Republic of the Philippines - Stamps and Postal History
Philippine Philatelic Library
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The 12 Series of the 2003-2004 Orchid Definitive Stamps of the Philippines
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THE 2003-2004 NATIVE ORCHIDS DEFINITIVES - UPDATED
The
2003-2004 Native Orchids definitive series includes 12 issues with 33
stamps. However, there are
23 more varieties (+ 4 with “SPECIMEN” overprints) for
specialists to pursue.
All
the lower value stamps (1p to 22p) were printed by offset-litho by APO
Production Unit, Inc., except for two 9p values which were printed by
Amstar. APO used to be part of APO-NEDA (Asian Productivity
Organization Production Unit - National Economic and Development
Authority), a quasi-government company which printed postage stamps for
the Post Office between 1975 and 1989.
All
the stamps printed by APO for this series were in sheets of 100 (10x10),
by offset litho, and were
perforated 14 ¼ º.
The
two 9p definitives printed by Amstar were by offset-litho, also, but
were in sheets of 200 (20 x 10) and perforated 13 ½ º.
The
four high values (30p to 100p) were all printed by Amstar by
offset-litho, too, and in sheets of 50 (10x5), perforated 14 º. APO used a new type of
phosphorescent security mark on these definitives.
It is in greenish-yellow, similar to what
Amstar used before they changed it to reddish-orange in 1998.
Each stamp has two of these security marks,
which consist of the Philpost logo and "PHILPOST" to the right of the
logo, each measuring 17 mm. x 2 mm.
One is near the top, usually overlapping the
lower half of "PILIPINAS", and the other is near the bottom frame line,
but inverted.
APO
used three different paper types, which were all imported from Germany,
for these definitives:
Paper A
-
which is very white and glossy on both front and back, with very shiny
white gum; under
Paper B
-
which is glossy but off-white on the front and has dull cream gum, which
is non-reactive to
Paper C
-
which is glossy on the front, but not as white as paper A.
This has "invisible" matt (dry)
Most
of the small-sized definitives have renegotiated quantities, that is,
there are additional quantities over and above the ordered quantities,
which were taken from the (usually) 10% over-runs allowed to ensure that
the ordered quantities can be delivered after taking out spoilages.
Since APO did not segregate the original printings from any new
printings when they delivered the renegotiated quantities on December
14, 2004 (for the 6p, 10p, I7p, 21p and 22p) and on November 10, 2005
(for the lp, 2p, 5p and 8p), the quantities given for stamps with
renegotiated quantities are estimates only, which were arrived at by
pro-rating the renegotiated quantities to the respective ordered
quantities.
Amstar used the same security paper it imports from Spain since 1994 to
print the two 9p and the four high values.
The paper is non-reactive to ultraviolet light and has some
phosphorescent fibers embedded on both front and back when viewed under
ultraviolet light. The phosphorescent security marks, in reddish-orange,
are printed all over the stamps in the sheet. They consist of "PHILPOST"
with its logo above it and a line identical to the blue security band
printed on all Amstar definitives below it. These are arranged close
together in lines, in four orientations: upright, inverted, sideways and
sideways inverted. The ones printed sideways and sideways inverted do
not have the line below PHILPOST.
Note: APO
delivered their renegotiation packages for all of the series
without segregating the original from the revised
printings.
Guesstimates were made by using the quantities ordered for each and
then prorating the negotiated quantities.
Thus +/- (plus and minus) signs are indicated where
deemed appropriate.
The
actual order to APO was 16,000,000 for the 6p and 1,000,000 each for the
17p and 21p. The excess quantities are estimates from the combined
renegotiation package APO delivered on December 14, 2004, which included
the redrawn versions (2,120,000 for the 6p; 300,000 for the 17p and
380,000 for the 21p).
For
the 9p, Amstar delivered the renegotiated quantities for both this
original printing and the redrawn version together on December 16, 2004.
The two were in separate packages, though. The actual order for this
stamp was 2,000,000 pieces only.
500
of each of these four stamps come with "SPECIMEN' overprints.
