ECUADOR
Ecuador is one of the most interesting countries for telegraph seals. Not only were there several purpose-designed seals, but in the early 1920s
the telegraph authorities also created several more different seals by denaturing outdated telegraph and revenue stamps by additionally perforating
them either down (or occasionally across) the middle or by overprinting them with a thick black line. The true purpose of these has not been
widely known outside Ecuador until recently and several were erroneously listed as varieties in my 1982 catalogue 'Telegraph and Telephone
Stamps of the World'. I also have 25c purple and 30c brown revenue stamps punched with 4mm holes but I doubt whether these are really
seals and have not included them although I would be interested to hear from anyone who has one used as a seal.
| Updates. The above was written by Steve Hiscocks. I have re-organised and re-numbered Hiscocks original list to make it more rational in light of new additions. This uses 'RH' numbers (Revised Hiscocks) to avoid confusion. |
| My note: I have added prices on here which are very much guesswork. Hopefully the guesses can be improved later. Currently prices for seals are generally low because few people collect them. The existence of a catalogue may change that. The default currency is GB£, but different currencies can be selected and prices updated accordingly. This is an experiment. The exchange rates are provided by OpenExchangerates.org. |
Purpose-designed seals.
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| #1 (RH1) 34.5mm | #1 (RH2) | #1 (RH3) |
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| #1 (RH4) 1915, 34.5mm | #1 (RH5) 34.5mm | #1 (RH6) 1914, 34.5mm |
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| #2 (RH8) 17.8mm No imprint. |
#3 (RH9) 17.8mm LIT.E.BELLAS ARTES QUITO imprint. |
#4 (RH10) 20.5mm OFICINA DE GUAYAQUIL - 1918. |
#3 was printed with alternate rows inverted relative to the one above so that vertical pairs will be Tête-bêche.
| RH # | Type. | was | Description | Mint | Used | On telegram |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RH8 | 2 | - | Rough perf. 11¾. Rose red. | - | - | - |
| RH9 | 3 | H6 | Rough perf. 11¾. Reddish brown (shades). | 6.60 | 5.00 | 12.00 |
| RH10 | 4 | - | OFICINA DE GUAYAQUIL, Perf. 11¾. blue-grey. | - | - | - |
Seals from normal Revenue Stamps.
These are rather unfortunate as they are not distinguishable from normal revenue stamps unless on a telegram.
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| #5 (RH11) 1918-9, 18mm | #5 (RH12) 1918, 18mm | #5 (RH13) 1920, 18mm | #5 (RH14) 1921, 18mm |
| RH # | Type. | was | Description | Mint | Used | On telegram |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RH11 | 5 | - | 1918-9, 2c Green. 1901-2 Revenue stamp overprinted 1903&4, used as seal | - | - | 10.00 |
| RH12 | 5 | - | 1918, 5c lilac-grey. 1901-2 Revenue stamp overprinted 1903&4, used as seal | - | - | 10.00 |
| RH13 | 5 | - | 1920, 10c Black. 1901-2 Revenue stamp overprinted 1903&4, used as seal | - | - | 14.00 |
| RH14 | 5 | - | 1921, 20c Grey. 1901-2 Revenue stamp overprinted 1903&4, used as seal | - | - | 14.00 |
Revenue stamps overprinted 'TELEGRAFOS'.
These have traditionally been listed as having been issued as Telegraph stamps in 1919.
An article by Juan Pablo Aguilar Andrade however shows evidence that these were used as seals in 1917 and must therefore have been issued earlier than that.
It is still unclear as to when exactly they were so issued and when they were invalidated, but generally they were valid for 2 years, presumanly the years marked on them.
They would not have been valid for Fiscal use after that.
