CHILE

Christopher Columbus

He was born in 1451 in the Republic of Genoa, which is now part of modern Italy and he died in 1506. He is known for being an Italian explorer and colonizer.

“The name Christopher Columbus is the Anglicisation of the Latin Christophorus Columbus. His name in Ligurian is Cristoffa Corombo, in Italian Cristoforo Colombo, in Spanish Cristóbal Colón, and in Portuguese, Cristóvão Colombo.”

“Chile has produced stamps for national use since 1853. The first stamps of Chile were inscribed Colon Chile.” This image on this stamp for Chile is listed to be in print during 1878-1886, printed approximately 372 years after Christopher Columbus died.

“Spain conquered and colonized the region in the mid-16th century, replacing Inca rule in the north and centre, but failing to conquer the independent Mapuche who inhabited what is now south-central Chile. After declaring its independence from Spain in 1818, Chile emerged in the 1830s as a relatively stable authoritarian republic. In the 19th century, Chile saw significant economic and territorial growth, ending Mapuche resistance in the 1880s and gaining its current northern territory in the War of the Pacific (1879–83) after defeating Peru and Bolivia.”

In an article referring to early printings of stamps for Chile on the website semanticscholars.org it presents the topic, “Scientific Analysis of the First Issues of Chile 1853–1862, London Printing,” it states that, “On 14 June 1852, Messrs. Lyon Brothers, agents for the Chilean government, sent a letter from Valparaiso to Perkins, Bacon & Co. on behalf of the Chilean government…The letter contained an order for postage labels (stamps)…” A second printing was ordered in 1854 and a third printing in 1859. These stamps helped to establish the Chilean postal authority.

On the stamp it has the inscription PORTE FRANCO. On the collinsdictionary.com website it states that translation of “franco de porte” into English means “Free Post.” This seems to represent Sir Roland Hill’s postal reform for pre-paid postage brought into use in the late 1830’s. Notably there is a five-point star in each bottom corner of the stamp. This could be in reference to the star on the flag of Chile. It is stated that “The adoption of the star configuration goes back to the star used by the Mapuches. According to O'Higgins, the star of the flag was the Star of Arauco. In Mapuche iconography, the morning star or Venus, (Mapudungun: Wünelfe or the Hispanicized Guñelve) was represented through the figure of an octagram star or a foliated cross,” Wikipedia.org. A five-point star was finally adopted, “on 18 October 1817. The Chilean flag is also known in Spanish as La Estrella Solitaria[1] (The Lone Star).”

The earliest stamps were printed in the 5 and 10 Centavos denominations. Later printings were in the 1,2,15,25,30 and 50 Centavos along with the 1 Pesos.


Referenced Articles

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Columbus

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postage_stamps_and_postal_history_of_Chile

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chile

https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/ae89/66cf6be52134bb067fa36519b9f072d9da2b.pdf

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/spanish-english/franco-de-porte

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_Penny_Post

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Chile

https://www.stampworld.com/en/stamps/Chile/