STAMP ISSUES RELATED TO ICAO (1978-1983)

 

Paraguay : 100th Anniversary of Sir Rowland Hill death,

75th Anniversary of civil aviation and Anniversary of ICAO

 

 

Issue date: 11/06/1979

 

Stamp-on-stamp reproducing Newfoundland’s first airmail stamp Scott #C1 issued on 12 April 1919 further to a surcharge of Newfoundland Scott #117 (issued on 2 January 1919 to commemorate the Services of Newfoundland Regiment in WW1 during the battle of Gueudecourt) with "FIRST / TRANS- / ATLANTIC / AIR POST/April, 1919".

Sir Rowland Hill’s picture. Overprinted by ICAO emblem surrounded by the text: 75o ANIVERSARIO DE O.A.C.I.

The Battle of Gueudecourt (close to Le Transloy, France) took place on 12 October 1916, as part of the Somme battle. More background information on this stamp can be found by clicking on: Double Canadiana.

See opposite left: A mere 200 stamps of the 3c brown Hawker flight overprint were issued for the ill-fated trans-Atlantic flight attempt. Many were used on flight covers, leaving just 87 remaining mint examples. Fewer survive today after nearly 100 years. See flight cover at Footnote 7.

 

 

 

Stamp-on-stamp reproducing France Scott #C14 (1936) showing the Caudron C-635 Simoun airplane from the Air Bleu Postal services over Paris; the word POSTES is shown under the left wing.

Sir Rowland Hill’s picture. Overprinted by ICAO emblem surrounded by the text: 75o ANIVERSARIO DE O.A.C.I.

The Caudron Simoun aircraft were used as mail planes by Air Bleu and carried with a regularity of 95%, 45 million mails in 2 years (1935 and 1936).

Many errors are identifiable on the French stamp:

  1. The plane shown is missing the tail element carrying the directional aileron.
  2. The tail is too long and has no tail wheel.
  3. Registration marks should replace the invented registration letters POSTES.
  4. The concrete viaduct on the right does not exist in Paris.
  5. Some of the monuments shown (such as the Arc de triomphe) are misplaced.

  

 

 

Stamp-on-stamp reproducing Spain Scott #B106 issued on 15 April 1938 to commemorate the Defenders of Madrid.

Sir Rowland Hill’s picture. Overprinted by ICAO emblem surrounded by the text: 75o ANIVERSARIO DE O.A.C.I.

 

 

Stamp-on-stamp reproducing an Ecuador’s unlisted stamp (issued on 28 August 1928) which was overprinted (with “ECUADOR”) and surcharged (with “15”) from the Columbian carmine stamp issued in 1925 by the Colombian airline Sociedad Colombo‑Alemana de Transportes Aéreos, SCADTA; it shows a Junkers F13 seaplane over Magdalena River and the Andes.

Sir Rowland Hill’s picture. Overprinted by ICAO emblem surrounded by the text: 75o ANIVERSARIO DE O.A.C.I.

SCADTA was authorized to issue and use its own stamps for a period of 10 years, in return for a royalty of 2% of the face value of the stamps to the Colombian Government; this went on until 1931 when the Airmail Administration of the Republic of Colombia was created. SCADTA also had its own post offices in Colombia and undertook the delivery of the airmail to the addressee’s door.

In response to the USA’s competition felt in Latin America, SCADTA responded with an unprecedented growth within Colombia between the years 1927 and 1929, and by opening in 1928 a new line between Buenaventura, Colombia to Guayaquil, Ecuador; this was the company’s first regular service beyond its borders. The Ecuadorian stamp reproduced here was intended for use on the Ecuadorian flights of SCADTA.

 

 

 

Stamp-on-stamp reproducing United States Scott #C3a issued on 13 May 1918 for the reopening of the postal service line New York – Philadelphia – Washington Curtiss Jenny Invert. See footnote 1.

