Portugal

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In the mid 19th Century, Portugal has an extensive overseas empire, although its power in Europe was fading.

The early issues from 1853 had the monarch's head, white and featureless, embossed on a coloured background.


Pedro V of Portugal, (1837-1861) was the King of Portugal from 1853 to 1861. He was the oldest son of Queen Maria da Gloria and her King-Consort Ferdinand II. Pedro was an unusually conscientious and hard-working monarch who, under the guidance of his father, sought radical modernization of the Portuguese state and infrastructure. Under Pedro's reign, roads, telegraphs, and railways were constructed and improvements in public health advanced.

However, Pedro was unable to save the life of the young king who died (along with his brother Ferdinand) of cholera in 1861. He was married to Princess Stephanie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, but had no successors and the throne then passed to brother Luis, the second son of Maria II da Gloria and Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Luis I (1838–1889) was the King of Portugal between 1861 and 1889. He was

The first pictorial issue in 1894 commemorated the 500th anniversary of Henry the Navigator's birth. Vasco da Gama's voyage to India in 1497-1498 was the subject of an 1898 issue. The Vasco da Gama designs were also used in the African colonies and were inscribed Africa instead of Portugal. This was the only general issue for colonies.

The 1910 definitives were overprinted Republica after the revolution and the first republican issue was the familiar Ceres type of 1912.

Aeroplanes were first depicted in 1923 following the Gago Coutinho–Sacadura Cabral flight from Portugal to Brazil in 1922. In 1924, the first literary issue commemorated the birth of epic poet Luís de Camões in 1524.

 

Albums of classic Portuguese stamps 1853-1910 and 1910-1953.