The ones from APO are handstamped with a metal device (instead of
machine-printed), so the position of
"SPECIMEN” varies. The backside of the stamps will show clearly
the indentations from the pressure used to handstamp these stamps,
especially on the letters "S" and "N" areas. The 9p from Amstar has the
"SPECIMEN” machine-printed with the denomination crossed-out by two
hand-drawn lines.
1,500 first day covers, equally distributed between two different
cachets, both printed by APO, were produced for this series. Amstar did
not print any first day cover envelopes until the redrawn versions were
issued.
SERIES II:
2003, August 8.
Two values (redrawn, with names of
orchids added) (Printed by APO)
As
with the originals, only estimates can be given for the total quantities
for each of these four stamps. The actual order was for 3,750,000 of
each value. 1,750,000 of the 17p and 1,500,000 of the 21p are on the
original Paper A; 2,000,000 of the 17p and 2,250,000 of the 21p are on
the newer Paper B.
500
of each of these two stamps, both on Paper B, come with "SPECIMEN"
overprints. This time, they
were machine-printed.
The
remaining first day cover envelopes for Series I were used to service
Series II, with an additional printing of 100 each of the two cachets.
SERIES III:
2003, August 21.
Two high values (Printed by Amstar)
500
sets come with machine-printed "SPECIMEN" overprints, and all have the
denomination crossed out by two hand-drawn lines.
750
pieces of first day cover envelopes were printed to service this issue.
SERIES IV:
2003, September 9.
Two high values (Printed by Amstar)
These two stamps were actually approved for printing in 2002, and Amstar
had prepared the plates already then. Suddenly, their issuance was
postponed, and so the plates had to be shelved. When finally the go
signal was given and Amstar got the order to print, they forgot that
the stamps carry the “2002” year dates. It was only after all the stamps
had been printed that they noticed the wrong year dates! In order to
avoid wastage and more printing costs, Philpost agreed to Amstar's
proposal to just overprint all the printed stamps. A small black bar
to cover “2002” and a tiny “2003” to be printed on the upper right
corner of both stamps were all that were necessary to correct the
problem. So all these two stamps exist with the black bar and so far,
none without the black bar has been reported.
500
sets come with machine-printed "SPECIMEN" overprints, and the
denominations are crossed out by two hand-drawn lines.
500
more first day cover envelopes were ordered for this issue, but due to a
misunderstanding, the same cachet design on the Series III envelope was
used again!
There are two types of the 22p:
Type I
- has the orchid's Latin name 13 mm. long.
Type II - has the orchid's Latin name 14 mm. long. On
this variety, the name starts closer to "2003" and ends with "is" inside
the green leaf on the upper left instead of just touching the lower edge
of the leaf. It occurs 12 times on each sheet of 100: on position #s 35,
40, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69 and 70).
The
actual order was:
48,000,000 for the 6p;
3,000,000 for the 10p; and, 3,750,000 for the 22p.
The excess quantities were from renegotiations.
500
sets of each of these three stamps come with "SPECIMEN” overprints. They
are all machine-printed.
500
first day cover envelopes with a new cachet were printed for this issue.
SERIES VI:
2003, November 4.
One value (redrawn with name of
orchid added) (Printed by Amstar)
The
actual order for 9p was for 2,000,000 pieces only. The excess was from
renegotiation delivered on December 16, 2004.
500
pieces come with machine-printed "SPECIMEN” overprints, and the
denominations were deleted by two hand-drawn lines.
500
first day cover envelopes were printed by Amstar for this issue.
The
"2004" year dates have all the four digits joined together, and they do
not touch the left and bottom frame lines. The denominations on both
stamps are also set far from the right and bottom frame lines.
There are two types of the 1p:
Type I - has a 1/2 mm space between the orchid's Latin
name and the orchid.
Type II
- has the name shifted to the right, so it
touches the orchid. This variety occurs only three times on every sheet
of 100: position #s 82, 85 and 87.
On
every sheet of 100, position #s 14 and 19 have the space between the
name of the orchid and "2004" 4 1/3 mm wide instead of only 3 2/3 mm.
The
5 peso also has two different types:
Type I - has the orchid's Latin name 10 1/2 mm. long.