Sir Rowland Hill’s picture. Overprinted by ICAO emblem surrounded by the text: 75o ANIVERSARIO DE O.A.C.I.

 

 

 

Stamp-on-stamp reproducing Deutsches Reich Michel #IV K issued on 10 June 1912, with the overprint in dark blue "Gelber Hund" (Yellow Dog) and the surcharge of "-‑1M‑-", for mail carried by the airmail plane Gelber Hund; the inverted overprint and surcharge are a rarity. Issued on the same day, the original stamp of 10 pfg is a semi-official airmail stamp to frank mail carried on an experimental flight from Darmstadt to Munich, Bavaria; it is inscribed Erste Deutsche Luftpost am Rhein and shows a pigeon carrying mail.

Sir Rowland Hill’s picture. Overprinted by ICAO emblem surrounded by the text: 75o ANIVERSARIO DE O.A.C.I.

On 10 June 1912, Germany issued a set of three airmail stamps to frank mail carried on an experimental flight from Darmstadt to Munich, Bavaria. Germany also overprinted 10,000 of the 10pfg stamps “Gelber Hund” and surcharged them to 1 mark. August Euler's most famous aircraft flying machine is probably No. 33 "Gelber Hund" (Yellow Dog). This aircraft carried mail on 10 June 1912 for the first time in Germany, under the eyes of thousands of spectators at Frankfurt airport.

See footnote 3.

 

 

Stamp-on-stamp reproducing Switzerland Scott #C20a issued in 1935 with inverted surcharge "10" and bars in black. The original stamp was issued on 2 February 1932 to commemorate the opening of the International Disarmament Conference (Conference on the Reduction and Limitation of Arms) held in Geneva from 1932 to 1934 and shows a front view of the airplane. Fifty-nine states were represented at this Conference, including Japan, the USA and USSR.

Sir Rowland Hill’s picture. Overprinted by ICAO emblem surrounded by the text: 75o ANIVERSARIO DE O.A.C.I.

 

 

 

Stamp-on-stamp reproducing Brazil private issue of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmgH., Friedrichshaven, for the 1930 LZ 127 Zeppelin South American commercial flight between Brazil and Europe, surcharged on 25 May 1930 with handstamp print of “5” reis. Only 13 stamps were surcharged.

Sir Rowland Hill’s picture. Overprinted by ICAO emblem surrounded by the text: 75o ANIVERSARIO DE O.A.C.I. Air mail stamp.

Originally three basic values of the Zeppelin series intended for use on the Pan-American Flight were produced, with some additionally overprinted "Graf Zeppelin/U. S. A.". It soon became apparent that there was a shortage of the lower values, particularly the 5,000reis. Therefore 20,000reis values and other Condor stamps were surcharged to meet this shortage. In Parahyba (capital of the province of Parahyba, Brazil), all the 5,000reis stamps had been used, so an order was given to surcharge the 20,000reis stamp with a large "5" hand stamp. Records show that only 13 stamps were so surcharged with some of them being sold in Parahyba and others forwarded to Recife where they were used.

 

 

 

Stamp-on-stamp reproducing two Paraguayan stamps:

  1. The first was issued on 5 May 1933; the original colour of this stamp was brown;
  2. The second was issued on 13 April 1935, but the colour was changed from the original brown to violet and it was overprinted in black with “1935”.

These stamps were issued in relation to the Graf Zeppelin airship’s flights to South America.

Sir Rowland Hill’s picture. Overprinted by ICAO emblem surrounded by the text: 75o ANIVERSARIO DE O.A.C.I. Air mail stamp.

 

 

 

 

Strip of 7 stamps with two airmail stamps; regular and specimen (meaning MUESTRA) issues (overprinted diagonally on the set at the right side).

 

 

 

 

Cancelled to Order (CTO).

 

 

 

 

With hand-stamped control number.

Stamps mounted on Borek hingeless album sheet with explanatory notes in German.

