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I have revised Hiscocks' original listing, though leaving references to the original designations.   This is largely to accommodate additions. As can be seen with the stamp to the left (RH125), quality control was not very good on the large quantity of overprints used. This was supposed to be 'Telégrafos' over 'Vale 10c'. In addition to poor printing, there were many typesetting errors. Whilst I have tried to list the constant varieties, it is impractical to list all errors due to poor print quality. I have brought the prices up to date and added currency selection. The new designations have 'RH' numbers (Revised Hiscocks) to avoid confusion. CheckList         Setup Contributors:     Alan Slater.     Arkadiy Avrorov.     Benjamin Singer     Clayton Rubec.     Courtney Hess.     Dick Keiser     Harry Patsalos.     ibredguy.co.uk     Moreland Revenue Stamps     Neal West.     Nik Oquist     Paul & Les Bottomley. RL   - Rolf Lamprecht     Stephen Roche     Thomas Keesling.     Victor Gugliano

 

Shortcuts to different sections
Correos y Telegrafos	1891 - 1899	1900 - 1907	1907 - 1911	1911 Railway stamps - 1921	1921 - 1933	1934 - 1949	Semana de Com.	Bluefields	Cabo	Postal use	Stationery

 

Nicaragua.

Map of Nicaragua showing Submarine cable and rail system in the West, together with European bastions in the East.
The pink area shows the approximate boundaries of the Kingdom of Miskito which was an Autonomous territory of Nicaragua from 1860 to 1894,
when it became part of Nicaragua. That includes the part in what is now Honduras, which did not become part of Honduras until 1960.
The telegraph service, inaugurated in 1878, was directly linked to the railroad between localities of Corinto and Momotombo.
From 1916 to 1920 copper wire on wooden poles were constructed from San Juan del Sur, passing through Rivas, Granada, Masaya, Managua, Chinandega to Corinto.
According to XplorHonduras.com, Nicaragua was connected to Honduras in 1879, which connected on to Guatemala.
From 1916 to 1920 copper wire on wooden poles were constructed from San Juan del Sur, passing through Rivas, Granada, Masaya, Managua, Chinandega to Corinto.
A list of 1906 for wireless-Telegraph stations lists only Bluefields, with Shoemaker system and a note " Six months in operation.
A list for 1908 gives Bluefields and Rama. Similar lists of 1910 and 1912 both give Bluefields, Rama, Managua, and Greytown."

Steve Hiscocks wrote in 1982:
Nicaragua provides, of all countries, the most extensive and complicated range of national telegraph stamps. With the exception of two sets of
'proper' telegraph stamps in 1900 and 1921 – 34 all are provisionals based on those of 1900, on postage stamps, or on a variety of fiscal stamps.
However, in Nicaragua the production of provisional telegraph stamps was raised to a high art beside which the efforts of the Ceylon Telegraph
Department pale into insignificance. Stamps were altered from Railway to fiscal to telegraph usage and values were changed up to three times on a
single stamp. The authorities even resorted to overprints on the backs of stamps when no further space was available on the front. In addition there
were many systematic overprint and surcharge errors of all types and varieties of surcharge colours leading up to three surcharge colours on a single stamp.

In short this is a highly complex area and a worthy field of study for the collector who loves detail. By the same token the following listing is likely to
be in error in many places and I hope that readers will bring such errors to my attention.

The activities of N.F. Seebeck have been briefly described in the introduction to the Ecuador section but it was in Nicaragua that his influence
on telegraph stamps was most felt. His contract ran from 1890 to 1899. The first Seebeck issue (1890) was specifically for 'postage and telegraph'.
Thereafter the sets of 1891, '92, '93, '94 and '95 were printed in colours different from those issued for postage and overprinted for telegraphic use.
Mint sets of 1892, '93 and to a lesser extent '94 and '95 were issued by Seebeck in quantity and are common as are imperforate and partly
perforate varieties most of which probably never went near Nicaragua. Used values from these sets are relatively scarce but it has been suggested
that some of these are not genuinely used. The collector must himself decide the status he affords to these issues.

A word should be said in explanation of the special overprints for the Province of Zelaya. This province was, early in this century, on a silver
currency base such that its peso was worth about double the paper peso used throughout the rest of Nicaragua. The temptation was therefore for
the Zelayans to use their hard currency to buy twice as many stamps elsewhere in the country and use them at home. To prevent this the local
stamps were overprinted 'B' (for Bluefields — the main town of the province) or 'Cabo' (for Cabo Gracias à Dios — 'Cape Thanks be to God' —
on the northern tip of the east coast where the main port was situated) and only stamps so overprinted could be used in the province. The use of these
stamps ended with the introduction of the gold 'cordoba' throughout Nicaragua late in 1912.

---

My notes:
References to a port, or fishing village at Cabo Gracias à Dios, appear to be referring to Puerto Lempira in Gracias à Dios district to the north of the tip of the Cape.
At the time in question (1900-1912), that area was part of Nicaragua, but since 1960 has been part of Honduras. It would make sense for it to have had a radio-telegraph, but I
have seen no evidence of any telegraphy in the area at that time. Information would be welcome.

I have added quite a few items that I am told were obligatory at least certain times of the year.
Chief among these are the Semana de Communicaciones (week of Communications) that I am told were obligatory on all letters, telegrams and telephone
services within Nicaragua for just the second week of November from 1954 to 1970.

For those with a particular interest in the stamps of Nicaragua, there is a Nicaragua Study Group which produces a quarterly publication called Nicarao.
Both are readily findable with an internet search.

---

 

1890 Correos y Telegrafos.
Engraved by the Hamilton Bank Note Co., New York, for the N. F. Seebeck contract. No watermark. Perf. 11¾
These were not listed by Hiscocks since they were outside his scope as they were also for postal use.
I have listed them for completion

Type CyT1. 1890 RHCyT1 - RHCyT5. Courtesy of Rolf Lamprecht.					Type CyT2. Official Overprint

Type CyT1. 1890 RHCyT6 - RHCyT10. Courtesy of Rolf Lamprecht.

RH # Type. Description Mint Used RHCyT1 1 1c yellow-brown 0.20 0.25 RHCyT2 1 2c red 0.20 0.25 RHCyT3 1 5c deep blue 0.20 0.25 RHCyT4 1 10c lilac-grey 0.20 0.25 RHCyT5 1 20c carmine 0.20 1.75 RHCyT6 1 50c violet 0.20 5.00 RHCyT7 1 1p brown 0.25 8.50 RHCyT8 1 2p dark green 0.25 9.00 RHCyT9 1 5p lake 0.25 - RHCyT10 1 10p orange 0.25 -

RH # Type. Description Mint Used RHCyTO1 1, 2 1c ultramarine 0.20 0.30 RHCyTO2 1, 2 2c ultramarine 0.20 0.30 RHCyTO3 1, 2 5c ultramarine 0.20 0.30 RHCyTO4 1, 2 10c ultramarine 0.20 0.40 RHCyTO5 1, 2 20c ultramarine 0.20 0.45 RHCyTO6 1, 2 50c ultramarine 0.20 0.75 RHCyTO7 1, 2 1p ultramarine 0.20 1.25 RHCyTO8 1, 2 2p ultramarine 0.20 1.50 RHCyTO9 1, 2 5p ultramarine 0.20 2.00 RHCyTO10 1, 2 10p ultramarine 0.20 3.25

According to the Scott Catalogue, imperfs. and part perfs. exist for all of these and say of the Officials "are known without overprint and most of them with inverted or double overprint, or without
overprint and imperforate. There is no evidence that they were issued in these forms." They also say that these are scarce with genuine cancellations with forged cancellations being plentiful.

Being Seebeck concoctions, there are a menagerie of "errors" and "varieties".

 

1891 Postage stamps of 1891 (SG 37-46) overprinted with Type 1 in various colours as indicated.
Lithographed on white wove paper. No watermark. Perf. 12

Hiscocks Type 1 (taken from page 202 of his book). Type 2, (RH2) from RL, and Type 2, (RH2) courtesy of Alan Slater., (RH3) courtesy of Courtney Hess.

 

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH1	H1	1, 2	1c orange-brown (DV or DDV)	15.00	7.50
RH2	H2	1, 2	5c deep blue (V)	10.00	5.00
RH3	H3	1, 2	5c deep blue (overprinted in black)	15.00	10.00

Hiscocks added the following 2 notes:

Note 1. For the above and following issues the colour of the overprint is black unless otherwise indicated by letters in brackets —                 (B)=Blue, (R)=Red, (P)=Purple, (V)=Violet, (C)=Carmine, (D)=dark and (DD)=very dark.                 There are many minor variations in these overprint colours which are not listed since they are not in my opinion significant.

Note 2. The overprints on Nos. 1-3 are usually indistinct and only partially printed. The stamps are usually poorly centred.

 

 

1891 As above but overprinted with type 3 in black.

Hiscocks type 3, taken from his book, RH4 and RH5 from RL, and RH6 courtesy of Alan Slater.

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH4	H4	3, 2	1c orange-brown	20.00	15.00
RH5	H5	3, 2	5c deep blue (V)	10.00	7.50
RH6	H6	3, 2	5c deep blue	20.00	15.00

 

 

1891 As above but overprinted with type 4.
These stamps have different colours to the postal issue. Stamps with missing overprint may exist.

Hiscocks types 4, taken from his book, together with RH9(postally used), RH9a and RH12 specimen, all courtesy of Alan Slater.	RH9 with shift, courtesy of Rolf Lamprecht.

RH7   5c.	RH8   10c.	RH9   20c.	RH10   50c.

RH11   1p.	RH12   2p.	RH13   5p.	RH14   10p.

RH # Hisc. Type. Description Mint Used RH7 H7 4, 2 5c purple (shades) (B) 2.00 2.50 RH7a H7a           overprint inverted 25.00 - RH7b H7b           imperf. between horizontal pair 25.00 - RH8 H8 4, 2 10c blue (C) 2.00 2.50 RH9 H9 4, 2 20c pale orange (B) 2.00 2.50 RH9a H9a           overprint inverted 25.00 - RH9b -           imperf. - - RH10 H10 4, 2 50c orange-brown (B) 5.00 5.00 RH11 H11 4, 2 1p red-brown (B) 7.50 5.00 RH12 H12 4, 2 2p deep bluish green (R) 7.50 10.00 RH13 H13 4, 2 5p carmine (DB) 10.00 10.00 RH14 H14 4, 2 10p orange (DDB) 20.00 20.00

RH9b courtesy of Erick Rodriguez.

RH9b has been added due to the example shown. There may be other denominations like this.
According to Erick Rodriguez, this was likely to have been Cancelled at either JINOTEPE or JINOTEGA,
or just possibly JUIGALPA, though the serif on the second letter makes it doubtful.
Anyone have any other imperforates from this set ?

Hiscocks added the following 2 notes:

Note 1. This and the following sets (Nos. 7 to 58) are of different colours from the corresponding postage stamps.

Note 2. A single copy of the 2c postage stamp (SG38) overprinted 'TELEGRAFOS' in violet thin sans serif capitals                 was reported in 1901. Its status is unknown.

 

1892 Postage stamps of 1892 (SG 47-56) overprinted with type 4 or serifed, similar to type 1 but with 2½mm letters.
White wove paper. No watermark. Perf. 12

RH15   1c.	RH16   2c.	RH17   5c.	RH18   10c.

RH19   20c.	RH20   25c.	RH21   50c.	RH22   1p.

RH23   2p.	RH24   5p.	RH25   10p.	Specimen of RH18 courtesy of Alan Slater.

Hiscocks type 5

RH17b courtesy of Alan Slater. RH17a From RL

RH # Hisc. Type. Description Mint Used RH15 H15 5 1c violet-blue (C) 1.00 2.00 RH15a H15a           without overprint 10.00 - RH16 H16 5 2c red-brown (DB or DDB) 1.00 2.00 RH16a H16a           overprint as type (1) 10.00 - RH16b H16b           without overprint 50.00 - RH17 H17 5 5c green (C) 1.00 2.00 RH17a H17a           imperf. 25.00 - RH17b H17b           imperf. between vertical pair 30.00 - RH17c H17c           overprint inverted 25.00 - RH18 H18 5 10c orange (DDB) 1.00 2.00 RH18a H18a           imperf. 25.00 - RH18b H18b           overprint as type (1) 10.00 - RH18c H18c           without overprint 25.00 - RH18d H18d           double overprint as type 4 25.00 - RH19 H19 5 20c dark grey (C) 1.00 2.50 RH19a H19a           imperf. 25.00 - RH19b H19b           overprint as type (1) 12.50 - RH19c H19c           without overprint 10.00 - RH20 H20 5 25c orange-yellow (C) 1.00 2.50 RH20a H20a           imperf. 25.00 - RH20b H20b           overprint as type (1) 12.50 - RH21 H21 5 50c lake-brown (shades) (Black) 1.00 2.50 RH21a H21a           without overprint 10.00 - RH22 H22 5 1p Prussian blue (Black) 1.00 2.50 RH23 H23 5 2p red (DDB) 1.00 2.50 RH23a H23a           double overprint 20.00 - RH23b H23b           without overprint 10.00 - *RH23c -           double overprint, blue and black - - RH24 H24 5 5p violet (C or R) 1.00 3.75 RH24a H24a           imperf. 25.00 - RH24b H24b           overprint as type (1) 15.00 - RH25 H25 5 10p carmine (DB) 1.00 3.75 RH25a H25a           imperf. 25.00 - RH25b H25b           overprint as type (1) 15.00 - *RH23c is added because of the example illustrated on the right courtesy of Alan Slater.

RH18a courtesy of Alan Slater. RH20a courtesy of Courtney Hess.

 

   
RH19a and used examples of the 1c and 5c, courtesy of Rolf Lamprecht.

   
Used examples of the 10c, 50c and 10 Pesos, courtesy of Rolf Lamprecht.

 

1893 Postage stamps of 1893 (SG 57-66) overprinted with type 4.
White wove paper. No watermark. Perf. 12.

Here is the basic set.

RH26   1c.	RH27   2c.	RH28   5c.	RH29   10c.

 

RH30   20c.	RH31   25c.	RH32   50c.	RH33   1p.

 

RH34   2p.	RH35   5p.	RH36   10p.	Used 2c with interesting cancel - from RL.

 

Overprint variety examples.

Type 6 - RH27 - shifted Image courtesy of Rolf Lamprecht.	Type 6 - RH27b ('TELFGRAFOS') Image courtesy of Alan Slater.	Type 6 - RH29a ('TELFGRAFOS') Image courtesy of Rolf Lamprecht.	Type 7 - RH30a (inverted) Image courtesy of Rolf Lamprecht.

Type 6 - RH28t (broken 'T') Image courtesy of Arkadiy Avrorov.	Type 6 - RH31bt (double)	Type 7 - RH34at (inverted)	Type 6 - *RH36b (double) Image courtesy of Alan Slater.

The broken 'T' is often found in combination with other varieties. The amount missing is variable, so is probably in a number of different positions.
Hiscocks type 6 and inverted, Type 7.

I have added overprint colours in brackets.

RH # Hisc. Type. Description Mint Used RH26 H26 6 1c blue (C) 1.00 2.00 RH26a H26a           overprint inverted (7) 30.00 - RH26b H26b           overprint 'TELFGRAFOS' 10.00 15.00 i RH26c H26c           overprint omitted 15.00 - RH27 H27 6 2c brown (DB or DDB) 1.00 2.00 RH27a H27a           overprint inverted (7) 30.00 - RH27b H27b           overprint 'TELFGRAFOS' 10.00 15.00 i RH27c H27c           overprint omitted 15.00 - RH28 H28 6 5c green (C) 1.00 2.00 RH28a H28a           overprint 'TELFGRAFOS' 10.00 15.00 RH29 H29 6 10c orange (DDB) 1.00 2.00 RH29a H29a           overprint 'TELFGRAFOS' 10.00 15.00 RH30 H30 6 20c grey-black (DDB) 1.00 2.00 RH30a H30a           overprint inverted (7) 30.00 - RH30b H30b           overprint 'TELFGRAFOS' 10.00 15.00 RH31 H31 6 25c orange-yellow (Black) 1.00 2.00 RH31a H31a           overprint 'TELFGRAFOS' 10.00 15.00 RH31b H31b           overprint double 30.00 - RH32 H32 6 50c sepia (Black) 1.00 2.00 RH32a H32a           overprint 'TELFGRAFOS' 10.00 15.00 RH33 H33 6 1p steel blue (C) 1.00 2.00 RH33a H33a           overprint 'TELFGRAFOS' 10.00 15.00 RH34 H34 6 2p red (Black) 1.00 2.00 RH34a H34a           overprint inverted (7) 30.00 - RH34b H34b           overprint 'TELFGRAFOS' 10.00 15.00 RH35 H35 6 5p violet (C) 1.00 2.50 RH35a H35a           overprint 'TELFGRAFOS' 10.00 20.00 RH36 H36 6 10p carmine (Black) 1.00 2.50 RH36a H36a           overprint 'TELFGRAFOS' 10.00 20.00 *RH36b -           overprint double - - i The postage stamps are in different colours, 1c yellow-brown and 2c vermilion, so these are distinguishable. * I have added RH36b due to the example shown above. On the left is the (half size) set as specimens, courtesy of Alan Slater. Alan describes them as: "The Postmaster general's New Year card for 1893, of which only a couple exist. Some say that these were sent to postmasters in the Seebeck era to show them what the new stamps for the year ahead would look like. "

 

 

1894 Postage stamps of 1894 (SG 67-76).
The next two sets of overprints, except the 2c red below, used stamps of a different colour to the ones used for postage.
These are the colours used for postage:

Type 1c	Type 2c	Type 5c	Type 10c	Type 20c	*Type 25c - not issued.

 

Type 50c	Type 1p	Type 2p	Type 5p	Type 10p

 

Images of what I presume to be proofs of the proposed telegraph issue - from RL.

Type 1c	Type 2c	Type 5c	Type 10c	Type 20c	Type 25c

 

Type 50c	Type 1p	Type 2p	Type 5p	Type 10p

These appear to be in a very similar set of colours, simply re-arranged.