Type II - has the orchid's Latin name 12 mm. long. On
this variety, the name actually starts closer to 2004, but the letters
are farther apart, so it ends closer to the top frame line, with only a
3 mm. space between them instead of 4 mm. This occurs eight times in
every sheet of 100: on position #s 10, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 and 100.
The
actual order was for 500,000 of the 1p and 2,500,000 of the 5p only.
The excesses were estimated from the combined renegotiation
package APO delivered on November 10, 2005, which included the redrawn
versions.
500
sets of these two stamps come with "SPECIMEN” overprints, which were
handstamped with a metal device, not machine-printed.
2,000 first day cover envelopes with two different designs (so 1,000
each) were ordered to be used by the four sets of two values each that
were planned for 2004 (500 envelopes for each set). However, since the
planned third and fourth sets were issued together on June 11, the
quantities of first day cover envelopes for each of the three sets had
to be increased. Around 650 envelopes were allocated for Series VII.
SERIES VIII: 2004, April 1.
Two values (2p original
printing with "floating" year date and value; 8p already in the
revised/redrawn style, with the year date and value at their respective
corners) (Printed by APO)
The
2p has the "2004" year date in the old style, with all four digits close
together, and does not touch the left and bottom frame lines. The
denomination is also set far from the right and bottom frame lines.
The
8p has the "2004" year date and denomination in the new revised style,
with the "2004" having spaces between the four digits, and it touches
the left and bottom frame lines. The denomination also
There are two types of the 2p:
Type I - has the orchid's Latin name 13 1/2 mm. long.
Type II - has the orchid's Latin name 14 3/4 mm. long.
On this variety, the name starts closer to "2004", but the spacing
varies on some stamps. The name ends with the "m" over the top tip of
the second petal at top left instead of almost in line with it. This
type occurs 20 times in every sheet of 100: on position #s 1, 6, 11, 16,
21, 26, 31, 36, 41, 46, 51, 56, 61, 66, 71,76, 81, 86, 91 and 96.
The
actual order was for 3,000,000 pieces of the 2p and 250,000 pieces of
the 8p only. The excesses were estimated from the combined renegotiation
package APO delivered on November 10, 2005, which included the
revised/redrawn versions.
Two
new varieties, both involving the year date “2004” were discovered by
Mr. William Tharp of Canada. He reported the 8p variety first, in April
2010, and soon after, found
the 2p variety too.
APO
had somehow used the joined “2004” year date that are found on
the original printings of the 1p and 5p on two positions on each of
these sheets!
On
the 2p, the new variety, which I will now call Type III,
has the four digits of “2004” all bunched together, almost overlapping,
aside from having the longer name. It occurs only on position #s 1 and
6. All the other 98 stamps on the sheet have the “2004” quite close,
with just a little gap in between the “2” and first “0” and between the
first and second “0”s, but with the “4” touching the second “0”.
On
the 8p, the Type II variety has the four digits of
“2004” touching one another, without any space between them. It occurs
only on position #s 41 and 42 on each sheet of 100. All the other 98
stamps (Type I) on the sheet have a space in between
every two digits, though some may seem to be a little bit closer than
others.
The
two copies Mr. Tharp found are both on the newer paper with invisible,
dry (matt) gum (in Series IX), but since the later printing used the
very same plates as for this issue, the varieties are found here also
(and a few copies were located already). Considering the very low
mintage, this variety on this original paper is quite rare!
500
pieces of the 2p come with "SPECIMEN” overprints, which were
hand-stamped by a metal device, not machine-printed. The 500 pieces of
"SPECIMEN” overprints for the 8p come on Paper C, because by the time
APO was ready to print the "SPECIMEN” stamps, the newer printing on
Paper C were the only ones lying around, and APO was not aware nor
concerned about the different paper types.
They just machine-printed 500
pieces of the new printing.
As
mentioned in the notes under Series VII, the same two cacheted
envelopes, in a quantity of about 650 were used to service this Series
VIII.
SERIES IX: 2004, (April 16 -
June 10).
Four values
(1p, 2p and 5p redrawn, with "2004"
year date and value at their respective corners;
8p, like previous printing, but on new paper) (Printed
by APO)
The
redrawn 1p, 2p and 5p have the year date "2004" thinner and longer than
on the original printing since there are spaces between each digit,
instead of all four digits joined or close together. The "2004" now
touches the left and bottom frame lines and the denominations touch the
right and bottom frame lines. The names of the orchids also touch the
left frame line.
