telegrams and cancellation of stamps. In earlier days it had been found that the stamps could be taken off a telegraph receipt and used again, so they took to punching them. The YTG was the inspector’s cancellation in those days, I believe. You will also see how it is possible, and sometimes occurred, that one or two of the stamps should escape cancellation by punching, thus accounting for unpunched copies, as of UN REAL black on 2c carmine [Scott # 93]. I am also told that the “REVISADO”, in manuscript, often seen on punched stamps, was another way of the inspector’s cancelling. Someone evidently got hold of a “CORREOS” cancellation stamp, for I frequently come across blocks cancelled “REVISADO” and later cancelled “CORREOS”, etc. also. Am told that all telegraph receipts were supposed to be burned after being kept for 4 years, but really they could be gotten, for _ or friendship, from easy officials. In fact, so great was the looseness in such matters, it is almost impossible to find out anything definite here about the genuineness of anything at all."

The Revisado handstamps appear to have come into use after the discovery of forged high-value surcharges on low value stamps (see my note after H11b above) and H48 (see below).

 

5P forgeries: An article by Christian Preuße, published in the first quarter 2024 Philippine Philatelic Journal, describes this forgery.
This is thought to have been due to a shortage of low-value telegraph stamps at the time.
The handstamp was of a size that fitted across two stamps:


As in this example, not all stamps on telegraph receipts were telegraph stamps.
Over-enthusiastic (or indiscriminate) application results in the handstamp being found on non-surcharged stamps also.
The handstamp was more likely to have been used on stamps with a high-value surcharge, but in principle could be applied to anything available.
Dated known examples are mostly in the range of January to April 1889, with a few later. My example of H11 above has this, I have also seen it on H23.

He Notes: It is anticipated that the majority of the 1881 to 1888 Postal issues exist with the 'Revisado' handstamp.
He also says "All loose (off-paper) stamps with this handstamp would have been removed from the original telegraph receipts,
and as a result, are technically classified as Telegraphic used issues, as opposed to Postal issues."
My thanks to Nigel Gooding for this information and images.
Anyone have a complete receipt showing this ?

 

 

1890 (January) New design. White wove paper. No watermark. Perf. 14

Only "TELEGRAFOS" at the top.

Type 20 (H39) Courtesy of Les Bottomley	Type 20 (H40)	Type 20 (H41) courtesy of Al Gore.	Type 20 (H42)	H43, 12⁴͏/͏₈c carmine. Image needed.	H44, 20c deep blue. Image needed.

H45, 25c brown. Image needed.	Type 20 (H46) Courtesy of Les Bottomley	H47, 2p yellow-brown. Image needed.	Type 20 (H48) Courtesy of Les Bottomley	H48 forgery used in Manila Courtesy of SoleryLlach	Type 20 (H49)

The H48 forgey shown above appears to have suffered a partial colour change. This may indicate that the ink used for it was not colour-fast and changed when soaking it off.
If you should be lucky enough to get one of these, don't soak it ! More information on the forgery below.
Note, the British Victorian 1/- green was printed using colour fast blue and soluable yellow ink. When soaking the yellow disolved leaving the blue. It was to prevent re-use.

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	1890 Description	Mint	Used
RH39	H39	20	1c dull blue-green	1.60	1.20
RH40	H40	20	2⁴͏/͏₈c sepia	1.60	1.20
RH41	H41	20	5c rose	8.00	4.00
RH42	H42	20	10c brown	8.00	4.00
RH43	H43	20	12⁴͏/͏₈c carmine	6.00	4.00
RH44	H44	20	20c deep blue	6.00	4.00
RH45	H45	20	25c brown	10.00	4.00
RH46	H46	20	1p olive-grey	3.00	2.00
RH47	H47	20	2p yellow-brown	20.00	8.00
RH48	H48	20	5p yellow-green	8.00	4.00
RH49	H49	20	10p brown-violet	20.00	6.00

Hiscocks added the following note:

Note. No. 48 is known forged to defraud the authorities — used condition only. Price about £10.