*It has been said that the 25c green without overprint was an unissued telegraph stamp.
These proofs though suggest that it was in fact originally intended as a postage stamp,
although was later overprinted for telegraph use.

 

1894 Postage stamps of 1894 (SG 67-76) overprinted in black with types 8, 9 and 10.
White wove paper. No watermark. Perf. 12

Hiscocks types 8, 9 and 10, taken from page 205.

 

Without any overprint - *RH37d	Type 8 overprint - RH37	Type 8 overprint - RH38	Type 9 overprint - RH39b	Type 10 overprint - RH40
One of mine.	Example overprints on Type 11, courtesy of Alan Slater.

 

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH37	H37	8, 11	15c on 25c green-yellow	20.00	10.00
RH37a	H37a		overprint 'Telografos'	30.00	15.00
RH37b	H37b		overprint 'Tclégrafos'	30.00	15.00
RH37c	H37c		overprint 'Ceut'	30.00	15.00
*RH37d	-		without overprint	25.00	50.00
RH38	H38	8, 11	20c on 2c red	15.00	5.00
RH38a	H38a		overprint double	50.00	30.00
RH38b	H38b		overprint 'Telografos'	30.00	10.00
RH38c	H38c		overprint 'Tclégrafos'	30.00	10.00
RH38d	H38d		overprint 'Ceut'	30.00	10.00
RH39	H39	9, 11	30c on 25c green-yellow	20.00	5.00
RH39a	H39a		overprint 'Telografos'	30.00	10.00
RH39b	H39b		overprint 'Tclégrafos'	30.00	10.00
RH39c	H39c		overprint 'Ceut'	30.00	10.00
RH40	H40	10, 11	30c on 25c green-yellow	60.00	20.00
RH40a	H40a		overprint 'Telografos'	90.00	30.00
RH40b	H40b		overprint 'Tclégrafos'	90.00	30.00
RH40c	H40c		overprint 'Ceut'	90.00	30.00

Hiscocks added the following note:

Note. There is some doubt whether the 25c green-yellow was ever issued as a postage stamp.

* My Note: According to the Scott catalogue, this was not used as a postage stamp, however it is known without overprint.
It should therefore be considered as one of the above with missing overprint. I have therefore added it as RH37d.
This 2c was in the same colour as the postage stamp.

 

1894 Postage stamps of 1894 (SG 67-76) overprinted in black with type 12.
White wove paper. No watermark. Perf 12

1c Type 12 (RH41)	2c Type 12 (RH42)	5c Type 12 (RH43)	10c Type 12 (RH44)

 

20c Type 12 (RH45)	25c Type 12 (RH46) courtesy of Alan Slater.	50c Type 12 (RH47) courtesy of Alan Slater.

 

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH41	H41	12	1c red	2.00	7.50
RH41a	H41a		imperf.	30.00	-
RH42	H42	12	2c grey	2.00	7.50
RH43	H43	12	5c green	3.75	10.00
RH43a	H43a		imperf.	30.00	-
RH44	H44	12	10c brown	2.00	7.50
RH44a	H44a		imperf.	30.00	-
RH45	H45	12	20c violet	2.00	7.50
RH46	H46	12	25c brown-orange	7.50	20.00
RH47	H47	12	50c blue	2.50	10.00

These are in different colours to the stamps used for postage.
According to the Scott catalogue, these telegraph stamps are known with a missing overprint, distinguishable by the colours.
This includes a 25c green. See my note below RH40. The 1P, 2P, 5P and 10P values were also prepared as proofs (see above).
I have also seen a proof of a 4c that was not issued.

 

 

1895 Postage stamps of 1895 (SG 77-86) overprinted in various colours as indicated, with type 4.
White wove paper. No watermark. Perf. 12

1c Type 13 (RH48)	1c Type 13 (RH48) with black line across*. Image courtesy of Alan Slater.	2c Type 13 (RH49) Image courtesy of Alan Slater.	5c Type 13 (RH50)

10c Type 13 (RH51) Image courtesy of Alan Slater.	20c Type 13 (RH52)	25c Type 13 (RH53)	50c Type 13 (RH54) with black line across*. Image courtesy of Alan Slater.

1p Type 13 (RH55) Image courtesy of Alan Slater.	2p Type 13 (RH56) Image courtesy of Alan Slater.	5p Type 13 (RH57) with black line across*. Image courtesy of Alan Slater.	10p Type 13 (RH58) with black line across*. Image courtesy of Alan Slater.

*Apparently stamps given to UPU delegates were marked like this (as were at least some other specimens).

RH # Hisc. Type. Description Mint Used RH48 H48 13, 4 1c red (DB) 2.00 - RH49 H49 13, 4 2c blue-green (DDB) 2.00 - RH50 H50 13, 4 5c orange (B) 2.00 - RH51 H51 13, 4 10c yellow-brown (B) 2.00 - RH52 H52 13, 4 20c blue (C) 2.00 - RH53 H53 13, 4 25c violet (DB) 7.50 - RH54 H54 13, 4 50c rose (B) 15.00 - RH55 H55 13, 4 1p red (B) 2.50 - RH56 H56 13, 4 2p bluish green (B) 2.50 - RH57 H57 13, 4 5p brown (B) 5.00 - RH58 H58 13, 4 10p violet (B) 5.00 - Hiscocks added the following note: Note. I have not seen a used copy from Nos. 48-58 — this is curious in view of the                 period of time between their issue and that of the next series in 1898.

A used example courtesy of Rolf Lamprecht.

 

1898 Postage stamps of 1898 (SG 108 etc.) overprinted in black with type 14 or 14A .
White wove paper. Perf. 12. Hiscocks listed these as without a watermark, but the basic stamp was issued also with a multiple Liberty Cap watermark.
According to John Barefoot there are reports of some 5c, 10c and 15c existing with this watermark. In principle any of them could exist watermarked.

Hiscocks type 14, taken from page 206 and 15, one of mine reading down. Additionally a new type that I will call type 14A*.
This has the accent on the second 'e' as è rather than é. it is shown on the 5c. reading up. It is probably found on others.
My first guess was that Type 14A was one or more varieties within the sheet of Type 14 impressions.
However blocks suggest that the overprints were individually hand-stamped, so it should exist in blocks, and perhaps on all values.
These overprints, and the ones below tend to be very unclear.

5c   (RH59 - overprint 14, down) Image courtesy of Alan Slater.	5c   (*RH59c - overprint 14A, up)	10c   (RH60a - overprint 14, up) Image courtesy of Alan Slater.	10c   (RH60b - overprint 14, down) Image courtesy of Alan Slater.	10c   (*RH60f - overprint 14A), down

15c   (RH61 - overprint 14, down) Image courtesy of Alan Slater.	20c   (RH62 - overprint 14, down) Image courtesy of Alan Slater.	50c   (RH63 - overprint 14, down) Image courtesy of Alan Slater.	50c   (RH63a - overprint 14, up) Image courtesy of Rolf Lamprecht.

1p   (RH64 - overprint 14, down) Image courtesy of Rolf Lamprecht.	2p   (RH65 - overprint 14, down) Image courtesy of Rolf Lamprecht.	5p   (RH66a - overprint 14, up) Image courtesy of Alan Slater.

This block of 5c stamps (at 400dpi) shows *double overprint on two stamps. The two overprints can be one reading up and the other reading down.
This suggests that each stamp was individually hand-stamped. Image courtesy of Alan Slater.

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH59	H59	15, 14	5c brown-olive (reading down)	10.00	3.75
RH59a	H59a		reading up	10.00	3.75
*RH59b	-		overprint double (up or down)	50.00	-
*RH59c	-	15, 14A	overprint 14A (up or down)	20.00	7.50
RH60	H60	15, 14	10c violet-blue (reading down)	10.00	3.75
RH60a	H60a		reading up	10.00	3.75
RH60b	H60b		violet, reading down	15.00	5.00
RH60c	H60c		violet, reading up	15.00	5.00
*RH60d	-		overprint double in black (up or down)	50.00	-
*RH60e	-		overprint double in violet (up or down)	50.00	-
*RH60f	-	15, 14A	overprint 14A in black (up or down)	20.00	7.50
RH61	H61	15, 14	15c pale blue (reading down)	10.00	3.75
RH61a	H61a		reading up	10.00	3.75
*RH61b	-		overprint double (up or down)	50.00	-
RH62	H62	15, 14	20c blue (reading down)	20.00	3.75
RH62a	H62a		reading up	20.00	3.75
*RH62b	-		overprint double (up or down)	60.00	-
RH63	H63	15, 14	50c yellow (reading down)	30.00	10.00
RH63a	H63a		reading up	30.00	10.00
*RH63b	-		overprint double (up or down)	80.00	-
RH64	H64	15, 14	1p ultramarine (reading down)	7.50	10.00
RH64a	H64a		reading up	7.50	10.00
*RH64b	-		overprint double (up or down)	50.00	-
RH65	H65	15, 14	2p olive-brown (reading down)	5.00	10.00
RH65a	H65a		reading up	5.00	10.00
*RH65b	-		overprint double (up or down)	50.00	-
RH66	H66	15, 14	5p orange (reading down)	15.00	20.00
RH66a	H66a		reading up	15.00	20.00
*RH66b	-		overprint double (up or down)	50.00	-

*These have been added due to the examples shown and information supplied.

Hiscocks added the following note:

Note. All varieties of Nos. 59-66 are said to exist with comma in place of stop after 'Telégrafo.'

 

 

1899 Postage stamps of 1899 (SG 129 etc.) overprinted in black or violet (default black) with type 14 or 14A as before.
White wove paper. No watermark. Perf. 12.

5c   (RH67) - courtesy of Courtney Hess.	Type 16. 5c with violet overprints, the left one ending with a comma ',' (RH67d and RH67c) - down	RH67c - up, courtesy of Courtney Hess.	5c   (*RH67e) - Overprint 14A down	5c   (*RH67e, Overprint 14A, up) courtesy of Rolf Lamprecht.

10c   (RH68) Courtesy of Alan Slater.	10c   (RH68b) Courtesy of Alan Slater.	RH68c - Overprint 14A down, courtesy of Courtney Hess.	RH68c - Overprint 14A up, courtesy of Courtney Hess.

Type 16. 15c with type 14 overprint. (RH69) courtesy of Steve Moreland.	Type 16. 15c overprint reading upwards (RH69a). Courtesy of Alan Slater.	*RH69c - horizontally, courtesy of Courtney Hess.

There are a lot of permutations, 2 types of overprint that can be black or violet, reading up or down and sometimes ending with a comma.

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH67	H67	16, 14	5c blue (reading down)	2.50	5.00
RH67a	H67a		double overprint	15.00	-
RH67b	H67b		reading up	2.50	5.00
RH67c	H67c		overprint in violet (up or down)	2.50	5.00
*RH67d	-		overprint ending with comma (up or down, in violet)	5.00	6.00
*RH67e	-	16, 14A	Overprint 14A in violet (up or down)	5.00	6.00
RH68	H68	16, 14	10c orange (reading down)	15.00	10.00
RH68a	H68a		reading up	15.00	10.00
RH68b	H68b		reading horizontally	20.00	20.00
*RH68c	-	16, 14A	Overprint 14A in black (up or down)	15.00	10.00
RH69	H69	16, 14	15c red-brown (reading down)	2.50	2.50
RH69a	H69a		reading up	2.50	2.50
*RH69b	-		ending with comma.	5.00	6.00
*RH69c	-		reading horizontally	4.00	4.00
RH69d	-	16, 14A	Overprint 14A in violet (up or down)	5.00	6.00

*These have been added due to the examples shown and information supplied.

Hiscocks added the following note:

Note. All varieties of Nos. 67-69 are reported with a comma in place of stop after 'Telégrafo.'

Proofs are known of this overprint on other denominations.

Horizontal in black on 1c.	Horizontal in black on 4c.	Horizontal in black on 20c.	Downwards in black on 20c.	Upwards in black on 50c.	Downwards in blue on 50c.
Images courtesy of Courtney Hess.

Downwards in black on 1P.	Downwards, doubled in slate on 1P.	Downwards doubled on 1P dated 1898.	Downwards, doubled in slate on 2P.	Downwards in black on 5P.
Images courtesy of Courtney Hess.

The 1p, apparently used in 1898 deserves comment. Remember these are Seebeck "issues". They probably never went near Nicaragua let alone a Telegraph Office.
This was probably done with one of his old handstamps that he used to supply CTOs to the philatelic market.

 

1900 Postage stamps of 1900 (SG 140 etc.) overprinted in black or violet with type 14 or 14A as before.
White wove paper. No watermark. Perf. 12.

10c Type 14 reading up   (RH72a) Image courtesy of Alan Slater.	10c double ovpt., reading down   (*RH72b) Image courtesy of Rolf Lamprecht.	10c double ovpt., reading up   (*RH72c) Image courtesy of Alan Slater.	10c reading horizontally   (*RH72d) Image courtesy of Courtney Hess.

10c Type 14A ovpt., reading down   (*RH72f) Image courtesy of Alan Slater.	20c Type 14 ovpt., reading down   (RH74) Image courtesy of Rolf Lamprecht.	20c Type 14A ovpt., reading down   (*RH74d) Image courtesy of Alan Slater.	Types 14 and 14A ovpts., reading down   (*RH74e) Image courtesy of Nik Oquist.

 

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH70	H70	17, 14	4c olive (reading down)	-	-
RH70a	H70a		reading up	-	-
RH71	H71	17, 14	5c blue (V) (reading down)	-	-
RH71a	H71a		reading up	-	-
RH72	H72	17, 14	10c violet (V) (reading down)	10.00	5.00
RH72a	H72a		reading up	10.00	5.00
*RH72b	-		double overprint (reading down)	20.00	10.00
*RH72c	-		double overprint (reading up)	20.00	10.00
*RH72d	-		horizontal overprint	-	-
*RH72e	-		horizontal inverted	-	-
*RH72f	-	17,14A	14A, reading up or down	-	-
RH73	H73	17, 14	15c pale blue (reading down)	-	-
RH73a	H73a		reading up	-	-
RH74	H74	17, 14	20c brown (V) (reading down)	15.00	10.00
RH74a	H74a		reading up	15.00	10.00
*RH74b	-		double overprint (reading down)	30.00	20.00
*RH74c	-		double reading up	30.00	20.00
*RH74d	-	17,14A	14A, reading up or down	-	-
*RH74e	-	17,14A	14 + 14A, overprints (reading down)	-	-
RH75	H75	17, 14	50c carmine (reading down)	-	-
RH75a	H75a		reading up	-	-
RH76	H76	17, 14	5p black (reading down)	-	-
RH76a	H76a		reading up	-	-

*These have been added due to the examples shown and information supplied.
The examples shown imply the existence of a lot more possibilities/permutations.

Hiscocks added the following note:

Note. Overprints on Nos. 59-76 vary from incomplete due to under-inking to heavily smudged due to over-inking.

My note: Expert opinion (including John Stroub) considers all but the 10c and 20c of these as "dubious".
any examples of them offered, should be treated with suspicion.

 

1900 Telegraph stamps. Printed by the American Bank Note Co.
White wove paper. No watermark. Perf. 12.

10c - RH77	15c - RH78	20c - RH79	30c - RH80
Hiscocks Type 18

50c - RH81	1p - RH82	2p - RH83	3p - RH84
Hiscocks Type 18

 

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH77	H77	18	10c reddish violet (shades)	7.50	1.80
RH78	H78	18	15c grey-blue (shades)	5.00	2.50
RH79	H79	18	20c yellow-brown (shades)	7.50	2.50
RH80	H80	18	30c steel blue (shades)	7.50	2.50
RH81	H81	18	50c crimson	15.00	15.00
RH82	H82	18	1p yellow-orange to orange	15.00	15.00
RH83	H83	18	2p rose	15.00	15.00
RH84	H84	18	3p deep blue-green	15.00	15.00

Hiscocks added the following 2 notes:

Note 1. Many mint copies of the above issue have a thin black line extending horizontally                 partway across in (apparently) print and also, usually, in pencil.                 The significance of these lines is not known but they may indicate remainders.                 Prices reduced by a third.

Note 2. Copies of the above stamps are found overprinted 'DESTACE' in thick blue typeface                 or printed black italic capitals.                 These are provisional revenue stamps issued in 1902 to indicate payment of a tax                 on the butchering of live-stock carcases.

My note: I was told that Note 2 above is not correct. it was the "OFICIAL" stamps
A selection is shown below courtesy of treasurings-jewelry, (click images for listing).


The overprint though, does also exist on the telegraph stamps as shown below :

The overprint on these two (scanned together) are slightly different sizes The left is about 15.16 x 2.37 mm, the right is about 15.45 x 2.67 mm	Overprint in black italic capitals.	Overprint reading downwards.	Overprint reading downwards in black.
Images courtesy of Harry Patsalos	Image from RL	Images courtesy of treasurings-jewelry, (click images for listing).

 

1901 Postage stamps of 1900 (SG 140 etc.) surcharged in black with type 19 below.
White wove paper. No watermark. Perf. 12.

RH85 courtesy of Alan Slater.	RH85c courtesy of Nik Oquist. inverted first 'e'.	RH86 courtesy of Alan Slater.

RH87	RH87a - inverted overprint, from RL.	RH87c - inverted first 'e' in 'Telégrafos'.	RH87d - 'o' for first 'e' in 'Telégrafos'. Courtesy of Courtney Hess.

John Barefoot illustrates a similar type with "1901 / Telégrafos" on a 3c but without the surcharge, his number 84. RH87a above shows that the surcharge is an integral part of this overprint.
Steve Hiscocks listed H70 and H71 which are now considered to be dubious. They are also low values, 4c and 5c, which may no longer have had a telegraphic use.
I would welcome scans of any examples like the above but without a surcharged value.