The
new printing of the 8p is actually the same as the one in Series VIII,
which is already in the style in which "2004" and denomination are
touching their respective corners. But this new printing is on the new
Paper C, with "invisible" matte (dry) gum.
Type I - has the orchid's Latin name 7 1/2 mm. long.
Type II
- has the orchid's Latin name 8 1/2 mm. long.
On this variety, the name starts closer to "2004", with a 4 1/2 mm.
space between them instead of 5 mm. This type occurs 10 times in each
sheet of 100: on position #s 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 and 100.
The
2p has three different types:
Type I
- has the orchid's Latin name 14 mm. long.
Type II
- has the orchid's Latin name 13 1/2 mm long.
On this variety, the name starts closer to "2004", with a space of only
1 1/2 mm. between them instead of 2 mm. This type occurs 13 times in
each sheet of 100: on position #s 19, 20, 39, 40, 49, 50, 59, 60, 69,
70, 89, 90 and 100.
Type III
- has the orchid's Latin name extra long at 16
1/4 mm. On this unusual and outstanding variety, the name starts very
close to "2004" with the letters farther apart, so it ends very close to
the top frame line. This occurs only once in every sheet of 100: on
position # 65.
The
same three types are naturally found on both the Paper B and Paper C.
Since stamps on Paper B were exhausted rather quickly, the Type
III on Paper B has become very scarce to rare.
The
5p has two different types:
Type I
-
has the orchid's Latin name 10 1/2 mm. long.
Type II
- has the orchid's Latin name 12 mm. long. On
this variety, the name starts closer to "2004", with a 3 mm. space
between them instead of 3 1/2 mm. The letters are farther apart so it
ends closer to the top frame line, with a space of only 3 1/2 mm.
between them instead of 4 1/2 mm., the "c" of "Plicata" is on top of the
midline of the petal on the upper left instead of below it This type
occurs ten times in every sheet of 100: on position #s 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
7, 8, 9 and 10.
The
same two types can be found on both Paper B and Paper C. The color of
some later printings of this stamp on Paper C are of a very, very
different shade, especially the green background
The
8p now has two different types too, thanks to the discovery of Mr.
William Tharp of Canada (see the 8p in Series VIII):
Type I
– the
normal stamps, with spaces between digits in “2004”
Type II
-
“2004” bunched together, almost overlapping, with no space at all in
between digits
Though the print run on this variety on the new paper with invisible,
dry (matt) gum is quite high, with only two such varieties per sheet of
100 (on position #s 41 and 42), this newly discovered variety must still
be quite scarce, since it has not been reported till now.
The
initial order was 500,000 for the 1p, 3,000,000 each for the 2p and 5p,
and, 14,750,000 for the 8p.
In
July 2004, there was an additional order of 14,000,000 for the 2p and
18,500,000 for the 5p, which all came on the new Paper C.
In
December 2004, there was an additional order of 1,000,000 for the 1p
stamps.
The
excess quantities for each of the four values (six stamps) were
estimated from the combined renegotiation package (160,000 for 1p,
750,000 for 2p, 680,000 for 5p and 780,000 for 8p) delivered on November
16, 2005.
Two
sheets of the 8p have been discovered with two extra rows of comb
perforations that are misplaced and slanted over the top two rows of the
sheet.
No
first day cover envelopes were printed for Series IX.
These redrawn/revised printings were considered only as
additional printings and not as new stamps.
SERIES X:
2004 (June 2 – August 2), Four values
(dated 2004, in revised style -
redrawn version -
with the year date and denomination in their respective
corners) (Printed by APO)
Aside from the change of year dates to "2004", there are other
differences on these four new varieties when compared with the 2003
printings. On the 10p and 17p, the orchids' names are thinner, and
closer to the left frame line. On the 17p, the "P" sign ends at the same
level as "17" instead of "floating". On the 21p and the 22p stamps, the
orchids' names are longer, as the letters are not as close together, and
they are closer to the left frame lines. The "P" signs also end at the
same level as "21" and "22".