 

Stamps mounted on a presentation sheet (Rowland Hill - der Vater der Briefmarke und sein Work) with explanatory notes in German and facsimile signature of Rowland Hill.

 

 

 

Souvenir sheet reproducing Italy Scott #C49 issued on 20 May 1933 for Balbo’s transatlantic Rome‑Chicago flight, in the form of a triptych: Italian flag; King Victor Emmanuel III; Coliseum, Chicago skyscrapers and Savoia-Marchetti S.55X aircraft in transatlantic flight. It is overprinted by ICAO emblem surrounded by the text: 75o ANIVERSARIO DE O.A.C.I.

Sir Rowland Hill’s picture Savoia-Marchetti S.55X marked I0015.

With control number.

MUESTRA (meaning specimen) is overprinted diagonally on the second sheet.

Variety of Italy Scott C49 overprinted but never issued for the squadron’s return flight. Apparently, only 500 examples of the unissued triptych were overprinted.

More background information on this souvenir sheet can be found by clicking on: Montreal Salutes General Balbo.

See footnotes 4, 5 and 6.

Stamps mounted on Borek hingeless album sheet with explanatory notes in German.

 

First Day Cover with the 9 stamps of this issue.

 

First Day Cover, 9 stamps on 2 covers, with orange frame around Hill’s picture..

 

 

Same as above with missing orange frame around the picture of Rowland Hill (printing error), although some orange spots are visible.

 

Private issue.

 

First Day Cover from the Sumner Collection. The Sumner Collection in two large vinyl albums (15” by 12”) commemorated the 1840 postal reforms by Sir Rowland Hill and was issued in 1979, the centenary of his death. A total of 102 first day covers from 99 countries around the world were mounted in sleeves on thick blue card pages with comprehensive explanatory English-language text.

See footnote 2 about the Paraguayan flag.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Background: Stamps-on-stamps issue depicting rare stamps of early flights from around the world.

The designer of those stamps included the ICAO emblem, surrounded by 75o Aniversario de OACI. Paraguay inadvertently confused the 75th anniversary of the Wright brothers’ triumph, who made the first successful flight of a manned heavier-than-air vehicle on 17 December 1903, with ICAO which, even today, has not yet reached such a milestone. Furthermore, it should be noted that the date of issuance of this set by Paraguay did not correspond to an anniversary of the first flight (which should have been in 1978) nor to an anniversary celebrated by ICAO. This issue should have more rightly commemorated the 30th anniversary of ICAO (in April 1977), and not its 75th anniversary.

The first seven stamps of this issue were printed in se-tenant strip. The last two values are airmail stamps that were printed in separate sheets. Specimen stamps also exist and are shown here above.

 

Footnote 1: The story of how the Curtiss Jenny came to serve not only as the pivot of the promising US airmail service, but also the centrepiece of one of America’s most famous stamps is ensconced in philatelic legend.

Originally produced as a training aircraft for the U.S. Army, the Curtiss JN-4 is possibly North America's most famous World War I aircraft. It was widely used during World War I to train beginning pilots, with an estimated 95% of all trainees having flown a JN-4.

The prevalence of the trusty and inexpensive JN-model decided the US Post Office Department to buy surplus Jennys for its fledging scheduled airmail service, which was kicked off with much haste and fanfare on the morning of 15 May 1918, when two Jennys took off from Washington and New York, flying towards each other. Each of the two-seater planes carried a mail bag with most of the letters franked with the brand new 24-cent stamp hurriedly issued for the event.

The 24-cent Curtiss Jenny stamp was issued on 13 May 1918 for this inaugural U.S. airmail service, for the rate period beginning 15 May to 13 July 1918; the postage included special delivery service.

Since the stamp was printed in two colours, each sheet had to be fed twice through the printing press, an error-prone process, and at least three misprinted sheets were found during the production process and were destroyed. It is believed that only one misprinted sheet of 100 stamps got through unnoticed, and stamp collectors have spent the ensuing years trying to find them all. This most famous error in the history of U.S. stamps highlights the ways a single stamp can turn history upside down.