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH85	H85	19	10c on 3c green	5.00	3.75
RH85a	H85a		surcharge inverted	20.00	12.50
RH85b	H85b		surcharge double	20.00	12.50
RH85c	H85c		first 'e' in ''Telégrafos' inverted	15.00	10.00
*RH85d	-		'10 Cent.' missing	-	-
*RH85e	-		'10 Cent.' missing and first 'e' in ''Telégrafos' inverted.	-	-
RH86	H86	19	10c on 4c olive	7.50	2.50
RH86a	H86a		surcharge inverted	25.00	15.00
RH86b	H86b		surcharge double	25.00	15.00
RH86c	H86c		first 'e' in 'Telégrafos' inverted	20.00	12.50
RH87	H87	19	30c on 6c rose	5.00	2.00
RH87a	H87a		surcharge inverted	20.00	12.50
RH87b	H87b		surcharge double	20.00	12.50
RH87c	H87c		first 'e' in 'Telégrafos' inverted	15.00	10.00
RH87d	-		'o' for first 'e' in 'Telégrafos'	-	-

* I have added these due to information received.

 

1901 No. 87 additionally surcharged with type 21 or similar.

RH88a wide gap, inverted first 'e' in 'Telégrafos'. Courtesy of Courtney Hess	RH88c wide gap, raised stop after "Cent". Type 20 - x, courtesy of Courtney Hess	Hiscocks Type 20 comes in two different types. He illustrates one with a large gap, about 7.3mm between the parts, referred to as type "x". The other, type "y", has only a 4mm gap,

Type 20 - y, narrow gap. Damaged "t" in "Cent". RH88f, courtesy of Courtney Hess narrow gap. Damaged "t" in "Cent". RH88f from RL. *RH88g courtesy of Nik Oquist RH88h and RH88j which probably represent Hiscocks H88a, though the "heavy line" totally missed the value. This bar varies in position and size, like the later Type 30 which may be a filled Type 31. I have yet to see the 3 wavy line version though (anyone have one?) This is referred to as type z. A variation of type z?, apart from actually being over the value, this has a line over the "Cent". The line may have been manuscript. RH88h courtesy of Benjamin Singer.

A vertical pair of H88 showing type x at the top and a type y at the bottom (with damaged "t"). The wavy lines fall in about the right position for both. This suggests to me that they may be in alternate rows. That would imply equal scarcity. However since RH88a exists,then RH88e may not exist. Image courtesy of Courtney Hess. Anyone have more multiples ?

 

RH # Hisc. Type. Description Mint Used RH88 H88 20 10c (in blue) on 30c on 6c rose (type x) 7.50 2.00 RH88a H88b           first 'e' in 'Telégrafos' inverted 20.00 7.50 *RH88b -           broken base of 't' in 'Cent' 10.00 3.80 *RH88c -           raised (small) stop after 'Cent' 12.00 5.00 RH88d -           narrow (4mm) gap (type y) 7.50 2.00 *RH88e -           type y - first 'e' in 'Telégrafos' inverted 50.00 20.00 *RH88f -           type y - broken base of 't' in 'Cent' 10.00 3.80 *RH88g -           type y - raised (small) stop after 'Cent' 12.00 5.00 RH88h H88a           heavy "line" (bar) over '30' (type z) 10.00 3.80 *RH88i -           type z - first 'e' in 'Telégrafos' inverted 25.00 10.00 *RH88j -           type z - broken base of 't' in 'Cent' 13.00 5.00 *RH88k -           type z - raised (small) stop after 'Cent' 15.00 6.50 RH89 H89 21 10c (in black) on 30c on 6c rose 25.00 10.00 RH89a H89a           numeral '10' missing 50.00 40.00 RH89b H89b           numeral '10' reversed (i.e. '01') 50.00 40.00 RH89c H89c           first 'e' in 'Telégrafos' inverted 40.00 40.00 * added due to the examples shown or expected.

Hiscocks illustration of Type 21, together with an example (RH89), courtesy of Courtney Hess. The example appears to have a broken top to "t" of "Cent", but may be constant.

Hiscocks added the following note:

Note. It is not clear whether the errors of first surcharges, inverted and double (Nos. 85(a) and 85(b) etc.) exist further overprint as type 20 and 21.

 

1901 Telegraph stamps of 1900 (Nos. 78, 81 and 82) overprinted as below.

Type 22 from Hiscocks book, page 209.	Type 23   (RH90) courtesy of Courtney Hess.	Type 23   (RH91)	Type 23   (RH91b) from RL	Type 23   (RH93) courtesy of Alan Slater.

 

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH90	H90	22	10c on 15c grey-blue	50.00	40.00
RH91	H91	23	10c on 50c crimson	3.75	2.00
RH91a	H91a		missing '10'	10.00	7.50
RH91b	-		inverted overprint	-	-
RH92	H92	23	10c on 1p (error) orange (shades)	75.00	75.00
RH92a	H92a		'0' missing from '10'	100.00	100.00
RH93	H93	23	20c on 1p orange (shades)	20.00	3.75
RH93a	H93a		missing '1901' (i.e. as 22)	50.00	50.00
RH93b	H93b		value missing	40.00	40.00

 

1902 Postage stamps of October 1900 (SG 137 — as for Nos. 70-76 and 85-89 above) overprinted 'Telégrafo'
as type 14 and further surcharged in violet as type 24 below.

Type 24 Taken from Hiscocks, page 209.	Image courtesy of Courtney Hess.

The postage stamps described consisted of two denominations, a 15c on 2c vermilion and a 30c on 1c plum.
Varieties existed. Both could have a double surcharge, the 15c could have a blue surcharge and the 30c could have an inverted surcharge.
The Scott catalogue says "Counterfeits of No. 163 [the 30c] exist in slightly smaller type".
Steve Hiscocks described H94 as having type 14 overprint. The example shown, which is on a 5c stamp, is type 33 overprint of 1907 (badly shifted). See RH115.
To me it looks like a counterfeit 1902 overprint was applied (right way up plus inverted) to an RH115. The illustration at least gives an idea of RH94.
Be careful what you spend a lot of money on though.

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH94	H94	(24)	30c on 1c lilac-brown	75.00	75.00

Hiscocks added the following note:

Note. I have not seen a copy of this stamp and am not clear whether the 14 overprint is in black or violet                 or whether it is horizontal as I would expect or vertical.

My note: There are doubts about the existence of this stamp, but there may also be a 15c on 2c version.
Can anyone supply a scan ?

 

1902 Official postage stamps of 1900 (SG O148-150) overprinted and surcharged as below.

Type 25   1c (RH95) on the left is one of mine.
On the right is RH96 with the smaller '1902' courtesy of Alan Slater.
Type 26 is taken from Hiscocks, page 209.

 

RH97	RH98	RH99 (small '1902') courtesy of Alan Slater.

 

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH95	H95	25, 26	10c on 1c lilac-brown	7.50	2.00
RH95a	H95a		surcharge double	20.00	15.00
RH96	H96	25, 26	10c on 1c lilac-brown (smaller '1902')	15.00	5.00
RH96a	H96a		surcharge double	40.00	25.00
RH97	H97	25, 26	10c on 2c brownish orange	12.50	2.00
RH98	H98	25, 26	10c on 4c brownish olive	5.00	2.00
RH99	H99	25, 26	10c on 4c brownish olive (smaller '1902')	15.00	7.50

Hiscocks added the following note:

Note. I have not seen the smaller '1902' type (Nos. 96 and 99). The normal '1902' in Nos. 95, 97 and 98 measures 9.2 x 2.2mm.

My note: I am not sure if Hiscocks note had a typo, but the ones illustrated above have a
'1902' measuring about 9.2mm x 3.2mm with the small being 2.7mm high.

 

1904 - I have reversed the order of these as shown by Hiscocks

This was done because it seems unlikely that Type 29 would be created after Type 28 was available.
Clearly dated examples would be welcome.

1904 Telegraph stamp of 1900 (No. 78) surcharged as below in black.

Type 29 revised.	RH100 Courtesy of Alan Slater.	RH100 Courtesy of Courtney Hess.	RH100a Courtesy of Clayton Rubec.	RH100a Courtesy of Courtney Hess.

Type 29 is a bit variable in detail, particularly the "10 cents". Clear overprints are hard to find.

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH100	H101	29	10c on 15c grey-blue	30.00	15.00
RH100a	H101a		surcharge in red	100.00	25.00

 

1904 Telegraph stamp of 1900 (No. 78) surcharged as below in black.

Type 28	Type 28   (RH101)	*RH101a Courtesy of Alan Slater.

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH101	H100	28	10c on 15c grey-blue	25.00	2.50
*RH101a	-		surcharge double	-	-

*RH101a was added because of the example illustrated.

 

1905 Telegraph stamp of 1900 (Nos. 80-84) surcharged as below in black except where stated otherwise.

Hiscocks' original illustration for this section was as shown below. For a long time I have been unhappy with the illustrations of Type 30 and Type 31. Specifically, there are two differences between Types 30 and 31.
The Cent symbol reads upwards in Type 30 and downwards in Type 31. There is bar in Type 30 and 3 wavy lines in Type 31. How do we allocate stamps with only one difference ?
Ignoring for the moment that the overprints can be different colours and read upwards or downwards, look at these:

and 3 wavy lines.	and bar.	and bar?, or 2 wavy lines ?	and 3 wavy lines?	and bar.

The reader is invited to assume that 3 wavy lines get filled in to become blobby bars. Certainly the middle red one looks like there are 3 wavy lines, but the other bars look like only two thicker lines under there.
The 3 wavy lines are under the Cent symbol, the 2-lined blob is lower down. I have yet to see a stamp that looks like the Type 31 above as shown. If you can show me one, then please do !

I am going to add three types to allow accurate descriptions, whilst still accommodating the original types (that may not actually exist), with the understanding that they can be filled to a varying extent.

and 3 wavy lines. - Type 30A	and 2 thick wavy lines. - Type 30B	and 2 thick wavy lines. - Type 31A

Types 30 and 31 normally read upwards, while Type 32 normally reads downwards.
I think the black ink came first and that the blue ink caused clogging of the wavy lines. The position of the wavy lines is a bit variable.
The blue ink used for Type 30 may not be colour-fast. I have seen a used example in which the ink appears to have run! Be careful if soaking off (which is generally not a good idea anyway).

 

RH102	RH102e ? - this looks transitional. Courtesy of Courtney Hess.	RH102a courtesy of Alan Slater.	RH102b	RH102c courtesy of Alan Slater.	RH102d courtesy of Alan Slater.

RH103 courtesy of Courtney Hess.	RH105 courtesy of Alan Slater.	RH105a courtesy of Alan Slater.	RH106a

Type 32 : Hiscocks listed no varieties for stamps with the Type 32 overprint, however, of course, there are varieties.
Firstly, though it is normally downwards, it is known reading upwards. There is some variation in spacing between "VALE" and the value and there are variations in the size and font of the value.
I have shown a few below, but would welcome scans of more examples.

RH104 courtesy of Alan Slater.	RH107 courtesy of Alan Slater.	RH107a courtesy of Courtney Hess.	RH107b Oval '0' in '10'.	RH107b sloping '1' close to 'Vale'.

RH108 courtesy of Alan Slater.	RH109 courtesy of Alan Slater.	RH110 from RL.	RH110a courtesy of Alan Slater.	RH111 15c on 3p

   
Clayton Rubec has pointed out that the spacing on the overprints are not all the same on either the 10c or 15c.

 

RH # Hisc. Type. Description Mint Used RH102 H102 30A 10c on 30c blue 10.00 2.50 RH102a H102a 30B         surcharge in dark blue 7.50 2.00 *RH102b - 30A         surcharge reading downwards (black) - - *RH102c - 30A         surcharge double downwards (black) - - *RH102d - 30A         surcharge double upwards (blue) - - RH103 H103 31A 10c on 30c blue 15.00 3.75 RH103a H103a           reading downwards 40.00 4.50 RH103b H103b           surcharge in dark blue 10.00 2.50 RH104 H104 32 10c on 30c blue (in carmine) 7.50 1.25 RH105 H105 30B 10c on 50c crimson (in blue) 5.00 2.00 *RH105a - 30A         surcharge in blue-black 5.00 2.00 RH106 H106 31 10c on 50c crimson (in black) - - *RH106a - 31A         surcharge in blue-black 6.00 3.00 RH107 H107 32 10c on 1p orange 3.75 2.50 *RH107a -           reading upwards - - *RH107b -           Oval '0' in '10' - - *RH107c -           sloping '1' close to 'Vale' - - RH108 H108 32 10c on 2p rose 3.75 3.00 RH109 H109 32 10c on 3p deep blue-green (in carmine) 3.75 2.50 RH110 H110 32 15c on 30c blue 100.00 75.00 *RH110a -           reading upwards - - RH111 H111 32 15c on 3p deep blue-green 3.75 5.00
			RH110
			RH110a
			RH111
		They may not all be genuine.

* These have been added due to the examples illustrated above.
There appears to be some variability of the positioning of the bars below the values.

 

 

1907 Postage stamps of 1900 (SG 137 etc.) and 1902 (SG 184-6) surcharged with Type 33 as below in black.

The 1900 stamps were printed by, and had the imprint of, the 'American Bank Note Co. NY.' these were Perf. 12.
In 1902 stamps (5c and 10c values) were printed by H. Braunlich, N.Y. and were poorer quality (litho) and without imprint. These are Perf. 14 x 14¼.
The quality of the type-setting and printing of the overprints was very poor. I have listed some varieties, but the number of permutations of errors is open-ended.
Keep in mind that a slightly different font or spacing does no necessarily imply a forgery. These were produced by typesetting and Type bits and spacers were often re-used and mixed.
More varieties can be seen at www.paperheritage.co.uk/articles/Nic-1907Tele

10c on 1c RH113	RH113a   'Telégrafso'	RH113a possibly fake, with 'so' lower, é accent larger	RH113b   'Telégraios' (deformed 'a', broken 'f ')
One of mine.	Courtesy of Nik Oquist.	Courtesy of Alan Slater.	From RL.

10c on 1c RH113A - Violet overprint.	10c on 2c RH114	RH114a   'Telégrafso'	RH114b   surcharge inverted, but possibly fake, the accent on é and last 's' look wrong.
Courtesy of Courtney Hess.	Courtesy of Alan Slater.		From RL.

RH114c   surcharge doubled	RH114e   'é' small and raised + 'l' weak.
Courtesy of Courtney Hess.

10c on 5c RH115	RH115a   'Telégrafso'	RH115c   '10' omitted	*RH115d   'a' omitted.
Courtesy of Alan Slater.			Courtesy of Benjamin Singer.

*RH115e   'Te égrafso'	*RH115f   damaged "f" + 'o' omitted.	*RH115h   'é' small and raised + 'l' weak.	*RH115i   small '0' in '10'.
Courtesy of Benjamin Singer.	Courtesy of Courtney Hess.

*RH115j   'l', 'f' and 'o' broken.	10c on 10c RH116	RH116a   'Telégrafso'	RH116b+e/f   imperf + small raised 'é'
Courtesy of Courtney Hess.	One of mine.	Courtesy of Alan Slater.	Courtesy of Courtney Hess.

RH116c   '0' omitted	RH116d   '01' for '10' and broken 'f'	RH116e   small, raised 'é' in 'Telégrafos' plus broken ' l ' and 'g'	RH116f   small, raised 'é' in 'Telégrafos' plus dropped '0' in '10'
One of mine	Courtesy of Alan Slater.	Image courtesy of Benjamin Singer.	Courtesy of Courtney Hess.

*RH116g   '0 ¢' omitted sfos	*RH116h   'le 10¢' omitted, 'afos' low.	*RH116i   small zero in '10'	*RH116j   small zero in '10' and surcharge inverted
Courtesy of Alan Slater.

10c on 50c RH117	RH117a   'Telégrafso'	RH117b   'le 10¢' omitted	RH117c   'le 10¢' omitted, 'afos' low
Courtesy of Alan Slater.		Image courtesy of Benjamin Singer.	Courtesy of Courtney Hess.

*RH117d   '01' for '10' and 'Telégraios'	*RH117e   '01' for '10' and 'Telégrai s'	*RH117f   'é' small and raised
Courtesy of Alan Slater.	From RL.	Courtesy of Courtney Hess.

15c on 2c RH118	15c on 2c RH118a   'Telégrafso'
Image courtesy of Benjamin Singer.	Courtesy of Courtney Hess.

15c on 3c RH119	RH119a   'Telégrafso'.	RH119b   'T' and 'V' omitted	RH119c   'f' broken, 'o' omitted
Courtesy of Alan Slater.	Image courtesy of Rolf Lamprecht.	Courtesy of Alan Slater.	Courtesy of Courtney Hess.

*RH119d   surcharge double, one telegrafso	15c on 5c RH120	*RH120a   surcharge inverted	*RH120b   'T' and 'V' omitted
Courtesy of Alan Slater.

15c on 10c *RH120A	30c on 20c *RH121A	30c on 2P *RH121B	30c on 5P *RH121C
Courtesy of Courtney Hess.

*RH114d   Bold 'T'	*RH115g   Bold 'T'	*RH117h   Bold 'T'
As Nik points out, the 'T' is pretty consistent on these. I suspect that it occurs on other stamps of this series also.  -   Images courtesy of  Nik Oquist.

*RH118b   Bold 'T'	*RH119e   Bold 'T'
Anyone have any others?   -   Images courtesy of  Nik Oquist.

