How to Collect Uruguay
Christer Brunström makes the case for collecting the stamps of Uruguay, which include some superb designs and usually closely relate to the interests and history of the country.
Most serious stamp collectors have one or two main philatelic studies but frequently also a number of sideline fun collections with no ambitions of ever entering them in competitive stamp exhibitions. Some have told me that they derive far more pleasure from their sideline collections than from their gold medal exhibits, which have required heavy investments of both time and money.
But there are so many other enjoyable ways of collecting stamps and frequently at a most moderate cost (in fact, there are numerous philatelic areas that can be collected for next to nothing).
This writer is a general collector, meaning I collect all the countries of the world. This is, of course, a mission impossible as there are hundreds of thousands of stamps. My method is to limit my collection to the stamps I find interesting, and which are within my financial possibilities. This actually means that I am quite happy with less than 50 or 100 different stamps from a country that has issued many thousands.
Uruguay is probably not one of the more popular countries in the world of philately. However, the stamps released by this small South American country are certainly worthy of our attention. The quality of the design and the printing of the stamps ranges from the rather primitive to the superb, and it should also be noted that most Uruguayan postage stamps relate closely to the country whose name they carry (which has not always been that obvious as further reading of this story will reveal).
Uruguay is located in the south-eastern corner of South America, bordering on Brazil in the north and the River Uruguay in the west. The latest figures indicate that the country has a total population of 3.5 million, with almost two million residing in Montevideo, the capital city, and its immediate surroundings.
WHERE TO START
A good start to a collection of Uruguay is a stamp issued in 1973 featuring a map of the country outlining the different provinces (Figure 1). At a stamp fair, sellers will probably charge all of 10p for this highly interesting stamp.
The country’s economy is traditionally based on cattle ranching and farming, but industrial production is increasingly important. Tourism is also a big money earner.
The first Europeans settled in what is today Uruguay in the 17th century. In 1776, the country became a province of the Vice-royalty of Río de la Plata, but in 1815, independence was proclaimed by José Gervasio Artigas (who has been pictured on numerous postage stamps). Brazil intervened and occupied the country, which was known as the ‘Provincia Oriental’, a reference to the fact that the country is located east of the River Uruguay.
In 1825, and according to legend, 33 valiant men led by Juan Antonio Lavalleja crossed the river and managed to liberate the country from the Brazilian invaders. There is no reliable evidence that they were just 33, but it makes for a good story. A town in Uruguay is called Treinta y Tres (33) as a homage to this memorable event in the
history of the nation. In 1828, Uruguay finally achieved independence following British mediation.
The moment when the 33 men landed in their homeland way back in 1825 is shown on three stamps issued on 19 April 1925 (Figure 2). Only 49,000 sets were issued, but the set is still available for a few pounds. A look at the map stamp previously mentioned reveals that the town and province of Treinta y Tres (33) is located in the east of the country.
In the early 1900s, Uruguay had developed into somewhat of a welfare state, but diminishing exports resulted in a financial crisis in the 1950s. In the 1960s, there was much news about the bloody activities of the Tupamaros, an urban guerrilla movement. It was finally defeated in 1972 but was followed by some ten years of military dictatorship after which a democratic government was installed.
FIRST ISSUES
The very first Uruguayan stamps were issued in 1856. The three values had no country name but just the words ‘DILIGENCIA’ at the top and the denomination at the bottom. The central part of the design features the sun (looking more like a smiling boy) with 105 rays. There was a new printing of the 60c stamp in 1857, but this time the sun has only 67 rays. These early stamps were issued by Atanasio Lápido, the administrator of posts, and they can best be described as carrier stamps.
The ‘DILIGENCIA’ issues are extremely scarce, but there is a way of adding lookalikes to your Uruguay collection. In connection with a Montevideo stamp exhibition in 1931, four imperforate souvenir sheets featuring the design of the 1856 issues but with denominations in centésimos were issued (Figure 3). They are, of course, perfectly legitimate stamps, and they were postally valid.
In 1858, the design of the stamps was changed. The word ‘DILIGENCIA’ was replaced by ‘MONTEVIDEO’, and ‘CORREO’ was added on both sides of the sun (Figure 4). This classic design was then in use until 1864. Most of the early issues are very scarce, and it should be noted that rather successful forgeries exist of most of them.
These early issues were mainly used for inland correspondence. From 1862 to 1873, mail to foreign destinations was handled by the British Post Office in Montevideo. From 1864, Great Britain stamps were used, and they were cancelled ‘C 28’. The Stanley Gibbons catalogue lists 24 different stamps that were available at the Montevideo agency. These stamps and covers are, of course, of considerable interest to postal historians. The more common values sell for about £50.