5P forgeries: An article by Christian Preuße, published in the first quarter 2024 Philippine Philatelic Journal, describes this forgery.
It appears to be lithographed and has thicker frame lines and poor quality printing on poor quality paper.
Notably the serifs on "T" of "TELEGRAFOS" are much longer and it is perf. 13 rather than perf.14.
Dates range from April to July 1890. The authorities became aware of it 12 July and all the 5P were withdrawn by decree. Hence the 5P blue below.

Note that this is not the only forgery to defraud the Government, the 1 Pesos on 2½c Submarine Telegraph markup was also too lucrative to pass up.
See H10 and H11 above.

 

Late 1890 As above but new colours. See note below.

Type 20 (H54)

Needed due to the 5P forgeries mentioned above.

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Late 1890 Description	Mint	Used
RH50	H50	20	1c carmine	50.00	10.00
RH51	H51	20	5c olive-grey	50.00	10.00
RH52	H52	20	12½c dark brown	50.00	10.00
RH53	H53	20	25c green	50.00	10.00
RH54	H54	20	5p ultramarine	40.00	8.00

Hiscocks added the following note:

Note. The status of Nos. 50-53 seems to be in some doubt since they are listed by Galvez (1934) but not by other, later catalogues.                 They could perhaps be colour trials. No. 54 is not in doubt and is listed in all catalogues from Morley onwards.

My Note : Hiscocks puts the date of these as 1891, but he was assuming that the 5 Peso forgery was fairly trivial.
In fact its discovery in July 1890 caused the immediate withdrawal of all the 5P stamps, including a buy-back scheme necessitating urgent replacement.

 

From 1892 to 1897 there were many values and colours in the same design.
In an effort to make it easier to sort them out, I have tabulated them here by value and colour, giving the year and Hiscocks reference.

Denom. Colour Year Hisc. 1c rose 1892 H55 1c sepia(shades) 1894/5 H66 1c olive-grey 1896 H77 2⁴͏/͏₈c blue 1892 H56 2⁴͏/͏₈c red-brown 1894/5 H67 2⁴͏/͏₈c dull green 1896 H78 5c olive-grey 1892 H57 5c orange-red 1894/5 H68 5c brown 1896 H79 10c green 1892 H58 10c dark-blue 1894/5 H69 10c rose 1896 H80

Denom. Colour Year Hisc. 12⁴͏/͏₈c brown-lilac 1892 H59 12⁴͏/͏₈c greyish green 1895 H70 12⁴͏/͏₈c olive 1895 H70a 12⁴͏/͏₈c red-brown 1896 H81 20c yellow-brown 1892 H60 20c violet brown 1895 H71 20c orange 1896 H82 25c blue-green 1892 H61 25c carmine 1894/5 H72 25c violet 1896 H83

Denom. Colour Year Hisc. 1p orange 1892 H62 1p violet-black 1895 H73 1p blue 1896 H84 2p brown (shades) 1892 H63 2p pale ultramarine 1895 H74 2p reddish orange 1896 H85 5p brown-violet 1892 H64 5p yellow green 1894/5 H75 5p carmine 1896 H86 10p vermilion 1892 H65 10p brown violet 1894/5 H76 10p steel-blue 1896 H87

 

1892 As above but now inscribed "FILIP^AS-TELEGRAPHOS".

Type 21 (H55)	Type 21 (H56)	Type 21 (H57)	Type 21 (H58)

 

Type 21 (H59) - brown-lilac (shades !)		Type 21 (H60, yellow-brown)	Type 21 (H61)	Type 21 (H62)

H60 is courtesy of Mike Palmer.

Type 21 (H63) courtesy of treasurings-jewelry	Type 21 (H63)	Type 21 (H64) - brown-violet  (shades)		Type 21 (H65)

 

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	1892 Description	Mint	Used
RH55	H55	21	1c rose	2.00	1.00
RH56	H56	21	2⁴͏/͏₈c blue	3.00	1.00
RH57	H57	21	5c olive-grey	6.00	2.00
RH58	H58	21	10c green	3.00	2.00
RH59	H59	21	12⁴͏/͏₈c brown-lilac (shades)	3.00	1.50
RH60	H60	21	20c yellow-brown	15.00	2.50
RH61	H61	21	25c blue-green	3.00	1.50
RH62	H62	21	1p orange	6.00	1.50
RH63	H63	21	2p brown (shades)	8.00	1.50
RH64	H64	21	5p brown-violet (shades)	8.00	2.00
RH65	H65	21	10p vermilion	25.00	6.00

 

1894-1895 As above but with changed colours.