 

RH # Hisc. Type. Description Mint Used RH113 H113 33 10c on 1c lilac-brown 2.50 1.25 RH113a H113a           error — 'Telégrafso' (i.e. 'os' inverted) 7.50 5.00 *RH113b -           'Telégraios' (deformed 'a', broken 'f'') 5.00 3.50 RH113A - 33 10c on 1c lilac-brown in violet. - - RH114 H114 33 10c on 2c orange 3.75 2.50 RH114a H114a           error — 'Telégrafso' (i.e. 'os' inverted) 10.00 7.50 RH114b H114b           surcharge inverted 15.00 10.00 *RH114c -           surcharge double 15.00 10.00 *RH114d -           error — Bold 'T' 11.25 7.50 *RH114e -           small, raised 'é' in 'Telégrafos' 11.25 7.50 RH115 H115 33 10c on 5c rose (SG 184) 2.50 1.25 RH115a H115a           error — 'Telégrafso' (i.e. 'os' inverted) 7.50 5.00 RH115b H115b           imperf. 60.00 50.00 RH115c H115c           '10' omitted 15.00 15.00 *RH115d -           error — 'a' omitted in 'Telégrafos' 7.50 5.00 *RH115e -           error — 'Te égrafso' with ' l ' omitted 7.50 5.00 *RH115f -           broken "f" + 'o' missing 7.50 5.00 *RH115g -           error — Bold 'T' 7.50 5.00 *RH115h -           'é' small and raised + 'l' weak 7.50 5.00 *RH115i -           small '0' in '10'. 7.50 5.00 *RH115j -           'l', 'f' and 'o' broken 7.50 5.00 RH116 H116 33 10c on 10c violet (SG 186) 2.50 1.25 RH116a H116a           error — 'Telégrafso' (i.e. 'os' inverted) 7.50 5.00 RH116b H116b           imperf. 50.00 40.00 RH116c H116c           '0' omitted from '10' 20.00 15.00 RH116d H116d           '01' in place of '10' 20.00 15.00 RH116e H116e           small, raised 'é' in 'Telégrafos' plus broken ' l ' and 'g' 20.00 15.00 *RH116f -           small, raised 'é' in 'Telégrafos' plus dropped '0' in '10' 20.00 15.00 *RH116g -           '0 ¢' omitted - - *RH116h -           'le 10 ¢' omitted - - *RH116i -           small zero in '10' - - *RH116j -           small zero in '10' and surcharge inverted - - RH117 H117 33 10c on 50c crimson 2.50 1.25 RH117a H117a           error — 'Telégrafso' (i.e. 'os' inverted) 7.50 5.00 RH117b H117b           'le 10 ¢' omitted 20.00 15.00 *RH117c -           'le 10 ¢' omitted, 'afos' low 20.00 15.00 RH117d H117c           '01' in place of '10' 20.00 15.00 *RH117e -           '01' in place of '10' and 'Telégraios' (broken 'f'') - - *RH117f -           As RH117d but 'Telégrai s' (missing 'o') - - *RH117g -           'é' small and high 7.50 5.00 *RH117h -           error — Bold 'T' 7.50 5.00 RH118 H118 33 15c on 2c orange 3.75 2.50 RH118a H118a           error — 'Telégrafso' (i.e. 'os' inverted) 10.00 7.50 *RH118b -           error — Bold 'T' 10.00 7.50 RH119 H119 33 15c on 3c green 2.50 1.25 RH119a H119a           error — 'Telégrafso' (i.e. 'os' inverted) 7.50 5.00 RH119b H119b           'T' and 'V' omitted 25.00 20.00 *RH119c -           'f' broken, 'o' omitted 25.00 20.00 *RH119d -           surcharge double - - *RH119e -           error — Bold 'T' 7.50 5.00 RH120 H120 33 15c on 5c rose (SG 184) 25.00 25.00 *RH120a -           surcharge inverted - - *RH120b -           'T' and 'V' omitted - - *RH120A - 33 15c on 10c violet - - RH121 H121 33 30c on 1c lilac-brown 25.00 25.00 *RH121A - 33 30c on 20c brown - - *RH121B - 33 30c on 2P salmon - - *RH121C - 33 30c on 5P black - -

RH116b courtesy of Clayton Rubec. Another example is shown above with a small raised 'é'. The 10c on 10c is the only one that I have seen imperforate, though Hiscocks also listed the 10c on 5c. For obvious reasons, examples with small margins should be treated with suspicion.

* I have added these to accommodate examples shown above.
However, given the poor quality of these overprints, I'm not sure that it is worthwhile adding every permutation of defects.
The example of RH116e has a missing 'l' in 'Telégrafos', whilst the example of RH119c also has a
'Telégrafos' overprint with the 'a' nearly missing and a 'Telégrafso' overprint with missing ' l '.

It is likely that the same 10c plate was used in overprinting all the values that had a 10c overprint and thus the same errors exist for all of them.
The same of course applies with the 15c overprint.

Hiscocks added the following note:

Note. Nos. 115, 116 and 120 are on the lithographed 1902 issue (by H. Braunlich of New York).                 Perf. 14, in which "Am. Bank Note Co" has been omitted from the design.

My note: There is another group of stamps very similar to the above that should be mentioned :

These are characterised by (unusually) having good quality overprints, as well as not appearing in catalogues.
In fact they give every appearance of being the products of Linotype rather than the conventional Typesetting available in Nicaragua at the time.
Whilst Linotype was readily available in the U.S.A. from 1892, it does not appear to have been used to overprint Nicaraguan Telegraph stamps until about 1908.

I cannot claim to be an expert in such matters, but I would be failing in my duty to inform, if I did not raise doubts about these.
Perhaps the American Bank Note Co. produced them to tender for a contract to produce them, which was turned down in favour of domestic production.
The 10c on 15c though appears to be cancelled. The 15c on 10c (on a H. Braunlich Co. Printing) is not the sort of thing that would win a contract.
Some of the stamps shown above may also belong with these. Perhaps they were used to sell a Linotype machine?  -  These images come courtesy of Courtney Hess.

 

1907 Official postage stamps of 1900 (SG O148 etc.) with the same surcharge as H113-121 reading vertically down (usually) in black. They will likely have the same varieties.

10c on 1c RH122	*RH122b   Reading upwards	10c on 2c RH123	RH123a   'Telégrafso'.
Courtesy of Alan Slater.		One of mine	Courtesy of Alan Slater.

10c on 5c RH124	RH124b   surcharge in carmine.	RH124c   Reading upwards.	RH124a/c   'Telégrafso', upwards.
Type 33a examples, courtesy of Alan Slater.			Courtesy of Nik Oquist.

Type 33A

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH122	H122	33A	10c on 1c lilac-brown	10.00	10.00
RH122a	H122a		error — 'Telégrafso' (i.e. 'os' inverted)	25.00	20.00
*RH122b	-		surcharge reading upwards	-	-
RH123	H123	33A	10c on 2c bright orange	2.50	1.25
RH123a	H123a		error — 'Telégrafso' (i.e. 'os' inverted)	7.50	5.00
RH123b	-		surcharge reading upwards	-	-
RH124	H124	33A	10c on 5c dark blue	3.75	2.50
RH124a	H124a		error — 'Telégrafso' (i.e. 'os' inverted)	10.00	7.50
RH124b	H124b		surcharge in carmine	2.50	1.25
*RH124c	-		surcharge reading upwards	-	-

* I have added RH122b and RH124c due to the examples above.

 

Late 1907 Postage stamps of 1905 and 1907 (SG 206-7 and 239). Surcharged as above.
White wove paper. No watermark. Perf. 12 (American Bank Note Co.) or Perf. 14 (Waterlow & Sons Ltd.)

10c on 1c RH125 - The date normally given for these is 1908. This is dated 1907. RL has another dated 1 Sept 1907.	RH125a   'Telégrafso'	*RH125ab   'Telégrafso', split '1' in '10' (this is also known on the postal version)	RH125b   surcharge reading upwards	*RH125c   raised second 'é' in 'Telégrafos' (reading downwards)
One of mine.	Courtesy of Alan Slater.	Courtesy of Nik Oquist.	Courtesy of Alan Slater.	Courtesy of Nik Oquist.

*RH125d Bold 'T'	*RH125e   surcharge reading upwards (ABN)	10c on 2c RH126	15c on 1c RH128	15c on 2c RH129
Courtesy of Nik Oquist.	Courtesy of Benjamin Singer.	Courtesy of Alan Slater.

 

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH125	H125	34	10c on 1c green (SG 239, 1907 W)	2.50	1.25
RH125a	H125a		error — 'Telégrafso' (i.e. 'os' inverted)	7.50	5.00
*RH125ab	-		error — split base of '1' in '10'	-	-
RH125b	H125b		surcharge reading upwards	10.00	7.50
*RH125c	-		raised second 'é' in 'Telégrafos'	-	-
*RH125d	-		bold 'T'	-	-
*RH125e	-		surcharge reading upwards (1905 ABN)	35.00	35.00
RH126	H126	34	10c on 2c rose (SG 207, 1905 ABN)	2.50	1.25
RH127	H127	34	15c on 1c green (SG 206, 1905 ABN)	30.00	30.00
RH128	H128	34	15c on 1c green (SG 239, 1907 W)	30.00	30.00
RH129	H129	34	15c on 2c rose (SG 207, 1905 ABN)	2.50	1.25

* I have added RH125ab, RH125c, RH125d and RH125e due to the examples shown above.

Hiscocks added the following note:

Note. The stamps of 1905 were recess printed by the American Bank Note Co. while those of 1907                 were re-engraved and printed by Waterlow & Sons, London. There are many minor                 differences but in both cases the printer's name appears in the bottom margin.

 

1908 Fiscal stamps of 1899 (Forbin No. 1) surcharged as above in black.
White wove paper, sheets of 20. No watermark. Perf. 13

10c on 1c RH130   Upwards.	10c on 1c RH131   Downwards.	15c on 1c RH132   Upwards.	15c on 1c RH133   Downwards in red.	15c on 10c *RH133A   Upwards.	15c on 10c *RH133B   Downwards.
Courtesy of Alan Slater.		A couple of mine.		Courtesy of Courtney Hess.

 

Type 35

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH130	H130	35	10c on 1c blue (reading up)	2.50	2.00
RH131	H131	35	10c on 1c blue (reading down)	10.00	2.50
RH132	H132	35	15c on 1c blue (reading up)	2.50	2.00
RH133	H133	35	15c on 1c blue (reading down in red)	25.00	5.00
*RH133A	-	(35)	15c on 10c green (reading up)	-	-
*RH133B	-	(35)	15c on 10c green (reading down in red)	-	-

* These have been added due to the examples shown. Status unknown, these are the only examples that I have seen.

 

1910-1911 Postage stamps of 1909 (SG 284 — similar to those of 1905 (SG 206 etc.) but with altered colours of 1909) overprinted as below in black.
White wove paper. No watermark. Perf. 12 (American Bank Note Co.) or Perf. 14 (Waterlow & Sons Ltd.)

Types as indicated in Hiscocks' book page 212.

Varieties and other examples:

10c RH135	10c on 15c RH136a   'VAEE'	10c on 15c RH136A   (Waterlow perf.14)	10c on 15c RH136B MOCKUP (A.B.N. Co.) I have seen only a poor image.	10c on 20c RH137	10c on 20c *RH138b   no stop after 'cts'
Courtesy of Alan Slater.		Courtesy of Nik Oquist.	Can anyone supply a genuine image?	One of mine.	Courtesy of Alan Slater.

*RH138c   inverted	10c on 20c RH139a   surcharge double	RH139c   'cte'	RH139d   Vale / 10 cts' inverted	*RH139e   no stop after 'cts'
Courtesy of Alan Slater.

10c on 1p RH140a   'ets'	RH140c   italic 'ts' in 'cts'	*RH140e   italic 'c' and high stop in 'cts.'	15c RH141	10c on 15c RH142A MOCKUP (A.B.N. Co.) I have seen only a poor image.
Courtesy of Alan Slater.				Can anyone supply a genuine image?

10c on 50c RH142	10c on 50c RH142a   'cte'	RH142b   'Vale / 10 cts' inverted	*RH142d   no stop after 'cts'	1p RH143
Courtesy of Rolf Lamprecht.	Courtesy of Alan Slater.

The original list of Steve Hiscocks had only stamps of the American Bank Note Company in this section.
However RH136B indicates that, like the H125-H129 series, it appears that some Waterlow stamps were also overprinted
More recently I have been shown a poor image, probably from an old eBay lot, of Type 36a on the 1909 ABN version of 15c.
The distance between the 2 parts was the same, but slightly shifted in alignment. Anyone have that now?
I would like to hear about these or any more similar examples not on this list.

RH # Hisc. Type. Description Mint Used RH134 H134 36 10c crimson 7.50 7.50 RH135 H135 37 10c crimson 10.00 10.00 RH136 H136 38 10c on 15c grey-black (ABN, 1909) 2.50 2.50 RH136a H136a           error — 'VAEE' 10.00 5.00 *RH136A - 36a 10c on 15c olive (Waterlow, 1907) - - †RH136B - 36a 10c on 15c grey-black (ABN, 1909) - - RH137 H137 39 10c on 20c olive-brown 2.00 2.00 RH138 H138 40 10c on 20c olive-brown 2.50 2.00 RH138a H138a           'Vale' and '10 cts' omitted 15.00 5.00 *RH138b -           no stop after 'cts' - - *RH138c -           overprint inverted - - RH139 H139 41 10c on 20c olive-brown 25.00 2.50 RH139a H139a           surcharge double 50.00 10.00 RH139b H139b           '1' omitted from '10' 50.00 10.00 RH139c H139c           error — 'cte' 50.00 10.00 RH139d H139d           'Vale / 10 cts' inverted 75.00 25.00 *RH139e -           no stop after 'cts' - - RH140 H140 42 10c on 1p yellow-orange 2.50 2.00 RH140a H140a           error — 'ets' 5.00 5.00 RH140b H140b           error — '18' for '10' 50.00 40.00 RH140c H140c           error — 'ts' of 'cts' in italics 5.00 5.00 RH140d H140d           error — 's' of 'cts' omitted 15.00 10.00 *RH140e -           error — italic 'c' and high stop in 'cts.' - - RH141 H141 37 15c grey-black 2.50 2.00 RH142 H142 41 15c on 50c dark green 7.50 2.00 RH142a H142a           error — 'cte' 15.00 5.00 RH142b H142b           'Vale / 15 cts' inverted 15.00 5.00 RH142c H142c           'Vale / 15 cts' double 50.00 40.00 *RH142d -           no stop after 'cts' - - †RH142A - 37 20c olive-brown - - †RH142B - 37 50c dark green - - RH143 H143 37 1p yellow-orange 75.00 25.00

Blocks of RH142A and RH142B Specimens courtesy of victorgg on eBay.

* I have added these due to the examples shown above.
† I have added these due to poor images seen. Type 37 is also known ONLY so far as specimens on the 20c and 50c.
I have provided Mock-up images of some for now, but would welcome genuine images.

 

1911 Fiscal stamps of 1908 (Forbin 20-29) surcharged as below in black.
White wove paper, sheets of 20. No watermark. Perf. 14

10c on 50c RH144	10c on 50c RH144a   italic 'o'	10c on 50c RH144c   non-italic 'c'	10c on 50c *RH144d no serif on '1' of '10'	10c on 5p *RH145b   italic 'g'	10c on 5p RH145c   non-italic 'c'
Courtesy of Alan Slater.	From RL	Courtesy of Alan Slater.	From RL	Courtesy of Alan Slater.

15c on 10p RH146	*RH146c   italic 'g' and 'o'	RH146d   non-italic 'c'	15c on 25p RH147	*RH147c   italic 'g' and 'o'
Courtesy of Alan Slater.				Courtesy of Niki Oquist.

RH148	RH148a   italic 'o'	*RH148b   italic 'g'	RH148d   non-italic 'c' in 'cts'
Courtesy of Clayton Rubec.	Courtesy of Alan Slater.

 

Type 43

RH # Hisc. Type. Description Mint Used RH144 H144 43 10c on 50c yellow-green 3.75 2.00 RH144a H144a           italic 'o' in 'Telégrafo' 10.00 10.00 RH144b -           italic 'g' in 'Telégrafo' 10.00 10.00 RH144c H144b           non-italic 'c' in 'cts' 10.00 10.00 *RH144d -           missing serif on '10' 10.00 10.00 RH145 H145 43 10c on 5p sky blue 3.75 2.50 RH145a H145a           italic 'o' in 'Telégrafo' 10.00 10.00 *RH145b -           italic 'g' in 'Telégrafo' 10.00 10.00 RH145c H145b           non-italic 'c' in 'cts' 10.00 10.00 RH145d -           missing serif on '10' 10.00 10.00 RH146 H146 43 15c on 10p pale rose 2.50 1.25 RH146a H146a           italic 'o' in 'Telégrafo' 10.00 10.00 RH146b -           italic 'g' in 'Telégrafo' 10.00 10.00 *RH146c -           italic 'g' and 'o' in 'Telégrafo' 10.00 10.00 RH146d H146b           non-italic 'c' in 'cts' 10.00 10.00 RH147 H147 43 15c on 25p green 2.50 1.25 RH147a H147a           italic 'o' in 'Telégrafo' 10.00 10.00 RH147b -           italic 'g' in 'Telégrafo' 10.00 10.00 *RH147c -           italic 'g' and 'o' in 'Telégrafo' 10.00 10.00 RH147d H147b           non-italic 'c' in 'cts' 10.00 10.00 RH148 H148 43 15c on 50p vermilion 2.50 1.25 RH148a H148a           italic 'o' in 'Telégrafo' 10.00 10.00 *RH148b -           italic 'g' in 'Telégrafo' 10.00 10.00 RH148c -           italic 'g' and 'o' in 'Telégrafo' 10.00 10.00 RH148d H148b           non-italic 'c' in 'cts' 10.00 10.00

It should be mentioned that these also exist. They appear to be used, the 5c possibly in October 1910. They have 'Telégrafos' reading upwards in purple. Images courtesy of Courtney Hess. Status unknown, but I would welcome further information and/or scans.

* I added RH144d, RH145b, RH146c, RH147c and RH148b due to the examples shown above. Since it seems likely that
the same 10c overprint plates were used for both values, and the same 15c overprints were used for all values,
I have added the respective varieties for other values. Note that I have rearranged the orders of these to be a bit more logical

 

1911 As above but also overprinted '1904' i.e. on Forbin Nos. 13, 18 and 19 of 1904. Perf. 14½.

*RH149Eb   italic 'g'	*RH149Fb   italic 'g'	15c on 25p RH150	RH150a   italic 'o'	*RH150E
Courtesy of Courtney Hess.		Courtesy of Alan Slater.		Courtesy of Clayton Rubec.