As a tribute to America’s most famous stamp error and to honour stamp collecting, the United States Postal Service (USPS) issued on 22 September 2013 a miniature sheet showing six examples of the stamp denominated $2 each rather than the original 24-cents. The $2 Jenny Invert stamps were at the centre of a Postal Service promotional program that included just 100 specially printed panes intentionally showing the Jenny biplane in the centre of each stamp flying right side up. The regularly issued $2 stamp portrays the plane upside down. Each of the 2.2 million panes of the 2013 issue was sealed in a printed paper envelope within a cellophane wrapping, thwarting efforts to detect the rare upright variety seeded among the common standard issue. The 100 upright Jenny Invert panes were packaged with a card printed with a phone number the finder could call to receive a certificate signed by the U.S. Postmaster General and to register the purchase and discovery. But because the registration is voluntary, it is presumed that some of the found panes were never recorded. As a result, no one is sure how many have been found and how many remain undiscovered.

As of 9 January 2023, upright Jenny Invert pane with the $2-stamp tally hits 43; another new find of a pane of the variety has surfaced recently.

As of August 2024, the $2 Inverted Jenny stamp is no longer available from the U.S. Postal Service, eleven years after it was issued on 22 September 2013.

 

Regular stamp (1918).

Inverted Jenny (1918).

Issue of 22 September 2013.

 

 

Miniature sheet of the normal Invert Jenny with 6 stamps issued on 22 September 2013.

The lower picture shows the sheet with the first day cancel.

 

Rare upright variety of the 2013 $2 Jenny Invert stamps

 

Insert congratulations card with the phone number which no longer exists.

Photo credit Linn’s Stamp News 9 January 2023, Vol 96, No. 4915.

 

The "Inverted Jenny" is a 24-cent 1918 US Air Mail postage stamp printing error in which the blue central vignette of US Army Curtiss JN-4HM registered number 38262, the nation's first mail plane, appeared as "inverted" on a single sheet of 100 stamps owing to an inadvertent error made by the operator of a hand-rolled spider press by printing the blue vignette impressions upside down after the red frames had previously been printed on the sheet. First day cover issued on 22 September 2013.

 

Footnote 2:

The cachet shows the official flag of the country. The colours of the Paraguayan flag (three equal horizontal bands of red white and blue, with the emblem) were influenced by the French Tricolour flag, which had become a symbol of liberation. The official symbolism of the flag is very rich. To mention only colour symbolism, red stands for patriotism, courage, heroism, equality and justice; white for purity, firmness, union and peace; and blue for tranquility, love, knowledge, verity and liberty. Centred in the white band of the flag, the coat of arms (a yellow five-pointed star - The Star of May recalls the declaration of independence from Spain on 14 May 1811 - within a green wreath capped by the words REPUBLICA DEL PARAGUAY) is reproduced in the cachet.

 

Footnote 3:

On 10 June 1912, Germany issued a set of three airmail stamps to frank mail carried on an experimental flight from Darmstadt to Munich, Bavaria. Germany also overprinted 10,000 of the 10pfg stamps “Gelber Hund” and surcharged them to 1 mark.

August Euler's most famous aircraft flying machine is probably No. 33 "Gelber Hund" (Yellow Dog). This aircraft carried mail on 10 June 1912 for the first time in Germany, under the eyes of thousands of spectators at Frankfurt airport.

Postcard from the beginnings of airmail in the German Empire (Rhein and Main airmail card "Gelber Hund").

Postcards as shown here on the left side had to be provided with the overprinted stamp, when mail was carried by the Euler biplane (baptized “Gelber Hund” because of its yellow covering). These postcards were manufactured only in 2000 copies, sequentially numbered from 1 to 2000. Postcards without numbering also existed.

