22p
First Set of the 1854 Queen Isabella II Stamps
Souvenir Sheets of One (10,000)
(Fishes / 1999 International Philippine Philatelic Society, 2000
APO Philatelic Society Sheet Designs)
Designer:
David U. Dujunco
Design Coordinator: Dr. Ngo Tiong Tak
First Day Covers: Manila
Souvenir Sheets issued to publicize
Filipinas 2004 Stamp Exhibition
In commemoration of the 150th
Anniversary of Philippines First Postage Stamps
The Philippines is the first country in Asia
to issue postage stamps.
A set of four stamps were issued on
February 1, 1854, four years after Spain and fourteen years after
the very first postage stamp of the world was issued by Great
Britain.
The four Philippine stamps, featuring Queen
Isabella II, were issued in sheets of forty varieties, as each stamp
in the sheet was individually engraved.
A 10c black was printed but never
issued;
each value comes in different
shades.
There is a celebrated error on the
1Real stamp, with “CORREOS” spelled as “CORROS” on position 26 of
each sheet of 40.
“FILIPINAS 2004” will celebrate the 150th
anniversary of the Philippines first postage stamps.
It will be a 3-day event, from January
30 to February 1, 2004.
It will be sponsored by the Philippine
Philatelic Federation (PPF) with the support of Philpost.
It will be held at the SM Megamall in
Mandaluyong City.
This is an invitational,
non-competitive exhibition, with 64 frames featuring stamps and
covers from the Spanish Regime (including the first four sets of
Queen Isabella II) to the Aguinaldo, US Administration, Japanese
Occupation and present Republic.
A special show publication including the
souvenir program will be launched during the exhibition.
It will contain newly researched
articles about the first issues that have never been published
before, and will include many colored plates of these elusive
stamps, in large multiples and on covers, too.
Three more FILIPINAS 2004 souvenir sheets
(#4-6) will be issued, one each daily, during the show.
On the last day of the show (February
1), a new set of four stamps and a souvenir sheet will be issued to
commemorate the 150th anniversary of Philippine stamps.