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| #6 (RH15) 1911-12, 18mm | #6 (RH16) 1911-12, 18mm | #6 (RH17) 1913-14, 18mm |
| RH # | Type. | was | Description | Mint | Used | On telegram |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RH15 | 6 | - | 1c sepia (1911-1912) | 3.75 | - | - |
| RH15a | - | second 'E' larger and thinner | 7.50 | - | - | |
| RH15b | - | 'O' larger and thinner | 7.50 | - | - | |
| RH16 | 6 | - | 1c sepia (1913-1914) | 5.00 | - | - |
| RH16a | - | second 'E' larger and thinner | 10.00 | - | - | |
| RH16b | - | 'O' larger and thinner | 10.00 | - | - | |
| RH17 | 6 | - | 2c bright scarlet (1911-1912) | 5.00 | - | - |
| RH17a | - | second 'E' larger and thinner | 10.00 | - | - | |
| RH17b | - | 'O' larger and thinner | 10.00 | - | - |
Black-bar seals.
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| #7 - 2c (RH18) 17mm | #7 - 5c (RH19) 1928, 17mm | #7 - 10c (RH20) 1929, 17mm | #7 - 20c (RH21) 1928, 17mm |
| RH # | Type. | was | Description | Mint | Used | On telegram |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RH18 | 7 | H14 | Perf. 12. 2c Green. 1919-20 Revenue stamp overprinted 1921 1922, with thick vertical line. | 5.00 | 5.00 | 10.00 |
| RH19 | 7 | H15 | 1928, Perf. 12. 5c Brown. 1919-20 Revenue stamp overprinted 1921 1922 (in Red) with thick vertical line. | 5.00 | 5.00 | 10.00 |
| RH20 | 7 | - | 1929, Perf. 12. 10c Orange. 1919-20 Revenue stamp overprinted 1921 1922, with thick vertical line. | 700 | 7.00 | 14.00 |
| RH21 | 7 | H13 | 1928, Perf. 12. 20c Green. 1919-20 Revenue stamp overprinted 1921 1922, with thick vertical line. | 700 | 7.00 | 14.00 |
Seals from Centre-perforated Telegraph Stamps.
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| #8 (RH22) 17mm | #9 (RH23) 1926, 17mm | #10 (RH24) 17mm | #11 (RH25) 17mm |
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| #12 (RH26) 17mm | #11 (RH27) 17mm | #13 (RH28) 1922, 18mm |
| RH # | Type. | was | Description | Mint | Used | On telegram |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RH22 | 8 | - | Perf. 12. on H49, 2c Bright scarlet. Centre perforated vertically. | 2.50 | 3.50 | 7.00 |
| RH23 | 9 | H7 | 1926, Perf. 12. on H50, 2c Bright scarlet. Centre perforated vertically. | 2.50 | 3.50 | 7.00 |
| RH24 | 10 | H12 | Perf. 12. on H52, 10c Black (Red overprint). Centre perforated vertically. | 8.00 | 8.00 | 16.00 |
| RH25 | 11 | H10 | Perf. 12. on H55, 2c Green. Centre perforated vertically. | 5.00 | 3.50 | 10.00 |
| RH26 | 12 | H8 | Perf. 12. on H56a, 5c Green. Centre perforated vertically. | 3.50 | 5.00 | 10.00 |
| RH27 | 11 | H9 | Perf. 12. on H57, 5c Brown. Centre perforated horizontally. | 3.50 | 3.50 | 7.00 |
| RH28 | 13 | H11 | 1922. Perf. 12. on H58, 10c Red and blue. Centre perforated vertically. | 10.00 | 10.00 | 20.00 |
Seals from Center-perforated Revenue Stamps.