Type 21 (H66)		Type 21 (H67)	Type 21 (H68)	Type 21 (H69)

 

Type 21 (H70/70a) I'm not good at guessing shades, here are 3 shades scanned together.			Type 21 (H71) courtesy of treasurings-jewelry

 

Type 21 (H72)	Type 21 (H73)	Type 21 (H74)	Type 21 (H75)	H76 Courtesy of Victor Gugliano (victorgg)

 

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	1894/5 Description	Mint	Used
RH66	H66	21	1c sepia (shades)	3.00	1.50
RH67	H67	21	2⁴͏/͏₈c red-brown	2.50	1.50
RH68	H68	21	5c orange-red	2.50	1.50
RH69	H69	21	10c dark-blue	2.50	1.50
RH70	H70	21	12⁴͏/͏₈c greyish green (1895)	2.50	1.20
RH70a	H70a		olive (1895)	40.00	1.50
RH71	H71	21	20c violet brown (1895)	15.00	1.50
RH72	H72	21	25c carmine	8.00	1.50
RH73	H73	21	1p violet-black (1895)	8.00	1.50
RH74	H74	21	2p pale ultramarine (1895)	15.00	1.50
RH75	H75	21	5p yellow green	20.00	1.50
RH76	H76	21	10p brown violet	25.00	5.00

Hiscocks added the following note:

Note. Morley separates Nos. 66-77 (SIC) into those of 1894 and 1895 but does not list Nos. 75 & 76 at all.                 The year of issue of Nos. 75 and 76 is therefore uncertain.

 

1896 As above but with changed colours.

Type 21 (H77-olive-grey)	Type 21 (H78)	Type 21 (H79)	Type 21 (H80)	Type 21 (H81)

H77 is courtesy of Mike Palmer.

Type 21 (H82)	Type 21 (H83)	Type 21 (H83 yellowed paper) courtesy of treasurings-jewelry	Type 21 (H84)

 

Type 21 (H85)	Type 21 (H86) Image courtesy of ibredguy.co.uk.	Type 21 (H87) Image courtesy of ibredguy.co.uk.

 

Telegraph cancel on H71, courtesy of Dr Joe on eBay.

RH # Hisc. Type. 1896 Description Mint Used RH77 H77 21 1c olive-grey 2.50 2.00 RH77a H77a           imperf. 40.00 - RH78 H78 21 2⁴͏/͏₈c dull green 2.50 2.00 RH78a H78a           imperf. 40.00 - RH79 H79 21 5c brown 2.50 2.00 RH79a H79a           imperf. 40.00 - RH80 H80 21 10c rose 8.00 2.00 RH80a H80a           imperf. 40.00 - RH81 H81 21 12⁴͏/͏₈c red-brown 2.00 1.50 RH81a H81a           imperf. 60.00 - RH82 H82 21 20c orange 8.00 2.00 RH82a H82a           imperf. 60.00 - RH83 H83 21 25c violet 8.00 2.00 RH83a H83a           imperf. 60.00 - RH84 H84 21 1p blue 8.00 2.00 RH84a H84a           imperf. 80.00 - RH85 H85 21 2p reddish orange 15.00 2.00 RH85a H85a           imperf. 80.00 - RH86 H86 21 5p carmine 30.00 2.00 RH86a H86a           imperf. 80.00 - RH87 H87 21 10p steel-blue 40.00 2.00 RH87a H87a           imperf. 80.00 -

 

1897 No. 71 above overprinted as indicated in black.

Type 22 overprint	H88a inverted overprint courtesy of treasurings-jewelry	H88a inverted overprint courtesy of SoleryLlach (2024 auction)	Type 22 overprint on 5c, H68. courtesy of SoleryLlach (2024 auction)	In purple on 25c postage stamp. courtesy of Mike Palmer.