In the early days of aviation, the official line in many countries was that aeroplanes were suited to reconnaissance but little else, and for this, armament was unnecessary. But there were a number of far-sighted people who held other views. On 24 July 1910, German August Euler received the first patent for a special device which enabled a rigidly fixed machine-gun to be fired from an aeroplane. Euler, who had also been the first man in Germany to gain a pilot’s license, later demonstrated his machine-gun mount on his biplane Gelber Hund, which was used as the first aircraft carrying mail in Germany between Frankfurt, Darmstadt, Worms and Mainz.

 

 

Footnote 4:

The Decennial Air Cruise (Italian: Crociera aerea del Decennale) was a mass transatlantic flight from Orbetello, Italy, to the Century of Progress International Exposition, Chicago, Illinois. The expedition began on 1 July 1933, and ended on 12 August of the same year. It consisted of 25 Savoia-Marchetti S.55X seaplanes crossing the Atlantic Ocean in formation, forming the greatest mass flight in aviation history. The Italian Squadrons, led by General Italo Balbo, were welcomed enthusiastically particularly in the United States of America, where they became known as the Italian Air Armada. A publicity success for Fascist Italy, Balbo further viewed the expedition as a pioneering step towards commercial flights across the Atlantic. Each aircraft had a civil marking: I- followed by the first four letters of the last name of the pilot. Each squadron was composed of 3 airplanes. I-MIGL identified the aircraft of Captain Alessandro Miglia.

 

I-MIGL Triptych on registered cover sent from Roma, Italy to the USA. Postmark dated 8.6.1933. Special hand stamps in green of the CROCIERA AERA DEL DECENNALE.

 

I-MIGL Triptych on registered cover sent from La Spezia, Italy to the pilot Vincenzo Biani (in the Italian consulate in Reykjavik, Iceland). Postmark dated 2.6.1933. Special hand stamps in green of the CROCIERA AERA DEL DECENNALE. The cover bears the signatures of the pilot Captain Alessandro Miglia and the co-pilot Sebastiano Fisicaro.

 

Cover with Balbo triptych, sent registered on 7 June 1933 to the Unione Filatelica Nazionale at the exhibition A Century of Progress at Chicago, IL.

A Century of Progress International Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States, from 1933 to 1934. The fair, registered under the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), celebrated the city's centennial. The exposition emphasized technology and progress, a utopia, or perfect world, founded on democracy and manufacturing.

 

Triptych Scott #C49 issued on 20 May 1933 – Transatlantic Flight Rome-Chicago of 24-seaplane squadron led by General Italo Balbo. At left is a registered air express label overprinted with APPARECCHIO, followed on the second line by I (the international aeronautic code for Italian aircraft, and the abbreviated pilot’s name MIGL (the first four letters of the pilot’s last name who carried mail franked with that stamp, Captain Alessandro Miglia). Twenty triptychs were issued and differ in the name overprint.

 

Full sheet of 20 triptychs with the names of the 20 different pilots.

 

Scott #C49 triptychs were overprinted on the right part (on 2 lines) with VOLO DI RITORNO / NEW YORK-ROMA by the Italian dealer Vittorio Lo Bianco, but were never issued. Although quite valuable today, the triptych with the return trip dealer-added overprint has no legal status.

 

Commemorative leaflet issued on the occasion of the 4th international philatelic airmail exhibition held at Rimini-San Marino from 18 to 20 July 1947, reproducing various stamps related to the CROCIERA AERA DEL DECENNALE (14th anniversary).

 

The 40th anniversary of the Crociera Nord Atlantica was commemorated by the issue of the following cover, with stamps from the USA, Italy and the Vatican, and related postmarks. It reproduces the Italian triptych with the initials of Italy’s Marshal Italo Balbo (BALB, Leader of the transatlantic flight) and the hand-stamp CROCIERA AERA DEL DECENNALE.