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| #14 (RH29) 1922, 18mm | #15 (RH30) 18mm | #16 (RH31) 17.6mm | #17 (RH32) 17.6mm |
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| #18 (RH33) 17.9mm | #19 (RH34) 1926. 18.1mm | #19 (RH35) 18.1mm | #19 (RH36) 1925, 18.2mm |
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| #19 (RH37) 18.2mm | #20 (RH38) 18.0mm |
| RH # | Type. | was | Description | Mint | Used | On telegram |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RH29 | 14 | - | 1922. Perf. 12. on Patriotic 1919-20, 10c Red and blue. Centre perforated vertically. | 10.00 | 10.00 | 20.00 |
| RH30 | 15 | - | Perf. 12. 20c Blue. 1911-12 Revenue stamp overprinted 1919-1920 with central perforation vertically. | 8.00 | 8.00 | 16.00 |
| RH31 | 16 | - | Perf. 12. 50c on 25c Violet. 1913-14 Revenue stamp overprinted 1919-1920 with central perforation vertically. | 8.00 | 8.00 | 16.00 |
| RH32 | 17 | - | Perf. 12. 50c on 25c Violet. 1915-16 Revenue stamp overprinted 1919-1920 with central perforation vertically. | 8.00 | 8.00 | 16.00 |
| RH33 | 18 | - | Perf. 12. 5s Brown. 1911-12 Revenue stamp overprinted 1921 1922 with central perforation vertically. | 8.00 | 8.00 | 16.00 |
| RH34 | 19 | H16 | 1926. Perf. 12. 2c Green. 1919-20 Revenue stamp overprinted 1921 1922 with central perforation vertically. | 8.00 | 8.00 | 16.00 |
| RH35 | 19 | - | Perf. 12. 10c Green. 1919-20 Revenue stamp overprinted 1921 1922 with central perforation vertically. | 8.00 | 8.00 | 16.00 |
| RH36 | 19 | - | 1925. Perf. 12. 1s Brown. 1919-20 Revenue stamp overprinted 1921 1922 (in Red) with central perforation vertically. | 9.00 | 9.00 | 18.00 |
| RH37 | 19 | - | Perf. 12. 5s Violet. 1919-20 Revenue stamp overprinted 1921 1922 (in Red) with central perforation vertically. | 10.00 | 10.00 | 20.00 |
| RH38 | 20 | - | Perf. 12. 25c Red. 1919-20 Revenue stamp, No overprints, with central perforation vertically. | 9.00 | 9.00 | 18.00 |
Hiscocks added the following 3 notes:
| Note 1. H8 [now RH26] above is similar to H57 in that it is on the 1917-18 revenue stamp overprinted for telegraphic use but that stamp should be brown while the green version was of the 1913-14 series. |
| Note 2. H11 [now RH28] above has blind perforations (not fully penetrating the paper) from top to bottom but these are not visible in the illustration. |
| Note 3. I also have a copy of H91, 30c Sepia with a 4mm round hole in it. Circular punched cancellations were not used in Ecuador at that time so it is probably just a filing hole rather than another form of seal. |
Tobacco Tax stamps as seals.
These Tobacco Tax stamps were being used as seals in the 1910's and 1920's.
Official seals.
From what I have seen, these are not generally used on telegrams, however Ecuador seems to have used a wide range of things
to seal telegrams, so I will at least show the images and look for examples on telegrams.
Images provided by K. Zwart, who dates the left one at 1896 and the right one at 1897, both are about 43mm wide.
I also have this 20c Tobacco Tax stamp overprinted as an Official Seal. (See Type 22 above)
I do not know whether it was used on Telegrams or not, but K. Zwart dates this at 1925, 43.4mm wide.
Prepaid Telegraph Forms.
These had an impressed stamp with a similar design to the first telegram seals.
There was also space for additional telegraph stamps.
The only form I have seen was dated 1925 and was in an article entitled 'Ecuador: A Prepaid Telegraph Form' by Brian Moorhouse.
The article was published in 'The Mainsheet' in February 2000. His description is as follows:
The implication is that the impressed stamp was printed in the same colour as the rest of the form.
I have since found out that the article was based on an article in the Medio Real magazine of the
Ecuador Philatelic Study Group.
If anyone can provide scans or information to help with this page, I am happy to give appropriate credit.