 

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH149	H149	43	10c on 50c yellow-green	100.00	5.00
RH149a	H149a		italic 'o' in 'Telégrafo'	150.00	25.00
RH149b	-		italic 'g' in 'Telégrafo'	150.00	25.00
RH149c	H149b		non-italic 'c' in 'cts'	150.00	25.00
RH149d	-		missing serif on '10'	150.00	25.00
*RH149E	-	43	10c on 5p blue	-	-
RH149Ea	-		italic 'o' in 'Telégrafo'	-	-
RH149Eb	-		italic 'g' in 'Telégrafo'	-	-
RH149Ec	-		italic 'g' and 'o' in 'Telégrafo'	-	-
RH149Ed	-		non-italic 'c' in 'cts'	-	-
*RH149F	-	43	15c on 10p pink	-	-
RH149Fa	-		italic 'o' in 'Telégrafo'	-	-
RH149Fb	-		italic 'g' in 'Telégrafo'	-	-
RH149Fc	-		italic 'g' and 'o' in 'Telégrafo'	-	-
RH149Fd	-		non-italic 'c' in 'cts'	-	-
RH150	H150	43	15c on 25p green	5.00	5.00
RH150a	H150a		italic 'o' in 'Telégrafo'	25.00	25.00
RH150b	-		italic 'g' in 'Telégrafo'	25.00	25.00
RH150c	H150b		non-italic 'c' in 'cts'	25.00	25.00
RH150d	-		missing serif on '10'	150.00	25.00
*RH150E	-	43	15c on 50p vermilion	-	-
RH150Ea	-		italic 'o' in 'Telégrafo'	-	-
RH150Eb	-		italic 'g' in 'Telégrafo'	-	-
RH150Ec	-		italic 'g' and 'o' in 'Telégrafo'	-	-
RH150Ed	-		non-italic 'c' in 'cts'	-	-

* I have added RH149E, RH149F and RH150E due to images shown. It is possible that more of the 1904 set exists with the 1911 surcharge shown above.
I would very much like to hear from anyone that finds any..

As for the previous series, I have added the expected varieties.

 

Railway Ticket Stamps.

These are more complicated than the listing of Steve Hiscocks would suggest. This is partly because it was based on Forbins work which was also over-simplified. My source for this is an exhibit on the subject by Neal B. West in 9 parts, each with a downloadable pdf file about three quarters of the way down this page at Stamps.org. Neal has kindly allowed me to use his images. The basic 'stamp' on which these are printed, was intended and used as railway tickets. The blue one was second class and numbered '2', the red one was first class and numbered '1' accordingly. These were printed by Waterlow of England in 1890 on un-gummed sheets that are thought to have been 12 x 10 (10 rows of 12). Around 1903/4, Millions of them were overprinted for Fiscal use, 5c on the blue second class and 10c on the red first class. This was done in black on the red stamps, and black, bright red and dark red on the blue. In 1911, Nicaragua was bankrupt and fighting a civil war. The stamps ordered for 1911 had been withheld due to non-payment and improvisation was required. Initially old stocks of revenues were overprinted as can be seen above, but eventually these stamp-like railway tickets overprinted as fiscals were utilized. Some were overprinted on the back for postal use in various values and some overprinted for telegraphic use. Later some of the red first class were overprinted on the front for telegraph use. All of the overprints were done on panes of 20 created by tearing up the original sheets. This creates a correspondence between varieties of overprints, except in cases of inversion. Fiscal overprints were sometimes inverted and sometimes overprints on the back were inverted. The 10c overprints on the back were created reusing type from an earlier Postal overprint, there are quite a few variations of font size and style intermixed. When the 15c overprint was needed, it was created from the 10c plate by simply changing the '0' to a '5'. In addition, there is another useful article with more varieties at www.paperheritage.co.uk/articles/Nic-1907Tele.

More interesting illustrations can be found here on stampboards.com

 

First Telegraph Provisionals (August 1911).

1911 Railway stamps surcharged for revenue purposes (around 1903) in very dark red or in black (Forbin Nos. 7 and 8) and further surcharged
as below (45) in black on the reverse of the stamp. There are many varieties of type 45 and I will illustrate the ones I can.

Printed on panes of 20 (5 rows of 4), probably from original sheets of 12x10) printed by Waterlow in 1890. Un-gummed. Wove paper. No watermark. Perf. 14.
The digits 1 and 2 on these are not a value in cents, but are the class of the tickets, first class or second class.

Type 44a, 5c in red or black.	Type 44, 5c on a second class stamp. Usually reading down, but can be up. Usually dark red, but can be bright red.		Type 44, 10c on a first class stamp. Usually reading down, but can be up.		Type 44A, 10c only known on the 1912 Telegraph series (rare)

Type 45 is printed on the back of the ticket. It can be either way up (about a third inverted), 10c or 15c in a range of fonts, often mixed, but always in black. For types with a 'B' at the bottom, see under Bluefields RH33.

 

Timbre Fiscal Vale 5 ctvs. Forbin 7 as used to define Hiscocks Type 44 (as on RH151 and RH152)	Forbin 7a with 'ctvs.' inverted. This is on 5% of the Type 44, 5c stamps. (as on RH151a and RH152c)	TIMBRE FISCAL Vale 5 cents. Type 44a in red (Forbin unlisted) (as on RH152a)	TIMBRE FISCAL Vale 5 cents. Type 44a in black (Forbin unlisted) (as on RH152b)

I have no scans of RH153 so I do not know what style it is or if there was more than one type of it.
Can anyone supply a scan of it ?

RH151 - showing front and type 45 on the back	RH151 - with type 45 variant courtesy of Thomas Keesling. Small 'v' and '1', broken 'c'.

Variants seen of the 10c overprint, with positions as viewed from the back.

My only example, Large 'V', large '10' Positions 13 and 17 are like this. 7 is similar with a distorted 's'.	Thomas Keesling example Small 'v' and '1', broken 'c'. This is position 11.	Small 'v' and '10', italic 'cts'. courtesy of Moreland Revenue Stamps. Positions 8 and 10 are like this. 1, 3, 4, 5 are similar with a larger stop.	Small 'v', large '10', normal 'cts'. courtesy of  Moreland Revenue Stamps. This is position 12.	Centring is variable This is more extreme than usual. Image courtesy of Rolf Lamprecht.

For the 15c value, the 10c plate was altered, changing '0' to '5' so that the pattern of variations are largely the same. Again, positions as viewed from the back.
For similar items with 'B' below 'DE 1911' see under Bluefields.

RH152 - about 34% of these have Type 45 inverted, relative to the front. 'l' in 'Vale' cut short and 'DE' shorn off, position 2.	*RH152a - showing front and back. Large '15', small 'v', positions 9, 12 and 15 are like this, 6 is similar but with damage to the 'c' of 'cts'.	*RH152a - reading upwards. Though most read downwards, clearly some read upwards. This is the only one I have seen, so I do not know the proportions. The proportions may be different for different types. Position 11.

*RH152a - showing front and back. Small '15', small 'v', broken period. Position 3. Courtesy of Steve Moreland	*RH152b - showing front and back. large 'V' and '15' exist at positions 2, 7, 13 and 17.	*RH152c (inverted 'ctvs.' - showing front and back. Position 17.

 

Variants, just showing backs, seen of the 15c overprint, with positions as viewed from the back.

Commonest - Large 'V', large '15'. Positions 7, 13 and 17 are like this.	Small 'v', large '15' with part of 'c' missing. Position 6.	Large 'V', medium '15' Position 18.	Position 20. Similar to last but top of '1' in '15' is more sloping.	Large 'V', mixed '15' Position 19.

Small 'v', large '15' Positions 9,12,and 15. 6 is similar with damage to 'c'.	Small 'v', medium '15', broken 'c'. Position 11.	Small 'v', italic '15 cts' with a clear stop '.' at the end. Positions 1, 4 and 5.	As last but a very feint stop. Positions 3, 8 and 10. From RL.	Small italic '15', large 'C' and italic '1' in '1911'. Position 16. From RL.

Large 'V' and '15' but shorn off 'l' in 'Vale' and 'DE'. Position 2.	small 'v' and '15', with damaged '1' and 'DE' mostly missing. Position 14.	small 'v' and large '15', flattened bottom to 's'. Position 15.

A further complication is that the fiscal overprint also has varieties.
For example, the last stamp in the pane of 20 (as viewed from the front, 17 from the back) has 'ctvs.' inverted (Forbin 7a).

 

Neal West illustrates these sheets of 10c and 15c on his eighth pdf file (see above).

10 cents

15 cents

I am not sure what is going on with the 10c position 9, perhaps a one-off variety ?
Anyone have another example of it ?

Talking about "one-off varieties", Harry Patsalos sent me these images
with much of the "Vale 5" missing from the fiscal overprint :

The distinctive "15" gives this as ostensibly position 15.
I have two from that position, neither having the flaw. However this has the back overprint inverted relative to the front, so it would be effectively position 2.
For that position I have two normal and another two inverted. None of those have the flaw either. The flaw is clearly not constant, though there may be other similar ones.

RH # Hisc. Type. Description Mint Used RH151 H151 44, 45 10c on 5c (in dark red) on '2' dark blue 3.75 2.00 *RH151a - 44, 45    RH151 with 'ctvs.' inverted           - - RH152 H152 44, 45 15c on 5c (in dark red) on '2' dark blue 3.75 2.00 *RH152a - 44a, 45 Type 44a fiscal overprint in red - - *RH152b - 44a, 45    Type 44a fiscal overprint in black - - *RH152c - 44, 45    RH152 with 'ctvs.' inverted           - - RH153 H153 44?, 45 15c on 10c (in black) on '1' red 25.00 20.00 * I have added these due to the examples shown above.

The vertical line is interesting, judging by the interpretation of RH160-165, perhaps this should be considered as a telegraph stamp (RH152) returned to Fiscal use.

 

Cancels found on these.

These are generally one of two types that are generally hard to make out due to size and being smudged and blurry.
These are found on most (if not all) individual stamps, as well as complete sheets. It may be that most examples on the market are cancelled remainders.

		These images are derived from the Exhibit of Neal West.
Fiscalia General de Telegrafos y Telefonos Republica de Nicaragua America Central		SIN VALOR Fiscalia de la D. Gral. de TT. y TF. NICARAGUA

 

 

1911 'Destace de Ganado' (Butchery of Livestock) revenue stamps (Forbin 1, 3 and one unlisted) in colours stated but all with original values in black,
overprinted 'TELEGRAFOS' in black as indicated and, in most cases, further surcharged in black.
White wove paper. No watermark. Perf. 11½, 14 or imperf.

H154 'Normal' - variant 1 (20.5 x 2.2mm) courtesy of Dick Keiser	H154 'Normal' - variant 2 (23.5 x 2.7mm), inverted from RL. This has large letters and is missing the '.' at the end. I am not convinced that it is a genuine overprint.	H154 'Normal' - variant 3 (23.7 x 2.8mm) + '.' from RL.	H154 'Normal' - variant 3 (23.5 x 2.7mm) + '.', inverted courtesy of Dick Keiser

H154a - 'TELEGRAFSO' from RL.	H154b - 'TELEGFAFOS' from RL.	H154d - 'TELEGRAAFOS' from RL.

H154f - 'TElegrAFOS' from RL.	*H154e (or H154g) - 'TELegraFOS' - (14.86 x 2.03mm) from RL.	Hiscocks illustration of *H154g. - (14.86 x 2.07mm) the sizes on this and last ignore the tail of the 'g'.

 

Types 47 taken from Hiscocks, page 214	H155. Courtesy of Courtney Hess.	H157a. Courtesy of Courtney Hess.

 

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH154	H154	46	10c pale blue (Perf.14)	15.00	10.00
RH154a	H154a		error 'TELEGRAFSO'	30.00	20.00
RH154b	H154b		error 'TELEGFAFOS'	30.00	20.00
RH154c	H154c		error 'TELegrAFOS'	30.00	20.00
RH154d	H154d		error 'TELEGRAAFOS'	30.00	20.00
-	*H154e		error 'TELegraFOS'	20.00	15.00
RH154f	H154f		error 'TElegrAFOS'	30.00	20.00
-	*H154g		error 'TELegraFOS' (in smaller type — 46A)	30.00	20.00
ƒRH155	-	46, 47	10c on 5c pale orange (Perf.11½)	-	-
RH155a	H155	46, 47	imperf	125.00	125.00
RH156	H156	46, 47	10c on 50c yellow-green (Perf.11½)	75.00	75.00
RH157	H157	46, 47	10c on 2p grey (imperf.)	125.00	125.00
RH157c	H157a		error 'TElegrAFOS'	150.00	150.00
RH157h	H157b		'19 cts' for '10 cts'	250.00	250.00
ƒRH157J	-	46	20c carmine (Perf.11½)	-	-
ƒRH157K	-	46	1p yellow-brown (Perf.11½)	-	-

Hiscocks added the following note:

Note. It is not clear whether No. 154(g), which I have, is the same as No. 154(e) which I have not seen.                 Letters on No. 154(g) are 1¾mm (46A) as compared with 2¾mm for all others I have seen.

My note: Hiscocks implied that these were all Perf.14, but Forbin implies all Perf. 12.
The images of 154 and 154g above appear to be about Perf.14, but the images of 20c, 50c and 1p that I have seen are about 11½.
More information is needed.

ƒRH157J and RH157K have been added since they are known overprinted "CABO" and presumably exist/existed without it.
Each of the types having type 46 overprint exist/existed with the same varieties given for RH154. Use the same suffix letter for them.

The basic Ganado stamp was printed in sheets of 5 x 5. Clayton Rubec has shown me a sheet of H154, but there is a complication
that Hiscocks did not address. Some have a stop on the end, others do not. Also *there is no H154e or H154g on it so I presume they are bogus overprints.
Having said that, there may have been more than one setting used for these overprints, see note below RH4di under CABO below.

Here is a diagram of the varieties in the sheet, I have added 'o' where there is an extra stop on the end :

D o A C   B F o A Fo o o   A o D   B Fo

Pane of 25 courtesy of Courtney Hess (displayed at 25% actual size).

 

 

1912 As for Nos. 144-148 above but surcharged as indicated in black.

(These are chronologically out of sequence, they should be further down, but for the time being at least, I will leave them here to preserve Hiscocks numbering sequence.)

Hiscocks Type 48 is made of 2 parts that vary in relative position. In RH159A the "1912" is also lower relative to the "Telégrafos"		RH158 courtesy of Courtney Hess	RH158a courtesy of Alan Slater	RH159 courtesy of Alan Slater	RH159Ab courtesy of Courtney Hess

RH159A is on a fiscal stamp that had been given a 1904 overprint. It is possible that the 50c also exists like that. Anyone have one ?

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH158	H158	43, 48	15c on 50c dark green	5.00	3.75
RH158a	-		no accent on second 'e'	-	-
RH159	H159	43, 48	15c on 1p brown	5.00	3.75
RH159a	-		no accent on second 'e'	-	-
RH159A	-	(43), 48	15c on 1p brown with "1904"	-	-
RH159Aa	-		no accent on second 'e'	-	-
RH159Ab	-		small 'é'	-	-

 

Second Telegraph Provisionals (Late 1911).

Late 1911 Fiscal stamps of 1903 (Types 44/44a as above) that had 'Correos' overprints on the back, were overprinted
'Telégrafos' as below (Type 49) on the front and a bar on the back to delete Correos usage and 15c (the value reverts to 10c).

Below are images of the constant varieties in positions 11, 12, 18 and 20 derived from the Exhibit of Neal West.

Type 49 - Position 11, broken bottom of "g" in "Telégrafos".	Type 49 - Position 12, broken bottom of "r" in "Telégrafos".

Type 49 - Position 18, smaller, raised "f" in "Telégrafos".	Type 49 - Position 20, broken bottom of first "e" in "Telégrafos".

The bar runs from the top row to the bottom row of the pane of 20, but is a little short leaving spaces at the ends.
As in the 1911 issue, there are two types of fiscal overprint and many types of the overprint on the back.
In addition, stocks were running out and, even what would otherwise have been printers waste, was utilized.
With 3 overprints, there are many permutations of errors and varieties. There are also multiple types of the 'CORREO' overprint.

Type 49 - Usually reading down.	RH160 variant front and back. '15' different fonts.	RH160 variant front and back. Small '15 cts' italic. Stamps 1-6. The short bar indicates that this is from the top row of a pane of 20.

RH160 variant front and back. large stop on end of italic 'cts'.	RH160a variant front and back. Inverted like some of RH152. Large 'C', italic '1' in '1911' - courtesy of  Moreland Revenue Stamps	RH160c front and back. Neal B. West states that these are very rare. Image courtesy of  Daniel Butel.

RH160d front and back courtesy of Neal B. West. These are very rare.

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH160	H160	44, 49	10c on 15c on '1' red	2.00	1.25
RH160a	H160a		'Telégrafos' (49) reading up	10.00	2.50
RH160b	H160b		'Telégrafos' (49) double	25.00	20.00
RH160c	-		no bar on the back	-	-
RH160d	-	44a, 49	44a fiscal type	-	-

 

Third Telegraph Provisionals (Early 1912).

Early 1912 Fiscal stamps of 1903 (Types 44/44a as above) surcharged with Type 50a and Type 50b on the blues, or Type 50c and Type 50d on the reds.
On the blues (2nd. class), the 5c overprint is usually dark red on dark red Type 44a fiscal overprint, or bright red on black Type 44a fiscal overprint.
Usually the back is blank, but they are known with Correos types (no bar).
Types 50a and 50c were applied before it was realized that what they really needed were 15c stamps, so they were overprinted 15c before issuing.
Again, printers waste was used, there are examples with the fiscal overprint on the back or Type 50a skewed.

Type 44, in red-brown. (ctvs. inverted)	Type 50a	Type 50b This is intended to cover the '5 cts.'	RH161a courtesy of Neal West.

Type 44a, in red.	Type 50a	Type 50b This is intended to cover the '5 cts.'	RH162 courtesy of Neal West.

Type 44a, in black.	Type 50a	Type 50b This is intended to cover the '5 cts.'	RH162b courtesy of Neal West.

Type 44	Type 50c	Type 50d The bar is intended to cover the '10 cts.'	RH163 courtesy of Neal West.

 

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH161	H161	44, 50a, 50b	15c on 5c (dark red) on '2' dark blue	5.00	2.50
RH161a	-	44, 50a, 50b	'ctvs.' inverted	-	-
RH162	-	44a, 50a, 50b	15c on 5c (bright red) on '2' dark blue. Type 44a in red.	-	-
RH162a	H161a	44a, 50a, 50b	surcharge (50a) double	250.00	250.00
RH162b	-	44a, 50a, 50b	Type 44a in black	-	-
RH163	H162	44, 50c, 50d	15c on 10c on '1' red	7.50	2.50
RH163a	H164?	44, 50c, 50d	with 'Vale/15cts/Correo de/1911' on reverse (no bar, many types, but all rare on this)	-	-

Hiscocks added the following note:

Note. I have not seen Nos. 160-164. Descriptions in earlier listings are very confused and my.                 interpretations of them may be in error.