The last image is supplied by Mike Palmer, who says of it :
"It occurs on a unique sheet comprising mixed surcharges which has been referred to as a trial sheet but may have just been a 'reprint' using the genuine handstamp at about the same time as the official postal
and telegraph issues were surcharged. It is believed that only 10 stamps had this surcharge applied (of which I am aware of 4 in existence) - it is unlikely that any were used for telegraphic or postal use."
Mike shows more of these "reprint"s in purple on his web-page at TopicalPhilippines.com

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	1897 Description	Mint	Used
RH88	H88	21, 22	20c violet	6.00	1.50
RH88a	-		inverted overprint.	-	-

 

Correos y Telegrafos.

1898/9 Stamps were then issued intended for both postal and Telegraphic usage:

1898 - 1m	1898 - 2m	1898 - 3m	1898 - 4m	1898 - 5m

The values below 1c may only have been used for newspapers.

1898 - 1c	1898 - 2c dark blue-green (shades ?)		1898 - 3c	1898 - 4c	1898 - 5c

1898 - 6c Courtesy of Les Bottomley	1898 - 8c	1898 - 10c	1898 - 15c	1898 - 20c

1898 - 40c	1898 - 60c	1898 - 80c	1898 - 1P	1898 - 2P

Type CyT. telegraphic usage can only be established by the cancel. Surviving examples telegraphically used are not common,
despite low catalogue prices for postally used ones. The 3c and 20c are mine, 3m and 15c courtesy of Mike Palmer. All the rest except those marked as Les Bottomley are courtesy of Rolf Lamprecht.
With 20 different values, it must have been hard choosing 20 different colours. The 2c and 2P look about the same (though have different descriptions).

RH #	Type.	1878 Description	Mint	Postally Used	Telegraphically Used
CT1	CyT	1m orange-brown (shades)	0.20	1.00	-
CT2	CyT	2m orange-brown (shades)	0.20	1.00	-
CT3	CyT	3m orange-brown (shades)	0.20	1.25	-
CT4	CyT	4m orange-brown (shades)	7.00	30.00	-
CT5	CyT	5m orange-brown (shades)	0.20	2.00	-
CT6	CyT	1c violet black	0.20	0.45	-
CT7	CyT	2c dark blue-green (shades)	0.20	0.45	-
CT8	CyT	3c dark brown	0.20	0.45	-
CT9	CyT	4c orange	17.00	35.00	-
CT10	CyT	5c carmine-rose	0.20	0.45	-
CT11	CyT	6c dark blue	0.90	1.25	-
CT12	CyT	8c grey-brown	0.40	0.25	-
CT13	CyT	10c vermilion	1.50	1.00	-
CT14	CyT	15c olive-green	1.50	0.85	-
CT15	CyT	20c maroon	1.60	1.10	-
CT16	CyT	40c violet	0.90	1.25	-
CT17	CyT	60c black	3.50	3.00	-
CT18	CyT	80c red-brown	16.00	4.00	-
CT19	CyT	1P yellow-green	11.00	13.00	-
CT20	CyT	2P slate-blue	25.00	16.00	-

 

Revolutionary Government.

The Spanish–American War began in 1898. According to the Scott catalogue:

The Spanish surrendered in May 1898. Some Filipinos continued to fight until 1901. During this period provisional stamps were created in several areas. Some of these stamps may have been totally philatelic. See the Scott Specialized Catalogue of U. S. Stamps for stamps issued by Gen. Aguinaldo's Filipino Revolutionary Government.

My note: A guide as to which were purely philatelic is to see which ones are known used.
As always, it is for the collector to decide what to collect.

 

1898 Stamps of the Revolutionary Government of General Emilio Aguinaldo. White wove paper. No watermark. Perf. 11½
Sheets of 192 stamps, 16 rows of 12, lithographed by the Lithographia del Gomes in Santa Cruz, Manila.
About 19000 of each was printed.

Block of four of the 2c. Due to poor print quality there are lots of missing ink in various places. For example, look at the "E" of "CENTS" on the top-right stamp.

