Ecuador

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Ecuador's early stamps are lovely - but most copies are either reprints/reissues or forgeries. Collectors beware!

Seebeck Reprints/Reissues

Ecuador's Seebecks total 40 postage stamps, 37 Official stamps 14 postage due stamps and 43 telegraph stamps.



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The first Seebeck stamps of Ecuador were issued Jan. 1, 1892. A 1-centavo orange President Juan Flores stamp from the set is shown here.



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Like Honduras and Nicaragua, Ecuador terminated its contract with Seebeck before it expired (at the end of the 10-year period), on Nov. 8, 1895, and the last Ecuadoran Seebeck stamps were issued in February 1896.

A 1c gray-black President Vicente Rocafuerte Official stamp is also shown here. Seebeck also produced 14 revenue stamps in two sets for Ecuador in 1893-95. as well as postal stationery.


Forgeries

Forgeries are plentiful, unfortunately, especially for the first three issues - there are likely more forgeries than real stamps.
The Spiro brothers forged the entire 1872 "Coat of Arms" three stamp set - the 1/2r blue, 1r yellow, and the 1p rose. Michel has a footnote stating that stamps in perforation other than 11 x 11 are forgeries. The 1/2r blue and 1p rose have a similar design, and the Spiro forgery has three lines between the neck of the condor and the circular frame above it, while the genuine has five lines.

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The 1r yellow is a different design. One characteristic which it shares with the other design is not enough horizontal drawn lines. For instance, between the condor's wings and head and the ribbon frame above, there appears to be only five lines in the forgery, while the genuine copy has seven lines.

Varro Tyler states the forgeries are often cancelled with a rectangle of dots.



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The 1896 Liberty Party commemoratives are also forged - according Tyler's "Focus on Forgeries 2000" this is ascribed to N. Imperato of Genoa, Italy (not De Sperati, as shown in the illustration), as "they were marketed by him in 1918, and presumably produced by him". The forgeries are characterized a crude repreduction and the top of the "B" in "Libertad" touching the curved frameline above it.

For more images, see: Forgeries of classic Ecuador stamps.

How to Easily Identify the Early Stamps of Ecuador 1865 to 1872 by Tom Hoke.



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Collection of Ecuador stamps.

Collection of Ecuador fiscal stamps.