 

Footnote 5:

On the occasion of Balbo’s return flight, Newfoundland surcharged in black the 75-cent bistre regular airmail stamp Scott C17 ("Labrador, The Land of Gold", specifically designed and produced to prepay 75 cents in airmail postage) with 1933/GEN. BALBO/FLIGHT./$4.50 (on four lines); two black rectangles covered the 75-cent denomination. The surcharge was prepared at St. John's by Robinson and Co., a local printer, in a setting of a block of 4 in black ink.

The Newfoundland $4.50-on-75¢ General Balbo Flight airmail stamp (Scott C18) is a provisional stamp and was issued for temporary use to meet a postal demand for which no regular stamp had been produced. It was so created by overprinting and surcharging the original 75¢ stamp with a new value and purpose. Varieties are available with inverted surcharge.

Eight thousand stamps were placed on sale at the Post Office in St. John's on 24 July 1933. Apparently, eight stamps exist with inverted overprints and constitute some of the great rarities in aerophilately.

See also the following story. Credit: Linn’s Stamp News, 9 May 2016, Vol. 89, No. 4567, Page 26

 

 

 

 

Italo Balbo’s arrival at Fairchild Aircraft Harbor, Longueuil, Québec.

The Fairchild Aircraft Ltd. was an aircraft manufacturer active at Longueuil, Québec, Canada in the period 1920–50. It served as a subsidiary of the Fairchild Aircraft company of the United States.

Note that the city of Longueuil is spelled Longueil (English spelling?) in the upper picture.

 

Footnote 6:

The return ride of Balbo’s transatlantic flight in 1933 (CROCIERA AERA DEL DECENNALE) was the following:

  1. New York-Shediac (New Brunswick);
  2. Shediac-Shoal Harbour (Newfoundland);
  3. Shoal Harbour-Azores (Portugal);
  4. Azores-Lisbon (Portugal);
  5. Lisbon-Rome (Italy).

The following nice cover was sent on 8 August 1933, when the cruise left Shoal Harbor for the Azores. It is franked with the Newfoundland stamp commemorating the Beaumont-Hamel battle, which took place during WWI on 1 July 1916 as part of the Somme battle.

 

Footnote 7:

A wonderful flight cover with St. John's APR 12 2PM 1919 (12 April 1919) wavy-line machine cancel and endorsed "per Aeroplane".

Fewer than 80 covers were flown on this famous ill-fated attempted transatlantic crossing by pilot Hawker & navigator Grieve from St. John’s, Newfoundland to London. To date only about half of these have been accounted for.

 

Footnote 8:

International public opinion in the early 1930s was fascinated by the progress of aviation, with attempts to fly across the ocean widely covered by the media. In 1928, when he was appointed General of the Air Force, Balbo was determined to make Italy the most advanced country in the world when it comes to aviation. As Italian Air Minister, Balbo was very fond of the United States and was motivated to establish a permanent link between the Italian and the American aviation. Since 1929, the goal of Balbo was to cross the North Atlantic in formation, an enterprise considered not yet feasible at that time. In 1930 Italy organized the first of the two Atlantic cruises which made Balbo rise to international fame. This time Balbo led 12 aircraft and 50 men across the Southern Atlantic from Orbetello airfield to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Crossing the Southern Atlantic was considered easier because of more predictable weather patterns. The flight took place between 17 December 1930 and 15 January 1931, making the news worldwide. Balbo wrote an account of the expedition for the New York Times. This was the First Transatlantic Flight made in flock formation.

Very interesting cart with cancel at Rio de Janeiro on 22 January 1931. The dull blue stamp (7,70 liras) at right of this cover was issued on 8 December 1930 to commemorate the General Balbo’s Squadron Flight from Rome to Rio de Janeiro; it displays the aircraft squadron with 12 Savoia-Marchetti S-55A hydroplanes over the sea. With special machine cancel "POSTA AEREA CROCIERA ITALIA-BRASILE ROMA 15 DEC 1930".