My note: I have tried to correct the types in this list on the basis of examples seen.
Hiscocks listed all of 160-165 as having both 49 and 50 overprints. No such exists.
H163, H164, H165 and H165a have been removed in their original form.

 

1912 Fiscal stamps of 1912 (Forbin 31-34) overprinted 'Telégrafos' (49) and surcharged in black as required.
Wove paper. No watermark. Perf. 11½ (not 12½ as stated by Forbin).

Some of these are on slightly tinted paper, but it is not always apparent.

Type 51   as used on 10c	RH166   reading upwards	*RH166a   reading downwards	10c  *RH166b   square stop after 'cts'
Usually reading upwards, but can be downwards.	From RL.	Courtesy of Alan Slater.

Type 51 on other values	10c on 25c  RH167	10c on 25c  RH167a   small '0' in '10'	10c on 50c  RH168	10c on 50c  RH168b
Cannot read downwards unless the whole thing is inverted.	One of mine.	Courtesy of Alan Slater.	One of mine.	From RL

10c on 1p  RH169 10c on 1p  RH169 10c on 1p  RH169b Courtesy of Alan Slater. Courtesy of Clayton Rubec. From RL.

These were produced by lithography, apparently individually hand-drawn as the lettering is different on each. Compare 'Republica' on these two. The lighter rectangle in the value tablets is also variable. The bar across the old value was across each row of 5 stamps, with a small gap at each end.

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH166	H166	51	10c yellow-green	3.75	2.50
*RH166a	-		reading downwards	-	-
*RH166b	-		square stop after 'cts'	-	-
RH167	H167	51	10c on 25c carmine / green	2.50	1.50
RH167a	H167a		small '0' in '10'	7.50	5.00
RH168	H168	51	10c on 50c brown-red / blue	2.50	0.30
RH168a	H168a		small '0' in '10'	7.50	5.00
*RH168b	-		malformed '1' in '10'	7.50	5.00
RH169	H169	51	10c on 1p dark blue	2.50	1.50
RH169a	H169a		small '0' in '10'	7.50	5.00
*RH169b	-		malformed '1' in '10'	7.50	5.00

* I have added these due to the examples shown above.

 

1912 As above but overprinted 'Telégrafos' and '1912' in black.
The "Telégrafos" overprint is similar to Type 48 on H158/H159, but larger.

     
Hiscocks Type 52. The 15c violet was produced from Forbin 30, a 5c stamp, and modifies by the addition of the '1'.
RH170 normal and with dropped '1', with (RH171 and RH172) courtesy of Benjamin Singer.
*The RH170 with '1' of '15' is significantly misplaced is courtesy of Alan Slater, Alan says this is not constant.


However this pair suggests that it is not just a 'one-off', so I will list it as *RH170a. This image courtesy of Paul & Les Bottomley.

 

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH170	H170	52	15c violet	5.00	5.00
*RH170a	-		Misplaced '1' in '15'	7.00	7.00
RH171	H171	52	15c on 10c yellow-green	5.00	5.00
RH172	H172	52	15c on 50c brown-red / blue	5.00	5.00

 

 

1912 As above but overprinted 'TIMBRE TELEGRAFICO' horizontally in black.
These were in sheets having 4 rows of 5 stamps, perforated between. Thus 6 out of 20 are perforated all around.
That does not seem to be true for some of the similar stamps above.

Hiscocks type 53 (RH173) Courtesy of Paul & Les Bottomley.	Hiscocks RH173a From Wikimedia Commons*

* The description says "One per sheet of 20".

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH173	H173	(53)	10c violet / blue	2.50	2.50
RH173a	H173a		error 'TELEGRATICO'	15.00	15.00

Hiscocks added the following note:

Note. Illustrations for Nos. 173-176 have not, unfortunately, become available before going to press.                 Illustration numbers 53, 54 and 55 have been allocated for a future edition.

 

1912 Similar to above but inscribed 'Timbre Telegrafico'.

10c   RH174	10c   RH174	15c   RH175 courtesy Alan Slater.

Hiscocks type 54 RH # Hisc. Type. Description Mint Used RH174 H174 (54) 10c violet and green 2.50 2.00 RH175 H175 (54) 15c brown-red and green 15.00 12.50 *RH175a -   'à' in 'telegràfico' - -

The top parts of the overprints are different (see 'fi'), but I have seen an example of RH174 with the other top part. The same may apply to RH175. (Thanks Clayton.)

* For evidence of this, see RH180c below.

 

1912 As above but overprinted 'Tbre Telegráfico'.

15c   RH176.	RH176a   'Telagráfico' courtesy Alan Slater.

Hiscocks type 55

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH176	H176	(55)	15c yellow-brown and green	2.50	2.00
RH176a	H176a		error 'Telagráfico'	15.00	15.00

 

1913 As above but values in 'cts Córdoba'.

RH177 courtesy Alan Slater	*RH177a (italic '5' and large 'C' in 'córdoba')	*RH177b (italic '5' and small 'c' in 'córdoba')	RH178	*RH178a   ('à' in 'telegràfico')	RH179 from RL

Hiscocks type 56 RH # Hisc. Type. Description Mint Used RH177 H177 56 5c blue-green and black 5.00 5.00 *RH177a - 56 yellow green, italic '5', - - *RH177b - 56 as above, small 'c' in 'córdoba' - - RH178 H178 56 10c violet and green 5.00 5.00 *RH178a - 56 'à' in 'telegràfico' - - RH179 H179 56 10c violet and black 40.00 40.00 * I have added these due to the examples shown above. It has been brought to my attention that this is very simplistic. Nicaragua has to be the King as far as overprints are concerned. I need your help. I know that there is a lot of unknowns about these. Please, please, if you have anything that is not shown here send me an image, I am happy to give credit.. I want to show all that there is, but I know this is incomplete.

 

1919 No. 176 surcharged as indicated in black.

Type 57	*RH180a courtesy of Alan Slater	*RH180c from RL

 

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH180	H180	57	5c on 15c yellow-brown and green	50.00	40.00
*RH180a	-		error 'Telagráfico'	-	-
*RH180b	-		on RH175 instead	-	-
*RH180c	-		as RH180b but with à for á	-	-

* I have added these due to the examples shown above.

 

1921 Official postage stamps of 1913 (SG O361-O364) surcharged as below in carmine.
White wove paper. No watermark. Perf. 14.

RH181 and RH184 as in Hiscocks' book, page 216.

Varieties and other examples:

5c on 6c  *RH181a   'Parricular'	5c on 15c  RH182	*RH183a   'Parricular'	5c on 20c  *RH183b   larger surcharge
Courtesy of Alan Slater.

 

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH181	H181	58, 59	5c on 6c blue	20.00	2.50
*RH181a	-		error 'Parricular' for 'Particular'	-	-
ƒRH181b	-		double overprint	-	-
RH182	H182	58, 59	5c on 15c blue	10.00	2.50
*RH182a	-		error 'Parricular' for 'Particular'	-	-
ƒRH182b	-		double overprint	-	-
RH183	H183	58, 59	5c on 20c blue	10.00	2.50
*RH183a	-		error 'Parricular' for 'Particular'	-	-
*RH183b	-		larger surcharge	-	-
RH184	H184	58, 59	10c on 10c blue	10.00	2.50
*RH184a	-		error 'Parricular' for 'Particular'	-	-

* I have added these due to the examples shown above.

ƒ I have added RH181b and RH182b due to information received.

 

1921-1934? New design engraved by the American Bank Note Co. (Values in black).
White wove paper. No watermark. Perf. 12. (21½x31 mm)

5c  RH185	5c  RH186	10c  RH187
Courtesy of Alan Slater.	One of mine.	Courtesy of Alan Slater.

10c  RH188	15c  RH189
Courtesy of Alan Slater.	One of mine.

Hiscocks Type 60

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Small-size Description	Mint	Used
RH185	H185	60	5c olive and black	3.75	2.50
RH186	H186	60	5c blue and black	3.75	2.50
RH187	H187	60	10c orange and black	5.00	3.75
RH188	H188	60	10c dark green and black	5.00	3.75
RH189	H190	60	15c dark blue and black	5.00	3.75

These are in the correct chronological sequence for each value, but actual dates are currently unknown.

 

1925? Type 60N This is very similar to Type 60 but the design is physically larger. Perf.12, (22x32 mm)
The frame is about 4% taller and 1% wider. I suspect that it is the result of a change from a flatbed to rotary press for printing.

Type 60N 5c  RH190 dated 1925	Type 60N 5c  RH190A	Type 60N 5c  RH190B
Courtesy of Clayton Rubec.	Courtesy of Alan Slater.	From RL.

Type 60N 10c  RH191	Type 60N 10c  RH191A	Type 60N 15c  RH191B (specimen)	Type 60N 15c  RH192	Type 60N 15c  RH193 (specimen)
Courtesy of Courtney Hess.	Courtesy of Clayton Rubec.	Courtesy of Courtney Hess.	Courtesy of Alan Slater.	Courtesy of Clayton Rubec.

It bothers me that I have only seen RH191B and RH193 as specimens. I would really like to see evidence that they were actually issued.
Anyone have non-specimen examples ?

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Large Description	Mint	Used
*RH190	-	60N	5c light blue and black	5.00	3.00
*RH190A	-	60N	5c red-brown and black	5.00	3.00
*RH190B	-	60N	5c violet and black	5.00	3.00
*RH191	-	60N	10c dark green and black	15.00	5.00
ƒRH191A	H189	60N	10c carmine and black	15.00	5.00
*RH191B	-	60N	10c yellow and black	15.00	5.00
*RH192	-	60N	15c olive and black	20.00	10.00
RH193	H191	60N	15c carmine and black	20.00	10.00

* I have added these due to the examples shown above.
ƒ This was previously listed as the small format. I have moved it and re-numbered due to RH212a.

These may not currently be in the correct chronological sequence for each value. The first 5c was blue and the first 10c was dark green, but the rest is uncertain.
The changes of colour are almost certainly due to limits on the validity of each, possibly two years. I have put them in what I think is the correct order.
Used examples with the year clearly visible would be very useful in establishing a sequence. I may then need to renumber (again).

 

1923 Postage stamp of 1914 (SG 399) overprinted 'TT' as indicated in red (Timbre Telegráfico, see type 64/5).
White wove paper. No watermark. Perf. 12.

 
Type 61 As Hiscocks book, page 217. There seems to be some variation of the overprint.
The left stamp courtesy of Alan Slater. On the right is one of mine.

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH194	H192	61	5c deep bluish grey	7.50	1.50

 

1923? As RH186, above but overprinted 'R. de T.' ("Reconstrucción de Telégrafos") as indicated in black.
This was for use as a Telegraph Tax Stamp.

Type 62A	RH195 Specimen
My attempt at rendering	from RL

Type 62A

 

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
*RH195	-	60N, 62A	5c blue (RH186)	15.00	15.00

* Added due to Specimen shown and subsequent postal overprints, but I have not seen it used telegraphically.

 
A couple of examples of RH195 overprinted for Postal use, courtesy of Courtney Hess.

 

1924 As RH185, RH186 and RH190, above but overprinted 'R. de C.' ("Reconstrucción de Communicaciones") as indicated in black.

Type 62	5c  RH196 specimen	5c  *RH197 specimen	5c  *RH197A specimen	Type 62B	5c  *RH198
My attempt at rendering	From RL.		Courtesy of Courtney Hess.	My attempt at rendering	Courtesy of Alan Slater.

I have only seen Type 62 on Specimens so far, so it may have been replaced by Type 62B for the issued stamps.

Type 62Ba	1c on 15c  *RH199	Type 62Bb	1c on 15c  *RH199a
My attempt at rendering	From RL.	My attempt at rendering	Courtesy of Alan Slater.

 

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH196	H193	60N, 62	5c dark green (B)	5.00	2.50
*RH197	-	60N, 62	olive-brown (RH185, B)	10.00	5.00
*RH197A	-	60N, 62	light blue (B)	10.00	5.00
*RH198	-	60N, 62B	light blue (B)	10.00	5.00
*RH199	-	60, 62Ba	1c on 15c dark blue (R)	10.00	5.00
*RH199a	-	60, 62Bb	overprint 62Bb	10.00	5.00

* I have added these due to the examples seen or shown.

Hiscocks added the following note:

Note. This was an obligatory tax stamp to finance the rebuilding of the main Post Office                 in Managua which burned down April, 1921 and was replaced in 1930.

 

1927 (large format) As above but overprinted as indicated.

Type 62C	5c  *RH200	5c  *RH200a	5c  *RH201	5c  *RH202
My attempt at rendering	Courtesy of Alan Slater.	Courtesy of Courtney Hess.	Courtesy of Clayton Rubec.	Courtesy of Clayton Rubec.

The type of "R. de C." overprint on RH200a appears to be otherwise unknown, but the Resello overprint has be lowered to make way for it.

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
*RH200	-	60N, 62C	5c blue (R)	10.00	5.00
*RH200a	-	60N, 62C	together with "R. de C."	-	-
*RH201	-	60N, 62C	10c dark green and black (B)	15.00	7.50
*RH202	-	60N, 62C	15c dark blue and black (B)	15.00	7.50

* I have added these due to the examples shown.

 

1928 As above but overprinted as indicated.

Type 62D	5c  *H203	5c (on RH200)  *H204	10c  *H205
My attempt at rendering	Courtesy of Alan Slater.

 

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
*RH203	-	60N, 62D	5c blue (V)	10.00	5.00
*RH204	-	60, 62A, 62D	5c olive-brown (RH200, V)	10.00	5.00
*RH205	-	60N, 62D	10c green (V)	10.00	5.00

* I have added these due to the examples shown.

 

1930 - RH188 surcharged as indicated in black.

Type 63	10c  H206	10c  *H206a (inverted surcharge)
From Hiscocks book	Courtesy of Alan Slater.	One of mine.

 

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH206	H194	63,60	0.05C on 10c dark green and black	5.00	2.50
*RH206a	-		inverted surcharge	50.00	25.00

* I have added this due to the example shown.

 

 

1934 Postage stamps of 1929 (SG 620 and 622), but without the control marks, overprinted "Timbre Telegráfico" in carmine.
White wove paper. No watermark. Perf. 12.

Type 65	Type 64 - RH207 courtesy of Courtney Hess.	Type 64 - RH208 from RL.	Type 64 - *RH209 courtesy of Alan Slater.

Types 64 and 65 from Hiscocks book, page 218.

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH207	H195	(64), 65	5c brownish grey	15.00	2.00
RH207a	-	(64), 65	"R. de C." added below overprint	-	-
RH208	H196	(64), 65	10c brown-red	15.00	3.75
*RH209	-	(64), 65	15c orange (R)	20.00	5.00

* I have added this due to the example shown above.

 

1935 As type 60N (RH191-3) above but additionally overprinted as indicated in vermilion or blue.

Type 66	5c  RH210	10c  RH211	15c  RH212
From Hiscocks book, page 218	Courtesy of Rolf Lamprecht.

5c  RH210a	10c  RH211a	15c  RH212a
Courtesy of Rolf Lamprecht.

 

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH210	H197	60N, 66	5c red-brown and black (vermilion)	5.00	7.50
RH210a	H197a		overprint in blue	10.00	15.00
RH211	H198	60N, 66	10c carmine and black (vermilion)	5.00	7.50
RH211a	H198a		overprint in blue	10.00	15.00
RH212	H199	60N, 66	15c olive green and black (vermilion)	5.00	7.50
RH212a	H199a		overprint in blue	10.00	15.00

Hiscocks added the following note:

Note. Presumably the 'RESELLADO' overprints were analogous to the various 'RESELLO' overprints applied to                 postage stamps between 1927 and 1936 as a security measure to prevent the reuse of cleaned stamps.

 

1935 ? As type 60 above but additionally overprinted 'COMUNICACIONES RECONSTRUCTIÓN' and 5 centavos de Cordoba.

Type 66A - RH213 - from RL

 

1936 As above but additionally overprinted with various 1936 overprints in red as indicated.

Type 66B - RH214   'R. de C.' - from RL.	Type 66C - RH215 un centavo courtesy of ibredguy.co.uk on eBay.	Type 66C - RH216 dos centavos - from RL.	Type 66D - RH217 - from RL.

 

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
*RH213	-	60, 66A	5c green	2.00	2.00
*RH214	-	60, 66B	1c on 5c green (red)	2.00	2.00
*RH215	-	60, 66C	1c on 5c green (red)	2.00	2.00
*RH216	-	60, 66C	2c on 5c green (red)	2.00	2.00
*RH217	-	60, 66D	1c on 5c green (red)	2.00	2.00
sRH217a	-		'Cenavo'	10.00	10.00
sRH217b	-		'Centavos'	10.00	10.00

* My note: Judging by the items above, 'Resello' overprints were also applied to telegraph stamps.
s The Scott catalogue lists these (RA53) as they were required on mail also.

 

1939+ ? Revenue stamps (TIMBRE FISCAL) overprinted with Type 60A in red, 'Timbre Telégrafico / VALE / Diez Centavos / de Córdoba' in four lines.
Old value in black.   White wove paper. No watermark. Perf. 12.

Type 60A	10c on 2c  *RH218	10c on 2c  RH219	10c on 2c  RH220
	Courtesy of Alan Slater.	From RL.	Courtesy of Courtney Hess.

10c on 2c  *RH221   1937 overprint	10c on 2c  *RH222   1937 overprint	10c on 4c on 25c  *RH223 1937 overprint
Courtesy of Alan Slater.	Courtesy of Courtney Hess.	Courtesy of  Stephen Roche of Latin American Philatelics.

10c on 4c on 25c plus hand-stamp *RH223a (x3) and *RH223b with 1937 overprint and additional "Telegrafos" handstamps. Courtesy of Nik Oquist.