Type 23,   2c.   H89 Type 24,   50c.   H90   Used examples (Type I).

RH90b imperf between pair from Don Jesús Cacho collection 1938. Four known at that time.
3.7MB A.F.F. PDF

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH89	H89	23	2c violet (shades to lilac) (Type I)	2.50	6.00
RH89a	H89a		Type II	-	-
RH90	H90	21	50c blue (Type I)	2.00	10.00
RH90a	H90a		Type II	-	-
RH90b	-		Type I Imperf between pair	-	-

Hiscocks added the following 2 notes:

Note 1. Background information on these stamps is given in the introduction to this section.

Note 2. The two types of each of the above were reported by Morley in his Journal in 1902.                 The differences in Type II noted (relative to Type I, thought to be earlier in each case) were:-                 2c Thicker paper, larger stars in the angles of the triangle, and fewer, more distinct rays to the sun.                 50c Thicker paper, letters of 'PESO' to the right of the triangle malformed — tail missing on 'P'                 making it a small 'D', 'E' broken such as to resemble an 'F' and 'S' reversed.

My notes: Hiscocks pricing suggests that the two types are equally scarce.
Until recently, I had only ever seen Type I, but now I have seen Type II.

Types I (top) and II (bottom) compared courtesy of Marco Peña Cox.

The 2c is clearly a darker bluer shade with mis-shaped frame. On the 50c, the 'DE PESO' looks like it is actually mirrored and inverted, though the 'E' in 'PESO' is poorly drawn. It is quite possible that Type II stamps are forgeries, though there must be much more lucrative stamps to forge. Having said that, there were probably not many genuine ones outside of the Philippines in 1902 when they were reported. It is also possible that they were created by the government to undermine the finances of General Aguinaldo. Playing the devil's advocate, perhaps they were a genuine early attempt, analogous to HR-1 below. The perforations are a reasonable match.

 

The 'KKK' appearing on these stamps is an abbreviation for "Kataas-taasang, Kagalang-galang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan",
meaning "Sovereign Worshipful Association of the Sons of the Country".

 

Yefim Rozenshteyn has drawn my attention to a passage in the Scott catalogue that says regarding the Revolutionary stamps:
"Owing to the fact that stamps for the different purposes were not always available, together with a lack of proper instructions,
any of the adhesives were permitted to be used in the place of the other."

I will therefore list the ones in question on the understanding that this is for telegraphic usage.
As always, it is for the collector to decide what to collect.

 

2c.   HR-1   Postage	2c.   HR-2   Postage	2c.   HR-3   Posts & Telegraphs
Courtesy of Nigel Gooding.	Substitute telegraph stamps,  courtesy of Yefim Rozenshteyn.

Inscribed '1898 1899'

1m.   HR-4   Newspaper stamp	1m.   Hr4a   Newspaper stamp	8c.   HR-5   Registration stamp	10c.   HR-6   Receipt stamp
courtesy of Yefim Rozenshteyn.	courtesy of Les Bottomley	Substitute telegraph stamps,  courtesy of Yefim Rozenshteyn.

 

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Used
Hr1	-	HR-1	2c red (1,500)	-
Hr2	-	HR-2	2c red (50,000)	-
Hr3	-	HR-3	2c carmine (10,000)	-
Hr4	-	HR-4	1m black (50,000 including imperfs.)	-
Hr4a	-		imperf.	-
Hr5	-	HR-5	8c green (6,480)	-
Hr5a	-		imperf. (720)	-
Hr6	-	HR-6	10c brown	-

My notes:

Note 1. Type HR-3 would be valid for telegraphs anyway, but not specific to telegraphs.

Note 2. There were reprints of type HR-4 with a large 'A' in 'MILESIMA'.

 

Sale 24, Lot 501	Sale 91, Lot 1450	Sale 25, Lot 1699

Some interesting items courtesy of Schuyler Rumsey Philatelic Auctions. Click images for listing.


Can anyone provide scans of telegraphically used examples of these?

Further information on these stamps can be found at Aguinaldo Issues.

