#arg3551

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#arg3551 web presence

In my own small way I have been laying out the Web 2.0 phase of this study:

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The 1E3a paper

This paper is white and slightly thinner than the 1E1, but it is otherwise identical to it: same watermark, same porous grid, same symmetrical rectangular grid. I have a very hard time separating this paper from the 1E1 for all but a handful of stamps that were printed on both papers. For now, I will only show the 25c1E3a, that has colors unique to the printing on this paper. I am not surprised that Pettigiani misses this paper. The clue is that the 'cents' stamps issued in 1939 were printed on it, and not on the 1E1. 

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The 1E2 paper

This is the second paper. It was used between early 1937 and early 1939. It is a white watermarked paper with a symmetrical rectangular grid. The 'RA in sun' is slightly elongated in a way that makes the RA of this paper seem taller and thinner than the RA of the 1E1. This paper can be confused with the 1E4 and 2D papers, which also have tall RAs and similarly colored pulp. In Argentina this paper is referred to as the Austrian paper.

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Overview of the papers

The backbone of any #arg3551 collection is a clear understanding of the papers. The catalogs that have been published before the book by Pettigiani have missed the papers in ways that aggregate printings that are common with others that are rare, or even miss the existence of other printings. There is a book that can be written about how far off the catalogs are from the stamps, but this is not that book. Here I focus on what the stamps really look like. I am not, however, at the point when I can conclusively state that my classification of these stamps is complete, and doubt I ever will be able to make such a conclusive statement.

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My taxonomy

All catalogs to date use numbering schemes, or taxonomies, that are incomplete and confusing. I use my own taxonomy in order to correctly catalog all printings. Even Pettigiani's book, which is considerably more advanced than all other references, has confusing terms, and misses at least one paper. The taxonomy is a concatenation of the denomination, design specifics where appropriate, the paper, and in some cases a suffix to denote oddities such as the 20 pesos postal forgery. Because this is a digital taxonomy, the 1/2 centavo stamp is the 05c stamp, and the 2 1/2 c stamp is the 2p5c stamp. Because this taxonomy is not sequential, as I find printings I did not know existed, they can be added to a list without introducing a numerical discontinuity. I describe this taxonomy by example in the loosely chronological issue listing that follows.

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How this series came about

Thanks to a reference provided by one of the ‘Foreros,’ or members of the Argentinean Philately Forum, I learned about the existence of the book published by the Argentinean Post Office, Volume I, in 1939, by Antonio Deluca, and titled “Stamps and other postal and telegraph issues.” This book contains key information about Arg3551, about which Deluca mentions the following:

The decision to replace the San Martin issue by a new series came from 1931, but was abandoned due to the Argentinean Post Office ‘s economic hardship. Its director, Mr. Carlos Risso Dominguez, sent a memorandum to the Ministry of the Interior, dated November 28, 1932, in which he outlines basic facts about this series that I did not know before I obtained this book. The basic facts contained in this memorandum are:

1. There were several postal forgery incidents that cost the Argentinean Post Office a large loss of revenue. “In 1921 a postal forgery of the 5c stamp was found, and it incurred a loss of approximately 1 million pesos of national currency in a few months. There seems to be an additional forgery of higher quality and affecting the 2c and 5c values. It is then without doubt that the prolonged use of the same stamp type conspires against its legitimacy and affects adversely our collection of revenue.”

2. Four categories were proposed for the new issue:

“a) Publish the likenesses of those signing the Declaration of Independence...”

“b) Publish the likenesses of those signing the 1853 Constitution...”

“c) Publish a selection of the likenesses of important military and civilian figures...and in addition add symbolic figures representing the Republic as shown on our currency, and mainly the Argentinean shield in its authentic model.”

“d) Finally...use the stamps for an increased awareness of our products and therefore put in effect a news-worthy promotion in its favor, just as other countries do...”

There then take place several bureaucratic steps typically required for a new stamp series: authorization by the Ministry of the Interior, design contest, and authorization by the President of the Republic. The second memorandum containing facts about this series was sent by the commission making recommendations on this new issue to the Argentinean Post Office on July 4 1933:

1. “ The commission proposes the portraits for the following important figures to be featured in as many issues: San Martin, Rivadavia, Moreno, Belgrano, Sarmiento, Mitre, Urquiza, Rodriguez, Guemes, Velez Sarsfield. Within the context of promoting, the commission indicates, of course, the map of the Argentinean Republic, and the following industries: Cattle, Agriculture, Oil, Wine-making, and Sugar Cane.”

