Postage stamps and postal history of Puerto Rico
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean Sea, east of the Dominican Republic and west of the Virgin Islands.
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[edit] First stamps and postal stationery
The first stamps used in Puerto Rico were joint issues with Cuba but these were not generally used in Puerto Rico until 1856.[1] The first stamps inscribed "Puerto Rico" were issued in 1873.[1] Postal cards for Puerto Rico were printed in Spain and sent to their colonies in 1878.[2] With the war of Spanish-American war, the United States invaded Puerto Rico and wrested power from the Spanish. For the first time, stamped envelopes became available to the residents of Puerto Rico.[3]
[edit] United States stamps
An independent postal service under U.S. authority was established March 15, 1899. But with the Foraker Act of 1900, the postal service of Puerto Rico ceased to be a separate adjunct of the U.S. and was assimilated into the United States postal system.[3] Stamps were originally overprinted with the spelling Anglicized to "PORTO RICO" and later, in 1900, with "PUERTO RICO". Likewise, postal cards and stamped envelopes were also initially overprinted "PORTO RICO" and later "PUERTO RICO". U.S. stamps are now used on the island. Puerto Rican personalities that have been featured on U.S. postage stamps include Luis Muñoz Marín (1980), Roberto Clemente (1984), Julia de Burgos (2010), and José Ferrer (2012) along with scenes of San Juan. Events commemorating the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's landing on the island (1992) and national symbols such as the Puerto Rican flag (2012) have also garced their own postage stamps.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Rossiter, Stuart & John Flower. The Stamp Atlas. London: Macdonald, 1986, p.150-151. ISBN 0-356-10862-7
- ^ Littrell, Robert, Ed.; Postal Cards of Spanish Colonial Cuba, Philippines and Puerto Rico, UPSS, 2010; ISBN 978-0-9800112-4-1. Section on Puerto Rico by Byron Mitchell.
- ^ a b Krieger, George T.; The Postal Stationery of the Possessions and Administrative Areas of the United States of America; United Postal Stationery Society, 2009, ISBN 978-0-9800112-3-4.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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