 

From 1899, postage stamps were issued by the U.S. Administration.
Again, the only way to recognise Telegraphically used ones would be by their cancel.

 

Canton Isla de Negros.

According to PhilippinePhilatelist.net, the Cantonal Republic of Negros was established on the by Generals Aniceto Lacson and Juan A, Araneta,
and existed from November 27, 1898 until March 4, 1899. It issued crudely perforated stamps on red-brown paper with denominations of 2c, 8c, 16c, 20c and 50c.
They illustrate three of them and go on to reference "A similar stamp without denomination plus the added name of the government department in which used was issued."
They are all inscribed "LOCALES / Telegrafos y Rentas / CORREOS" implying that they could be used for Telegraphs, Revenue or Postage.


These examples are courtesy of Jeff Turnbull. There may well be other Departments that issued stamps.

According to this article on Philippine Postage Stamps, there was a further three denominations issued December, 1899, a 5c green, a 10c red, and a 20c blue.
A worrying factor though is the involvement that it mentions of a Mr. Jose E. Marco of Bacolod. If this is the same Jose E. Marco as the
'infamous antiquarian from the island of Negros' mentioned by Maureen Cristin S. Justiniano in this PDF document, then authenticity has to be questioned.

Some imperforate examples.

These were sold on eBay described as forgeries. Images courtesy of steno1950 on eBay (click image for listing).

 

Can anyone provide more scans of Isla de Negros stamps?

 

 

 

Usage.

Before telegraph stamps were available, postage stamps were used for telegraphic purposes.
Even after telegraph stamps were available, for whatever reason, postage stamps were often still used for telegraphic purposes.


Images courtesy of Rolf Lamprecht.
The documents below show that even telegraph stamps converted to postal use could still get used telegraphically.

I have seen a number of examples of forms like this offered for sale. (front and back at 75dpi. Manila, dated 8 April 1881)
I bought this for the 2 Reales stamp at the top. The form is still intact, I digitally reconstructed the perforations for my H9 illustration.
 
At the top, rather than a word like Telégrafos or Telegrama, it has 'Importe Del P. Espedido Núm. or 'Amount of P. Required No.'
I don't know what the 'P.' stands for though perhaps Pago for Payment, or exactly what this form is, though it clearly has something to do with telegraphy
since it says 24 words at the top (11 Pesos 81 Cmos), and has a handstamp at the bottom with 'TELEGRAFOS' around the top.
It may be a receipt for sending a telegram to Hong Kong, but I would have expected to see the word 'Recibo' on it somewhere.

The back appears to have a (rather confused) description of the stamps, though I don't see the green or violet ones listed.
The back was in pencil, but on the front someone has happily used red ballpoint to note a few catalogue numbers !

Assuming this to be telegraphic usage, how was the 11 Pesos 81 Centimos made up?

For the 11 Pesos, two 5p Derechos de Firma (1865, Forbin 4) plus a 1p (H5) Telegraph stamp were used. The 81c is made up from H9 (25c), two 250mil (25c) postage stamps,
and three 2c on 2½c postage stamps. All have been punch-cancelled. Clearly little attention was given to the intended purpose of the stamps used.
One wonders why so much trouble was taken to overprint stamps for a change of purpose.

 

Here is another, from Manila to Hong Kong, 13 November 1884
This was for 6 words, costing 2 Pesos 99c and paid all in postage stamps. The stamps were punched as well as being cancelled with YTC (Ynternational Telegraph Company, see note 5 below H22) above



Image courtesy of Bill Glover at Atlantic-Cable.com

 

 

Here is another, similar example from Manila to Melbourne, Australia, May 1883
Perhaps a little strangely, this was sent via Suez. Certainly it had to go through Singapore, but I'm not sure what the advantage was to go to Suez and back from there.



This was for 9 words, costing 23 Pesos 27c and paid for with 18P in telegraph stamps and 2c and 42 reales in postage stamps (1p = 8 reales).
The 5P stamps, H7, are a much lighter grey than my example above.
Image courtesy of David Druit of pennymead.com (click image for listing).

 

 

If anyone can provide scans to help with this page, I am happy to give appropriate credit.