The hand-stamp appears to be in something like a purple-brown, which does not show up well against the brown stamp.
Perhaps it was added to clarify the red overprint which also did not show up well !
If that is the case, then it should only be found on these red-brown stanps. It has to be said that it looks a bit dubious. Stephen Roche says :
"Many fonts were developed from the 1960's onwards and the one used on this stamp does not look to me like a font that even existed in the 1930's.
The rounding of the letters lack of serifs and the tallness of the lettering make it appear to be more modern 1970's+."

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
*RH218	-	60A	10c on 2c brown	15.00	10.00
RH219	H191A	60A	10c on 2c slate	15.00	10.00
*RH220	-	60A	10c on 2c green	15.00	10.00
*RH221	-	60A	10c on 2c slate with '1937' overprint	15.00	10.00
*RH222	-	60A	10c on 2c green with '1937' overprint	15.00	10.00
*RH223	-	60A	10c on 4c on 25c brown with '1937' overprint	-	-
*RH223a	-	60A	with "Telegrafos" handstamp	-	-
*RH223b	-	60A	with handstamp inverted	-	-
*RH223c	-	60A	with handstamp doubled	-	-

* I have added these due to the examples shown above.

Hiscocks added the following note:

Note. This stamp has not been catalogued previously and its date is not known. The same fiscal stamp was overprinted as a postal tax stamp in 1921 and                 the design is virtually identical with that of the telegraph stamps of 1921-34 (Nos. 185-191) so it seems probable that it dates from this period.

My Note: This is the larger format, the example shown is cancelled in 1941.

 

 

1938 Overprinted Resello 1938 in red.

5c  *RH224   Resello 1938 overprint

Courtesy of Courtney Hess.

 

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
*RH224	-	66E	5c brown	-	-

* I have added this due to the example shown above.

 

 

1949 Law of 13 October 1949. Perf.12
imprint of, the 'American Bank Note Co. NY.'

 
Type 66F. - used and specimen.

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
*RH225	-	66F	5c turquoise	12.00	6.00

* I have added this due to the example shown above.
However, according to Clayton Rubec, this was actually a “Semana” pension revenue stamp issued in 1951.

 

 

Semana de Communicaciones (week of Communications)

The purpose of these was to raise money for the Post & Telecommunications staff pension fund.

These were obligatory on all letters, telegrams and telephone services within Nicaragua for just the second week of November from 1954 to 1970.
Each use of the service during that week was supposed to have these stamps added equal in value to the value of the service used.


Here is an example of correct usage with a 1955 air mail cover to the USA, courtesy of Alan Slater.
The 5c stamp at the bottom left is listed by Scott as a social welfare tax stamp that they date as 1956!

A piece of 1964 showing a later type, courtesy of Nik Oquist.

 

Despite Hiscocks General Note (below H205 below), he allocated no space for them in his numbering system
(this is one of the reasons for introducing the 'RH' numbers).

The following Semana stamps originally started at H200. I will start them at RH300 to avoid constant re-numbering as other issues are found.

 

1954 Airmail postage stamp of 1939 (SG 1031) surcharged as shown in black or red.
White wove paper. No watermark. Perf. 12.

Numbering from Hiscocks book, page 218, illustrations of RH304 and RH302 courtesy of Allan Slater/

Varieties and other examples:

5c on 3c RH300	5c on 3c with letter 'A' in red *RH300a
Courtesy of Alan Slater.

10c on 3c RH301	10c on 3c with letter 'B' in yellow *RH201a
Courtesy of Nik Oquist.	Courtesy of Alan Slater.

15c on 3c in black *RH302	15c on 3c in red RH302a
Courtesy of Alan Slater.

25c on 3c RH303	25c on 3c with letter 'C' in green *RH303a
Courtesy of Alan Slater.

50c on 3c in red RH304	50c on 3c with letter 'D' in black *RH304a
Courtesy of Alan Slater.

1p on 3c in black RH305

Courtesy of Alan Slater.

 

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	1954 Description	Mint	Used
RH300	H200	67	5c on 3c dull blue (Black, 300,000)	1.50	1.50
*RH300a	-		Nov.1962 overprinted 'A' in Red	-	-
RH301	H201	67	10c on 3c dull blue (Black, 250,000)	1.25	1.25
*RH301a	-		Nov.1962 overprinted 'B' in Yellow	-	-
*RH302	-	67	15c on 3c dull blue (Black, 150,000)	1.50	1.50
RH302a	H202	67A	Nov.1959 15c on 3c dull blue (Red, 150,000)	1.50	1.50
RH303	H203	67	25c on 3c dull blue (Black, 100,000)	2.50	2.50
*RH303a	-		Nov.1962 overprinted 'C' in Green	-	-
RH304	H204	67	50c on 3c dull blue (Black, 100,000)	2.50	2.50
*RH304a	-		Nov.1962 overprinted 'D' in Black	-	-
RH305	H205	67	1p on 3c dull blue (Black, 100,000)	5.00	5.00

* I have added these to accommodate the examples above.

Alan Slater has provided information on the quantities printed which I have added.

 

Hiscocks added the following 2 notes and general note:

Note 1. Previous lists imply that Nos. 200-205 are all of type 67 in black but my copy of No. 202 is as indicated, (67A).

Note 2. My copy of No. 200 bears a further overprinted capital 'A', 5¾mm high, in red while my No. 203 bears a capital 'G' in green in the same type.                 The significance of these is not known but they are definitely overprints and both stamps bear the usual purple cancellations.

General Note. No confirmation that the use of telegraph stamps ceased after 1956 has been forthcoming and there may also exist so far unlisted issues                 between 1935 and 1956.

 

 

Nov. 1964 Airmail postage stamp of 1939 (SG 1031) surcharged similar to above in red, but without 'Vale' or 'cents.'
Change to "telegraficos" instead of "telegrafico". White wove paper. No watermark. Perf. 12.

Type 67C   (5c on 3c RH306)

Courtesy of Alan Slater.

10c on 3c RH307	Type 67D,  larger value, quotes added   (10c on 3c RH313)
Courtesy of Alan Slater.

15c on 3c RH308	15c on 3c RH314 (larger value, quotes added)
Courtesy of Alan Slater.	One of mine.

25c on 3c RH309	25c on 3c RH315 (larger value, quotes added)
Courtesy of Nik Oquist.	Courtesy of Alan Slater.

50c on 3c RH310	1p on 3c RH311
Courtesy of Alan Slater.

 

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	1964 Description	Mint	Used
*RH306	-	67C	5c on 3c dull blue	1.50	1.50
*RH307	-	67C	10c on 3c dull blue	1.50	1.50
*RH308	-	67C	15c on 3c dull blue	1.50	1.50
*RH309	-	67C	25c on 3c dull blue	2.50	2.50
*RH310	-	67C	50c on 3c dull blue	2.50	2.50
*RH311	-	67C	1p on 3c dull blue	4.00	4.00

 

Nov. 1965   Larger value, quotation marks added.

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	1965 Description	Mint	Used
ƒRH312	-	67D	5c on 3c dull blue	1.50	1.50
*RH313	-	67D	10c on 3c dull blue	1.50	1.50
*RH314	-	67D	15c on 3c dull blue	1.50	1.50
*RH315	-	67D	25c on 3c dull blue	2.50	2.50
ƒRH316	-	67D	50c on 3c dull blue	2.50	2.50
ƒRH317	-	67D	1p on 3c dull blue	4.00	4.00

* I have added these to accommodate the examples above, and information received.
There may yet be more of type 67D to add.

ƒ I have not seen these, but it seems likely they exist so I have added numbering for them.

 

1966 Airmail postage stamp of 1961 (Scott C452) surcharged as shown in red
White wove paper. No watermark. Printed by Joh. Enschedé en Zonen, Holland.
Perforations are 11¾(short edge) x 11(long edge).

Type 67E   (5c on 3c RH318)	Type 67E   (10c on 3c RH319)	15c on 3c RH320, courtesy of Alan Slater

Type 67E   (25c on 3c RH321)	Type 67E   (50c on 3c RH322)	Type 67E   ($1 on 3c RH323) - from RL

 

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	1966 Description	Mint	Used
*RH318	-	67E	5c on 3c yellow and black (100,000)	1.20	1.20
*RH319	-	67E	10c on 3c yellow and black (75,000)	1.50	1.50
*RH320	-	67E	15c on 3c yellow and black (75,000)	1.50	1.50
*RH321	-	67E	25c on 3c yellow and black (60,000)	2.50	2.50
*RH322	-	67E	50c on 3c yellow and black (50,000)	2.00	3.00
*RH323	-	67E	1p on 3c yellow and black (50,000)	4.00	4.00

* I have added these to accommodate examples observed.
I have given the quantities authorized, as shown at: http://sajurin.enriquebolanos.org/vega/docs/G-1966-09-26.pdf
and also at: legislacion.asamblea.gob.ni.
It should be noted that both of these refer to the use of a black overprint, whereas I have only seen red.
Possibly that was a mistake, or possibly there are/were some in black, but a change was made to red due to lack of contrast.
I would be interested to hear from anyone that has any of these with a black overprint.

 

 

1968 Airmail postage stamp of 1961 (Scott C451) surcharged as shown in red
White wove paper. No watermark. Printed by Joh. Enschedé en Zonen, Holland.
Perforations are 11¾(short edge) x 11(long edge).

Type 67F   (5c on 2c RH324) - from RL	Type 67F   (10c on 2c RH325) - from RL	15c on 2c RH326, courtesy of Alan Slater

Type 67F   (25c on 2c RH327)	Type 67F   (50c on 2c RH328)	Type 67F   ($1 on 2c RH329) - from RL

 

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	1968 Description	Mint	Used
*RH324	-	67F	5c on 2c yellow, black, blue and green (70,000)	1.20	1.20
*RH325	-	67F	10c on 2c yellow, black, blue and green (55,000)	1.50	1.50
*RH326	-	67F	15c on 2c yellow, black, blue and green (55,000)	1.50	1.50
*RH327	-	67F	25c on 2c yellow, black, blue and green (35,000)	2.00	2.00
*RH328	-	67F	50c on 2c yellow, black, blue and green (20,000)	4.00	4.00
*RH329	-	67F	1p on 2c yellow, black, blue and green (25,000)	3.00	3.00

* I have added these to accommodate the examples above.
I have given the quantities authorized, as shown at: http://sajurin.enriquebolanos.org/vega/docs/G-1968-09-20.pdf

 

 

Department of Zelaya

This was basically the East of the country, which had currency based on silver.
It comprised Bluefields and Cabo Gracias à Dios and it appears that initially there were plans for stamps used by both.
I do not know of a telegraphic link between East coast and West coast at this time within Nicaragua,
but it is possible that they were linked via Honduras.

 

BLUEFIELDS

The eastern part of the country had a very different history from the west, and was mostly under the control of
pirates and European powers until 1894 when José Santos Zelaya, President of Nicaragua,
took control by military force. In 1903 Bluefields was made capital of the Department of Zelaya.

Due to their past history, Bluefields and Cabo Gracias à Dios had a currency based on silver until 1912.
Because of this it's money was worth about double the money in the rest of the country (using paper money).
To prevent them buying their stamps elsewhere at effectively half price,
the local stamps were overprinted to ensure that the full price was paid for them.
This ended late in 1912 when the gold 'cordoba' was adopted throughout the country.

I have it on good authority that:
"[These overprints] are all rubber handstamps until 1908, when the overprints started to be printed.
There are quite a few forgeries and some stamps were overprinted in the Managua post office to fulfil dealers' orders.
Unfortunately, all the records were lost in the fire after the earthquake in 1931.
Hence, the only safe way of collecting these - and the postage stamps - to ensure that they are genuine, is to only collect used stamps.
Quality control was never a strongpoint in Nicaraguan stamp production circles!"

The Scott Catalogue, referring to the postage stamps, states "Dangerous counterfeits exist of most of the Bluefields overprints."
They list postage stamps with Bluefield overprints from 1904. They also illustrate the 2 types used to fulfil dealers orders.
One type is similar to types 68/69, but without the ornament at the bottom, with a stop after 'Dpto' i.e 'Dpto.' and relative spacing
between 'B' and words about midway between that of 68/69 and type 70. The other type is similar to that but with 'Dto.' rather than 'Dpto'.

 

What is perhaps the earliest is of uncertain status. "unauthorized" perhaps, or maybe just plain rare.
Examples were in the Byerley Collection, sold by Harmer in 2020. I have not illustrated them since the images are poor and I don't want copyright problems.
However I show below an approximation to the overprint and the stamp types that it was on.

1903 ?

Unauthorized ? overprint	10c - RH77	15c - RH78	30c - RH80	20c on 1p - RH93. Courtesy of Alan Slater.
Courtesy of Clayton Rubec	Hiscocks Type 18			Hiscocks Type 23

It should be mentioned that of the 4 examples, the first and last were clearly used with telegraphic cancels.
Anyone have examples with this overprint ?

 

I have taken it upon myself to re-arrange the first part of Bluefields, up to RH16a.
For some time now, it has looked a mess to me. Many of the images I have, do not appear to match Hiscocks' description. Perhaps some descriptions are wrong.
Perhaps multiple handstamps were used, having differences. Some may be from degraded rubber handstamps. Certainly some are likely to be forgeries or bogus.
They were all listed as 1908, and arranged by face value in two groups according to supposed overprint.
I have now put them in the same order and groupings as the un-overprinted stamps were listed in.
I think that is more rational and find it easier to see what is going on, and where errors may lie.
Apologies for the re-numbering, but I think it needed to be done, and the longer it is left, the more problems that will be caused.
This way at least, it may be more easy to distinguish the fakes.

 

1908? Nicaragua telegraph stamps of the Nos. indicated overprinted with a 'B / Dpto Zelaya' of type 68 or 69.

Types 68 and 69 from Hiscocks book.	RH1? - from RL (on RH77)	RH2? - courtesy of Benjamin Singer. (on RH78)	RH2a? - from RL. (on RH78)	RH3? - from RL. (on RH79)

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	On 1900 series RH77 - RH84	Mint	Used
RH1	H1	68	10c reddish violet (shades)(RH77)	15.00	7.50
RH2	H6	68	15c grey-blue (RH78)	25.00	3.75
RH2a	-		overprint inverted	-	-
RH3	H8	68	20c yellow-brown (RH79)	10.00	7.50

 

Types 68 and 69 from Hiscocks book.	RH4 (on RH88)

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	On 1901 series RH88 - RH89	Mint	Used
RH4	H2	68	10c on 30c on 6c rose (RH88)	20.00	5.00
RH4a	H2a		heavy line over 30c	30.00	10.00
RH4b	H2b		first 'e' of Telégrafos inverted	40.00	40.00

 

Nicaragua telegraph stamps of the Nos. indicated overprinted with a 'B / Dpto Zelaya' of type 68 or 69, sideways, reading downwards.

Types 68 and 69 from Hiscocks book.	*RH5b - courtesy of Steve Moreland. (on RH102b down, black)	*RH5c - B reading upwards. Courtesy of Clayton Rubec	RH6 - from RL. (on RH104)

RH7 - from RL. (on RH105)	RH7a - from RL. (on RH105a)	RH10 (on RH109)	RH10a - B upwards Courtesy of Clayton Rubec	RH11 - from RL. (on RH111)

These would seem to be all sideways, mostly reading downwards.

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	On 1905 series RH102 - RH112	Mint	Used
RH5	H3	68	10c on 30c blue (RH102)	20.00	5.00
RH5a	H3a		surcharge in dark blue	30.00	10.00
*RH5b	-		surcharge on (RH102b)	30.00	10.00
*RH5c	-		surcharge on (RH102b), B upwards	35.00	12.00
RH6	H11	69	10c (in carmine) on 30c blue (RH104)	20.00	3.75
RH7	H12	69	10c (in blue) on 50c crimson (RH105)	20.00	3.75
RH7a	-		surcharge in blue-black (RH105a), B upwards.	20.00	3.75
RH8	H13	69	10c on 50c crimson (RH106)	25.00	5.00
RH9	H14	69	10c on 1p orange (RH107)	75.00	50.00
RH10	H15	69	10c (in carmine) on 3p deep blue-green (RH109)	75.00	5.00
*RH10a	H15	69	B reading upwards	80.00	7.00
RH11	H16	69	15c on 3p deep blue-green (RH111)	75.00	5.00

* These have been added due to the examples illustrated above.

 

Types 68 and 69 from Hiscocks book.	RH12? - courtesy of Thomas Keesling. (on RH114)	RH12c? - I presume the bottom of the overprint is too feint to see or perhaps this is a forgery ? (on RH114)	RH13b? - courtesy of Thomas Keesling. again only the 'B' is apparent. (on RH118)

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	On 1907 series RH113-RH121	Mint	Used
RH12	H5	68	10c on 2c orange (RH114)	5.00	3.75
RH12a	H5a		error — 'Telégrafso'	15.00	15.00
RH12b	H5b		first surcharge inverted	25.00	25.00
RH12c	-		'B' sideways	5.00	3.75
RH13	H7	68	15c on 2c orange (RH118)	7.50	5.00
RH13a	H7a		error — 'Telégrafso'	15.00	15.00
RH13b	-		'B' sideways-inverted	7.50	5.60

 

1907 ?

Types 68 and 69 from Hiscocks book.	RH14 (downwards on RH123)	RH14c (upwards on RH123) Courtesy of Nik Oquist.	from RL. Bogus ? (on RH123)	RH15 (downwards on RH124b)

For a similar overprint on the RH123, 10c on 2c, see also RH22 below.

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	On 1907 series RH122-RH124	Mint	Used
RH14	H9	69	10c on 2c bright orange (RH123)	3.75	2.50
RH14a	H9a		error — 'Telégrafso'	15.00	10.00
RH14b	-		overprint inverted	4.00	3.00
RH14c	-		Telégrafos reading upwards (RH123b)	-	-
RH15	H10	69	10c (in carmine) on 5c dark blue (RH124b)	20.00	5.00
RH15a	H10a		error — 'Telégrafso'	40.00	30.00

 

A mockup of RH16 based on description (Type 68 On RH130)
Can anyone provide an actual image?

