Hi and welcome to my site dedicated to promoting collecting the classic stamps of Colombia. The early stamps of Colombia offer the collector of classics one of the most exciting opportunities in philately today. Colombia has a long stamp issuing history with many footnotes worthy of study, plus there is sufficient scarcity to make the pursuit a real challenge. Despite this scarcity, however, the area remains surprisingly inexpensive. With time and patience, the dedicated collector can build a significant collection without investing the family fortune.

First issuing stamps in 1859, Colombia’s stamp history rich. From its very inception, political instability has defined this South American nation, and that instability is reflected in its postal history. In the first 27 years of stamp production, the official name of the country changed three times reflecting the shifting political tides: Grenadine Confederation (1859-61); United States of New Grenada (1861); United States of Colombia (1861-85); Republic of Colombia (1885 to present). Notice that the government calling itself the United States of New Grenada lasted less than a year.

Although the name changes stopped, bloody insurrections, civil wars, and a general atmosphere of violence have continued nearly uninterrupted in Colombia to this day. In this chaotic environment, both counterfeit stamps intended to defraud the government, and fakes intended to defraud collectors, have flourished. Interestingly, the “Cali Provisionals,” one of the most egregious examples of fake stamps and covers intended for the philatelic trade, were the product of a rogue postal official at the Central Post Office in Cali. Uncovering the fakery led to revelations of greater corruption. A 1925 investigation found the Cali post office in a state of complete dysfunction with 40 sacks of mail and over 1000 registered letters addressed to local businesses left undelivered and infested with insects. Embarrassed, the government quickly re-staffed the office and re-established control.

The story and others like it are excellent examples of how political chaos can open the door to counterfeits and fakes. As a side note, in modern times a very similar situation has erupted in the Baltics region of the former Soviet Union, which in the years since the collapse has flooded the market with stamps deemed “illegal” by the Universal Postal Union.

For many collectors, the most interesting facet of the Colombia area is the role of “the states.” Until 1912, the various sovereign Colombian states operated postal services independently of the federal government and produced stamps simultaneously with the federal government. This unusual, if not unique, arrangement was consistent with a very strong political philosophy of decentralization that permeated the early Colombian system.

When the Congress of the Grenadine Confederation passed the Postal Law in 1859, it stated that the federal postal service was not to operate as a monopoly, but that there would be competition both from the states and from private interests as well. Later the United States of Colombia continued to champion decentralization. An 1874 report by the Postmaster General to the President concluded that the federal government was not well suited to handle all of the nation's postal services and that local delivery was best left to the local authority. In 1886 the country adopted a new constitution and the name Republic of Colombia - the states lost their sovereign status and were now referred to as “departments.” The government as a whole began a trend toward centralization. Between 1906 and 1911 a series of postal reforms were passed that centralized postal service, culminating in 1912 with the destruction of all the remaining surplus of non-federal postage which marked the end of the era of Colombian States.

In-depth information about Colombian philatelics can be difficult to come by – especially for the beginner. The Scott Catalogs (the defacto standard in the United States) give only limited information and do not list all of the known varieties. Some foreign catalogs – the English language Stanley Gibbons, the German language Michel, and the French language Yvert et Tellier – do provide a more complete survey. However, really coming up to speed requires spending some time digging through old journals and the stocks of second-hand philatelic literature dealers. Copaphil – the Colombia/Panama Philatelic Study Group (www. copaphil.org) is perhaps the best source for information. The group publishes a quarterly journal and has large reference library available to the membership.

Finding a good supply of early Colombia is easier said than done. Most general world-wide dealers have few – if any – nice 19th century examples. Even Latin America specialists typically have little to offer in this area. States are even harder to come by. Often dealers simply have nothing from the States.

The good news is that when you do find the stamp you’re hunting for, the cost is likely to be quite modest. Sure there are high dollar items out there, but many truly hard-to-find issues routinely sell for $10 or less, and even the “high dollar” items seem inexpensive compared to similarly scarce items in other areas. At least some of this apparent discrepancy between price and scarcity is due to the historical unpopularity of Latin America collecting among US collectors. This situation is changing however and Latin America collecting is steadily growing in popularity, probably related to the fact that more and more US residents have a Latin American heritage. How long Colombian stamps will remain a "bargain" is anybody's guess. But there is no guessing that the current Colombia market offers a chance to build a really nice classic specialty collection at an especially nice price.