There are two types of the 17p:
Type I - has the orchid's Latin name 9 mm. long
Type II
- has the orchid's Latin name 10 1/3 mm. long.
On this variety, the name starts closer to "2004" with a space of only 3
2/3 mm. between them, instead of 4 1/3 mm. The letters are farther
apart, so they end closer to the top frame line, with a space of 4 2/3
mm. between them, instead of 5 1/3 mm. The name starts with the "p" of "Epigeneium"
touching the lower left petal instead of the "E" touching it. This type
occurs 20 times in every sheet of 100: on position #s 1, 2, 11, 12, 21,
22, 31, 32, 41, 42, 51, 52, 61, 62, 71, 72, 81, 82, 91 and 92.
There are two types of the 22p also:
Type I
- has the orchid's name 14 1/3 mm. long
Type II
- has the orchid's name 12 2/3 mm. long. On
this variety, the name starts farther from "2004", with a space of 2
1/2mm. between them instead of just 1 1/2 mm. The letters are closer
together, so the name ends
farther from the top frame line, with a space of 3 1/2 mm. between them,
instead of 2 2/3 mm only. The "is" of "philippensis" touches the lower
edge of the top leaf on the upper left, instead of being inside the
leaf. This type occurs 35
times in every sheet of 100: on position #s 16-20, 2630, 36-40, 46-50,
56-60, 66-70 and 76-80.
The
actual order was 6,000,000 for 10p, and 5,000,000 for each for the other
three values. The excess for each were from renegotiations delivered on
November 16, 2005.
No
additional first day cover envelopes were issued for Series X.
As with Series IX, these were not considered as new stamps, but
rather, just additional printings of current definitives.
SERIES XI:
2004, June 11, Four new values.
(Printed by APO)
There are two types of the 3p:
Type I - has the orchid's Latin name 13 1/2 mm. long.
Type II
- has the orchid's Latin name 15 1/2mm. long.
On this variety, the name starts closer to "2004", with a space of only
1 mm. between them, instead of 2 mm. The letters are farther apart, so
it ends closer to the top frame line, with a space of only 2 mm. between
them, instead of 3 mm. This type occurs 10 times in every sheet of 100:
on position #s 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 and 100.
There are also two types of the 4p:
Type I
- has the orchid's Latin name 11 - 11 1/4mm.
long.
Type II
- has the orchid's Latin name 12 1/2-12 3/4 mm.
long. On this variety, the name starts closer to "2004", with a space of
only 2 1/2 mm. between them instead of 3 1/3 mm. The letters are farther
apart, so the name ends closer to the top frame line, with a space of
only 3 1/2mm. between them, instead of 4 1/4 mm. The name starts with
"P" overlapping the petal at the lower left, instead of above it.
This type occurs 10 times in every sheet of 100: on position #s
10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 and 100.
The
actual order was 1,000,000 for the 3p, 5,000,000 for the 9p and
4,000,000 for the 20p. The excess for each of the three were from
renegotiations. There was no 4p included in the renegotiations.
500
sets of these four stamps come with "SPECIMEN" overprints, which are all
machine-printed.
The
same two cacheted first day cover envelopes used for Series VII and VIII
were used to prepare first day covers for this series. About 700 covers
were serviced.
The
actual order was 3,000,000 se-tenant blocks of four.
The excess were from renegotiations delivered on November 16,
2005.
The
first delivery of five sheets of specimen stamps has the "SPECIMEN"
machine-printed. When the
printer was reminded that there are four designs and therefore, there
should be 20 sheets in all, they had already cut up all the printed
press sheets, therefore, the remaining 15 sheets of 100 "SPECIMEN"
stamps, delivered much later, have "SPECIMEN" hand-stamped by a metal
device instead. This
oversight created four interesting varieties for "SPECIMEN" stamp
collectors.
500
first day covers with a new cachet were printed for this final issue.
It appears APO-NEDA is very careless, and their attitude can be
considered as indifference, when it comes to the small texts on the
stamps that they print. However, this laxity created a lot of
collectible and interesting varieties for us. It remains to be seen
whether more collectible varieties may one day be reported again.
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Articles by Dr. Ngo Tiong Tak |
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