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	On 1908 series RH130-RH133	Mint	Used
RH16	H4	68	10c on 1c blue (RH130)	50.00	40.00
RH16a	H4a		surcharge reading down (?)	-	-

 

1908 As H9-16 but overprinted with a 'B', etc. of type 70 in red.
Other details as before.

Hiscocks Type 70	RH17 - courtesy of Alan Slater.	RH17c - courtesy of Nik Oquist.

 

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH17	H17	70	10c on 1c green (RH125, Waterlow)	3.75	3.75
RH17a	H17a		error — 'Telégrafso'	15.00	15.00
RH17b	H17b		surcharge reading upwards	10.00	10.00
RH17c	-		surcharge doubled.	-	-

 

1910 (August or earlier) Postage stamp of Nicaragua of 1909 (SG284) — similar to Type 34 of Nicaragua — overprinted in
black ('TELEGRAFOS'), carmine (blocks in lower corners) and sage green (inscription).
White wove paper. No watermark. Perf. 12.

Type 71 - 'B' 2mm   (H18)	Type 72 - 'B' 2.75mm   (H18a)	Type 73 - 'B' 3.3mm   (H18c)	Type 73 - 'B' 3.3mm   (H18f)
Images courtesy of Victor Gugliano (victorgg) on eBay.			Image courtesy of Alan Slater.

 

RH # Hisc. Type. Description Mint Used - H18 71 5c on 10c crimson ('B' 2mm) 25.00 25.00 - H18a 72         'B' 2.75mm 15.00 15.00 - H18b           as 18a but 'c' for 'e' in 'Centavos' 40.00 40.00 - H18c 73         'B' 3.3mm 15.00 15.00 - H18d           as 18c but 'c' for 'e' in 'Centavos' 40.00 40.00 - H18e           as 18c but with thick 'Z' 50.00 50.00 - H18f           as 18c but with 'Z' omitted 50.00 50.00  H18a   H18a   H18a   H18a   H18a   H18a   H18a   H18a   H18a   H18a   H18c   H18c   H18c   H18c   H18f   H18c   H18c   H18c   H18c   H18e   H18   H18   H18   H18   H18  What appears to be a sheet of these has 5 rows of 5 stamps with the different size 'B's being on different rows. The image was not good and I could not make out the 'c' for 'e' varieties, but the rest was like this.   My note: These are H135 overprinted in the red and green.   The Scott Catalogue says: "It is stated that this stamp was used exclusively for postal purposes and not for telegrams". They do not say who makes the statement and list it as Z1. Hiscocks gave the date of these as October 1910, but the central used one can be clearly seen as dated August 1910. I will not list it (for now) but will leave the number available.

A curious item from RL, 50c on 15c, with an array of overprints added to RH141. He thought it might be bogus, Certainly overprinting with a higher value is rare. but it turns out that it is listed as a Zelaya revenue issue in Birks (1998) as BK317, and Evaerts and Maxwell (1994). It was issued in 1911. Thanks to Clayton Rubec for this information. He has seen 22 examples including 13 variations of this so far, with each of the horizontal lines having 2 to 4 variations. There are reports also of one like this but without the 'VALE' Anyone have more like this ? Clayton is working on a book "The Revenue and Telegraph Stamps of Nicaragua" to be published possibly later this year.

 

1911 RH110 overprinted with Type 70. Other details as before.

From Hiscocks book, page 220.	RH19	RH19b - courtesy of Nik Oquist.	RH19c - from RL.	RH19e - courtesy of Alan Slater.	RH19f - courtesy of Alan Slater.

 

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH19	H19	70	15c on 30c blue (RH110)	3.75	2.50
RH19a	H19a		surcharge double (or overprint ?)	-	-
RH19b	H19b		Zelaya overprint inverted	10.00	10.00
RH19c	H19c		Zelaya overprint in red	5.00	5.00
RH19d	H19d		Zelaya overprint red and inverted	10.00	10.00
RH19e	H19e		surcharge reading upwards	5.00	5.00
RH19f	-		RH19d with surcharge reading upwards	-	-

 

1911 Postage stamps of 1909 overprinted as types 37 and 70.

Hiscocks Type 70	Type 70a	RH20	RH21 from RL	RH21b courtesy of Nik Oquist.	RH21a courtesy of Thomas Keesling.

Nik Oquist tells me : “Zelay” Omitted “a” – There is a Maxwell listing for this variety of the Postage Stamp.
Since this is likely to apply to all examples of the Type 70 overprint, I will refere to it as a Type 70a.

 

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH20	H20	70	10c crimson (RH135)	10.00	3.75
*RH20a	-		Type 70 surcharge inverted	-	-
*RH21	-	70	15c grey-black (RH141)	-	-
*RH21a	-		Type 70 surcharge inverted	-	-
*RH21b	-	70a	Type 70a surcharge	-	-

* I have added RH21, RH21a and RH21b because of the examples shown.
I have added RH20a because it likely also exists.

 

1911 Telegraph stamp of Nicaragua overprinted as below.
Other details as before.

Taken from page 220 of Hiscocks book.	RH22 - from RL	RH22b - from RL

 

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH22	H21	74	10c on 2c bright orange (RH123)	5.00	2.50
RH22a	H21a		error — 'Telégrafso'	25.00	15.00
RH22b	-		overprint reading upwards	-	-

 

1912 Telegraph stamp of Nicaragua of Nos. indicated overprinted with type 70 in black.
Other details as before.

RH23 courtesy of Clayton Rubec.
This is like RH17 but with Type 70 as a BLACK overprint.
Can anyone provide an image of the 15c, RH24 ?

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH23	H22	70	10c on 1c green (RH125, Waterlow)	25.00	25.00
RH23a	H22a		error — 'Telégrafso'	50.00	40.00
RH23b	H22b		surcharge reading upwards	40.00	30.00
RH24	H23	70	15c on 1c green (RH127 or RH128 ?)	25.00	25.00

Hiscocks added the following note:

Note. It is not clear whether No. 23 is based on No. 127 (American Bank Note Co.)                 or No. 128 (Waterlow & Sons). Information would be welcome.

 

1912 As above but overprinted with type 74 in black.
Other details as before.

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH25	H24	74	15c grey-black (RH141)	20.00	2.50
RH25a	H24a		error — 'TELEGRAFOS' inverted.	30.00	3.75

 

1912 As above but overprinted with 'B' of type 75 or 76 below in black.
Other details as before.

RH26 - Despite the low price quoted by Steve Hiscocks, these are a lot rarer than the 15c, H32
Images courtesy of Neal West.

Type 75 as on RH31 from RL with Type 76 as on RH27.

RH28	RH29	RH30	RH32	RH32d
Images courtesy of Clayton Rubec.

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH26	H25	44,45,(75)	10c on 5c on '2' dark blue (RH151)	-	-
RH26a	-		with 'ctvs.' inverted (RH151a)	-	-
RH27	H26	76	10c on 20c olive-brown (RH137)	15.00	3.75
RH28	H27	75	10c on 50c yellow-green (RH144)	25.00	15.00
RH28a	H27a		italic 'o' in 'Telégrafo'	50.00	50.00
RH28b	H27b		non italic 'c' in 'cts'	50.00	50.00
RH28c	H27c		italic 'g' and 'o' in 'Telégrafo'	-	-
RH29	H28	75	10c on 5p sky blue (RH145)	25.00	25.00
RH29a	H28a		italic 'o' in 'Telégrafo'	50.00	50.00
RH29b	H28b		non italic 'c' in 'cts'	50.00	50.00
RH29c	H28c		italic 'g' and 'o' in 'Telégrafo'	-	-
RH30	H29	75	15c on 10p pale rose (RH146)	25.00	25.00
RH30a	H29a		italic 'o' in 'Telégrafo'	50.00	50.00
RH30b	H29b		non italic 'c' in 'cts'	50.00	50.00
RH30c	H29c		italic 'g' and 'o' in 'Telégrafo'	-	-
RH31	H30	75	15c on 25p blue green (RH147)	25.00	25.00
RH31a	H30a		italic 'o' in 'Telégrafo'	50.00	50.00
RH31b	H30b		non italic 'c' in 'cts'	50.00	50.00
RH31c	H30c		italic 'g' and 'o' in 'Telégrafo'	-	-
RH32	H31	75	15c on 50p vermilion (RH148)	25.00	25.00
RH32a	H31a		italic 'o' in 'Telégrafo'	50.00	50.00
RH32b	H31b		non italic 'c' in 'cts'	50.00	50.00
RH32c	H31c		italic 'g' and 'o' in 'Telégrafo'	-	-
RH32d		76	italic 'B'	-	-

I would welcome further images of the items listed above.

 

Railway Ticket Fiscal based stamps (August 1911):
Again, there is some confusion and need for revision. It needs to be made clear that the Type 75 overprint
on RH26(above) and RH33(below) is part of the printing on the back.

These are chronologically out of sequence.

Interestingly, the Bluefields type, whilst still being prepared from the 10c by changing the '0' to a '5', has 9 out of 20 positions with different 5's.
Compare the 5's underlined in red against the Bluefields pane.

The back of a normal pane of 20 (half normal size) courtesy of Neal West

The back of a pane of 20 of Bluefields, courtesy of Paper Heritage

Also, not all the 'B's are the same size. Positions 7 and 10 are noticeably smaller. 18 is consistently flattened top and bottom.

 

RH33 courtesy of Thomas Keesling. RH33a courtesy of Neal West. (position 20 as seen from front). RH33c courtesy of Neal West. (inverted back).

RH33b with the bright red fiscal overprint Type 44, positions 18, 13 and 9 (as viewed from the back). 18 is the only position with the 'B' like this. Images courtesy of Moreland Revenue Stamps. These are not explicitly mentioned or illustrated by Neal West, though fiscal Type 44a (RH33c) is. Neal West illustrates the back of a 15c pane without the 'B' for Bluefields, and states that the Bluefiels variant is the same with just the 'B' added. Though this is true for 12 out of the 20 positions, an illustration of the 15c pane for Bluefields at www.paperheritage.co.uk shows that for 8 of the positions there are differences in the '5' of '15'. Specifically, for positions 6, 9, 12 and 17 (viewed from the back), the Bluefields '5' is smaller, and for positions 11, 14, 18 and 19 it is larger, as if they were swapped over. The rest of the lettering is unchanged. I will be happy to show the illustrations when I can get permissions to do so.

 

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH33	H32	44,(45),(75)	15c on 5c on '2' dark blue (RH152)	25.00	5.00
RH33a	-		with 'ctvs.' inverted (RH152c)	-	-
RH33b	-	44,(45)	bright red fiscal Type 44	-	-
RH33c	-	44a,(45)	dark red fiscal Type 44a	-	-

 

1912 Telegraph stamp of Nicaragua overprinted as shown.
Other details as before.

Type 76A. (2mm spacing) (reading up or down)	RH34 (only 2 known) Courtesy of Neal West	Type 77, RH35 courtesy of Clayton Rubec  as Hiscocks book, page 221.

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH34	-	44,76A	10c on '1' red (RH160) + B/opto zelaya on front	-	-
RH35	H33	77	15c on 10c yellow-green (on RH171)	75.00	60.00

 

 

CABO GRACIAS À DIOS

In September 1502, Columbus was sailing down the coast during a terrible storm that for two weeks had threatened to wreck the ships. It is said that when he rounded the cape, to his surprise, it protected them from the storm and they were saved. At this, he is said to have exclaimed “¡Gracias à Dios que al fin salimos de esas honduras!” ("Thank God we finally got out of those depths!"). This provided the name, not only for the cape, but also of the region left behind, Honduras, meaning 'depths'. The cape forms the mouth of the river Coco which now forms the boundary between Honduras and Nicaragua. Though having historical interest, the tip of the cape is not a very hospitable place for a settlement. Tropical storms and hurricanes, are frequent in the area at that time of year. At the beginning of the Twentieth Century, this whole area, shown in pink, which from 1860 to 1894 had been part of the Kingdom of Miskito, became part of Nicaragua

 

A number of Telegraph stamps are shown below with "CABO" overprints. It is known that forgeries of such overprints are plentiful.
I have no way of knowing which, if any of these are genuine. Only one of them (RH9) matches any of those described by Hiscocks.

1910 Telegraph stamps of Nicaragua of Nos. indicated overprinted with 'CABO' in black.
Other details as before.

Mockups of RH1 and RH2 based on the descriptions. Can anyone supply actual images of either of these ?	RH1a this is on RH138. Image courtesy of Ron Waldston.

Hiscocks did not know the style of the overprint, so I guessed type C1 (shown below).
However since RH1a has type C2 overprint (shown below), I have changed it to that.

RH #	Hisc.	Description	Mint	Used
RH1	H1	10c on 20c olive-brown (RH137)	100.00	100.00
RH1a	-	10c on 20c olive-brown (RH138)	-	-
RH2	H2	15c grey-black (RH141)	100.00	100.00

 

1911 Fiscal (Destace de Ganado) stamps of Nicaragua (as used for No. 154, etc. of Nicaragua) with original
values and further overprinted CABO and Telegrafos and surcharged as necessary in black. Perf. 14.

RH3 (without period)	RH3a "TELEGRAFSO"	RH4 (without period)	RH4di "TELEGRAAFOS .", inverted
Images courtesy of Courtney Hess.

The RH4di above with the clear telegraphic cancel of 20 October 1910 and a stop after TELEGRAAFOS is interesting in that it is not on the sheet of 154 that I have seen.
That would seem to imply that there was more than one setting of the overprint plate and that Hiscocks' H154e and/or H154g may indeed exist.

RH6 (with period) courtesy of Dick Keiser.	RH9 (without period) courtesy of Clayton Rubec.	RH9a "TELEGRAFSO" courtesy of Courtney Hess.	RH10 (without period) courtesy of Courtney Hess.

RH #	Hisc.	Type	Description	Mint	Used
RH3	H3	46	10c greenish blue	85.00	85.00
RH3a	-		error 'TELEGRAFSO'	-	-
RH3b	-		error 'TELEGFAFOS'	-	-
RH3c	-		error 'TELegrAFOS'	-	-
RH3d	-		error 'TELEGRAAFOS'	-	-
RH3f	-		error 'TElegrAFOS'	-	-
RH4	H4	46, 47	10c on 5c orange (Perf. 11½)	100.00	100.00
RH4i	-		inverted	-	-
RH5	H5	46, 47	10c on 20c carmine (Perf. 11½)	125.00	125.00
RH6	H6	46, 47	10c on 50c yellow-green (Perf. 11½)	125.00	125.00
RH7	H7	46, 47	10c on 1p yellow-brown (Perf. 11½)	200.00	200.00
RH8	H8	46, 47	10c on 2p grey	100.00	100.00
RH9	H9	46	20c carmine (Perf. 11½)	50.00	50.00
RH10	H10	46	1p yellow-brown (Perf. 11½)	150.00	150.00

Hiscocks added the following note:

Note. Nos. 1 to 10 above are rare and I have not seen copies. I have not been able to discover                 which type of 'Cabo' overprint was used. Information would be welcome.

My notes: It appears that when the surcharge (Type 47) was used, the "CABO" overprint was used to obliterate the old value, otherwise it was central.

The following may well pre-date the above, but for the time being I add them here to preserve Steve Hiscocks' numbering.

 

1910? Telegraph stamps of Nicaragua of RH77-84 overprinted as shown with 'CABO' in purple.
The Scott catalogue shows postage stamps with a similar overprint that they date as 1904-5.

Overprint Type C1	RH11   (Type C1 on RH77) - courtesy of Alan Slater.

 

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH11	-	C1/18	10c reddish violet (shades)	-	-
RH12	-	C1/18	15c grey-blue (shades)	-	-
RH13	-	C1/18	20c yellow-brown (shades)	-	-
RH14	-	C1/18	30c steel blue (shades)	-	-
RH15	-	C1/18	50c crimson	-	-
RH16	-	C1/18	1p yellow-orange to orange	-	-
RH17	-	C1/18	2p rose	-	-
RH18	-	C1/18	3p deep blue-green	-	-

 

1910? Telegraph stamps of Nicaragua of Nos. RH77-84 overprinted with 'CABO' as shown in purple.
The Scott catalogue shows postage stamps with a similar overprint that they date as 1905.

Overprint Type C2	RH19   (Type C2 on RH77) - courtesy of Alan Slater.	RH20   (Type C2 on RH78) - courtesy of Alan Slater.

RH21   (Type C2 on RH79) - courtesy of Alan Slater.	RH22   (Type C2 on RH80) - courtesy of Alan Slater.

 

RH #	Hisc.	Type.	Description	Mint	Used
RH19	-	C1/18	10c reddish violet (shades)	-	-
RH20	-	C1/18	15c grey-blue (shades)	-	-
RH21	-	C1/18	20c yellow-brown (shades)	-	-
RH22	-	C1/18	30c steel blue (shades)	-	-
RH23	-	C1/18	50c crimson	-	-
RH24	-	C1/18	1p yellow-orange to orange	-	-
RH25	-	C1/18	2p rose	-	-
RH26	-	C1/18	3p deep blue-green	-	-

 

 

The overprint on the above stamps are similar to those used on postage stamps of 1905.

   

The Scott catalogue says that these with black hand-stamps are bogus. They also say that there are also "excellent counterfeits in violet".
It is reasonable to assume that such counterfeit hand-stamps were also applied to telegraph stamps.
Images courtesy of Rolf Lamprecht.

 

 

Postal use of Telegraph stamps.

It seems there was some postal use of Telegraph stamps, particularly in Bluefields.

Bluefields, 11.8.1899 - Image courtesy of Alan Slater.


Bluefields, 3.8.1899 - Image courtesy of Alan Slater.


Bluefields, 24.8.1899 Bisected, apparently there was a stamp shortage so this was not uncommon in Bluefields at the time.
The lack of meaningful address indicates that it was philatelic in nature. - Image courtesy of Alan Slater.


There was a shortage of stamps in Nicaragua in 1911, so they used anything they could for postage.
Courtesy of Alan Slater.

Telegraph Stationery.

I have been shown this 30c Telegraph cut-out and told that at least two similar examples are known.
It is 32mm diameter, black on cream and embossed.
Does anyone have more information or know of other values or colours ?

 

I still need quite a few images to complete this web-page.
If anyone can provide scans or information to help, I am happy to give appropriate credit.