In 1864, there was a new definitive set of stamps that were inscribed ‘REPUBLICA ORIENTAL’ only. It was only in 1866 that the first stamps carrying the name of the country (‘REPUBLICA ORIENTAL DEL URUGUAY’) were finally issued (Figure 5).
The early Uruguayan stamp issues had been printed locally in Montevideo, but towards the end of the 19th century, Waterlow & Sons in London secured more and more printing contracts. My own favourite set is the 11 1895– 96 Waterlow pictorials with denominations ranging from 1 centésimo to 3 pesos. The 1c stamp shows a gaucho, a Uruguayan cowboy (Figure 6). This set also includes one of Uruguay’s scarcest stamps, the 25c with inverted centre, valued by the US Scott catalogue at $2,000 and in used condition only.
Uruguay is famous for its many, very long sets with exactly the same design. The first 12 stamps depicting a lapwing or teruteru bird were issued in 1923 (Figure 7). They were followed by several other sets produced by different printers. Some values have very low printing numbers; the 1924 2 pesos had a printing of just 2,500 copies!
On 29 July 1924, Uruguay released a threestamp set marking the Olympic Games in Paris, especially the victory of their soccer team (Figure 8). The stamp image shows Victory of Samothrace, a famous statue in the Louvre Museum in Paris. Five hundred sets were printed on yellow paper. Not available at postal counters, they were used for presentation purposes.
The first airmail experiments were made in 1921, and over the next few years, several mail-carrying flights were arranged between Montevideo and other towns in the country. On 2 January 1924, there was a set of three airmail stamps featuring an airplane (Figure 9). A total of 20,000 complete sets were issued. It should be noted that these stamps are watermarked; if they show no watermark, they are most likely forgeries.
On 24 August 1925, Uruguay released two rather interesting stamps for airmail postage on mail carried on two flights scheduled for the following day. One stamp is inscribed ‘MONTEVIDEO’ and the other one ‘FLORIDA’, and the name of the country is not indicated (Figure 10). The two stamps commemorate the Assembly of Florida, which took place in the town of that name a century earlier.
The ‘MONTEVIDEO’ stamp was added to covers that were to be carried by plane from the capital to Florida some 60 miles away, and the other one was for the return flight. The stamps were only available for postage on 25 August. They were not sold to the general public but added to the covers by post office staff; however, the remainders were sold to the stamp market at a later time. The couplet is of interest to bird thematic
collectors as they depict a heron. Forgeries are known, and they lack the watermark. It is believed that these two stamps served as registration stamps.
Many Latin American nations have issued stamps marking rather curious anniversaries. Most worldwide postal services usually commemorate even centuries but that was not always the case in Uruguay.
In 1492, Christopher Columbus left Palos in Spain on his first voyage of discovery reaching the Caribbean area. In 1933, Uruguay released a set of 11 stamps marking the 441st anniversary of the discoverer’s departure from Spain (Figure 11). Columbus never visited Uruguay, but he is still a most important figure in South American history.
Only 10,000 copies were printed of the 1-peso top value and the complete set was offered to collectors in glassines with a printed message, including the purpose of the issue and the selling price of $2.82.
The design features a map of Central and South America and the Flag of the Race. It obviously is a most patriotic design.
Now fast forward to 1954. Waterlow had once again been commissioned to print a long definitive set of 17 stamps, with values ranging from 5 milésimos to 5 pesos, featuring various aspects of Paraguay, which included a gaucho engaged in horse breaking (Figure 12).
LATER ISSUES
In the late 1950s, the Uruguayan Post Office changed its new issue policy completely. The very long sets with multiple values having an identical design were discontinued and most issues comprise just a single value or perhaps as many as four. In the mid-1970s, there was a period of philatelic excesses resulting in gaudily coloured, large-sized thematic stamps mostly released as souvenir sheets and obviously aimed at worldwide stamp collectors.
By now, Uruguay has probably released more than 5,000 different stamps, but my advice is to seek out the most interesting issues, such as the ones discussed in this story. However, most of the country’s stamps are interesting and further research will undoubtedly result in fascinating stories about both people and places. It should also be noted that forgeries abound, which complicates matters quite a lot.
When it comes to earlier material, a lot of essays and proofs have reached the marketplace, and they are generally quite attractive. Shown nearby is a very nice 1895 unissued essay featuring the Fortress of Montevideo and produced by the South American Banknote Company (Figure 13).