Veracruz, New Spain (Mexico)
1739
Folded letter with handstamped postal marking
Provenance: Omar Rodriguez, Mexico City
A "cover" in philatelic terminology refers to a folded letter or envelope that passed through the postal system, bearing handstamped postal markings applied by the originating post office. The Mexican postal system was established in 1580 to communicate between the Viceroyalty of New Spain and Spain, and during the 18th century Spain established a formal postal system with regular routes. Before the introduction of adhesive postage stamps in 1856, letters were sent collect, the postage to be paid by the recipient upon arrival, with the originating town name and postage charge stamped by hand on the outer cover.
The earliest known stamped postmark on a dated cover from Mexico is a Veracruz mark used between 1736 and 1739, described in Spanish philatelic scholarship as the most ancient known postal cancel in the New World. This 1739 cover bearing the Veracruz handstamp places it within that extraordinarily narrow group of the earliest documented postal covers from colonial Mexico, a category so limited that individual examples are tracked in the specialist literature. A related letter dated August 8, 1739 with the same Veracruz postal mark was sold at Soler & Llach auction in Barcelona in 1991, establishing the market context for covers of this date and origin.
The Veracruz postal route was the most important in colonial New Spain, connecting the viceregal capital of Mexico City to the Atlantic port through which nearly all transatlantic correspondence and commerce passed. Covers bearing the earliest Veracruz handstamps are among the most sought after items in the field of colonial Latin American postal history, held in major philatelic collections and referenced in the standard literature on Mexican and New World pre-philatelic material. The Omar Rodriguez provenance connects this cover to one of the principal markets for Mexican philatelic material.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
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Veracruz, New Spain (Mexico)
1739
Folded letter with handstamped postal marking
Provenance: Omar Rodriguez, Mexico City
A "cover" in philatelic terminology refers to a folded letter or envelope that passed through the postal system, bearing handstamped postal markings applied by the originating post office. The Mexican postal system was established in 1580 to communicate between the Viceroyalty of New Spain and Spain, and during the 18th century Spain established a formal postal system with regular routes. Before the introduction of adhesive postage stamps in 1856, letters were sent collect, the postage to be paid by the recipient upon arrival, with the originating town name and postage charge stamped by hand on the outer cover.
The earliest known stamped postmark on a dated cover from Mexico is a Veracruz mark used between 1736 and 1739, described in Spanish philatelic scholarship as the most ancient known postal cancel in the New World. This 1739 cover bearing the Veracruz handstamp places it within that extraordinarily narrow group of the earliest documented postal covers from colonial Mexico, a category so limited that individual examples are tracked in the specialist literature. A related letter dated August 8, 1739 with the same Veracruz postal mark was sold at Soler & Llach auction in Barcelona in 1991, establishing the market context for covers of this date and origin.
The Veracruz postal route was the most important in colonial New Spain, connecting the viceregal capital of Mexico City to the Atlantic port through which nearly all transatlantic correspondence and commerce passed. Covers bearing the earliest Veracruz handstamps are among the most sought after items in the field of colonial Latin American postal history, held in major philatelic collections and referenced in the standard literature on Mexican and New World pre-philatelic material. The Omar Rodriguez provenance connects this cover to one of the principal markets for Mexican philatelic material.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
INQUIRE HERE