2. This memorandum recommends the use of paper without watermark, somewhat thicker than the one being used at the time for typographed printing, and with white gum. It is interesting that the characteristics in this recommendation correspond to only one of the 18 papers for Arg3551: the NOP, or opaque paper not in the catalogs from aproximately 1948.

3. The recommended dimensions are: 19 by 24 mm, and 21 by 28 mm.

4. The designs and initial printing quantities recommended are:

1/2c Urquiza (50 million); 1c Guemes (30 million); 3c Rodriguez (120 million); 5c

Agricultura (60 million); 6c Sarmiento (40 million); 10c Belgrano (300 million); 15c Mapa (20 million); 20c Mitre (10 million); 30c Sugar (12 million); 35c Cattle (6 million); 40c Wine-making (10 million); 50c Velez Sarsfield (6 million); 1p Oil Industry (2.5 million); 5p Rivadavia (50000), 10p Moreno (20000), 20p San Martin (10000).

5. Only one design is recommended for the official issues, with each denomination having its own color: “The current system, is unappealing and very costly, because it forces specialized printings of the overprints. In addition, the wide range of papers and printings of the stamps and of the very same overprints, cause that collectors seek them, causing a dysfunctional inventory, given that they cannot be acquired at post offices...” This memorandum includes other details about the official issues, including proposed values and printing quantities.

The Casa de Moneda (the Argentinean Treasury, in charge of printing stamps) makes the following design and respective denomination recommendations to the Argentinean Post Office on May 23, 1934:

Mitre 1/2c y 1c; Sarmiento 2c; Moreno 10c; Belgrano 5c y 20c; Southern National Park 12c; Sugar 10c; Argentinean Republic, wheat 15c; America and the Argentinean Republic, fruits of the country 5c; Oil 2c; Agriculture 10c; Republic and the farmer 5c; Christ of the Andes 2c; Republic and Shield 12c; Wheat Stalks 5c y 10c; Allegorical figure and wheat 10c; Iguazu Falls 50c. The most interesting fact in this memorandum is mention of Iguazu Falls. This memorandum mentions many designs that were not adopted.

Deluca mentions documents that relate to collaboration between the Argentinean Treasury and the Argentinean Post Office, it which the adopted characteristics are outlined: the use of a small format for the values up to 20c, and of the large format for values 25c and up.

On July 16 of 1934 the Patriot values as we know them from 1/2c to 20c were finalized. Durante the period spanning October 25, 1934 and February 13, 1935 the Resources values as we know them from 25c to 20 pesos were finalized.

On September 14, 1935, the Argentinean Post Office took the following actions:

1. Decides to issue on October 1, 1935 the 1/2c, 1c, 2c, 3c, 4c, 5c, 6c, 10c, 12c, y 20c (full name version: JMG) values.

2. Demonetizes from January 1, 1936 onwards the previous (San Martin) issue.

3. Allows the exchange of San Martin stamps for the new stamps during the first 90 days of 1936.

On November 22, 1935, the Argentinean Post Office decides to issue the 15c, 25c, 30c, 40c, 50c, 1p with map boundaries, 2p, 5p, 10p, and 20p values January 1, 1936.

According to Deluca, public notice of the new issue “was made by special announcements, and the printing of 5000 stamps for each value.” I speculate that these stamps are the stamps we come across with specimen (“MUESTRA”) overprint.

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Denominations and Papers

#arg3551 was issued in 22 denominations and was printed in at least 20 papers. #arg3551 was designed at a level of quality far above that of the previous series, the 1923-35 San Martin issue, to prevent the recurrence of costly postal forgeries that  cost the government considerable losses of revenue. The stamps were issued on watermarked paper beginning in October 1, 1935 for the small format low values, and January 1, 1936 for the large format high values.

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an introduction to the study

In 1993 I received from Estudio20 two boxes crammed full of Argentinean definitives. In one of the boxes I found approximately 10,000 10c Rivadavia Reds. I have since embarked on an in-depth study of the series these stamps are part of, the Argentina 1935-51 Definitives. Because this series title is long, and because I have given the study a digital presence, I instead refer to the series by  the hash tag #arg3551. #arg3551 is one of the most beautiful and complex definitives series to study. It is also missing the large body of research it deserves. I routinely come across people wanting to understand the series and getting lost easily. I hope this small contribution is followed by the body of research that this great series deserves.