Philatelic Handbook

Introduction

       Structure              Sample chapter & missing items

In March 2000, a group of philatelists specialized in El Salvador joined efforts to draft the first Philatelic Handbook of El Salvador. This Handbook will cover all the postal history of the country from the Colonial era to the year 2000, and it will include prephilately, stamp issues and stationery.

In early 2002, an agreement was reached between these collectors and the El Salvador Philatelic Society - ACES by which the Handbook becomes an institutional initiative of the Society.  Therefore, in order to achieve the most comprehensive work possible, we would appreciate feedback from any member or philatelist whose collecting interests include El Salvador.  Every information or image provided will be acknowledged in the Handbook. We thank you in advance for any help you can give!

So far, 9 chapters have been drafted, which cover the period from 1780 to 1899.  Some of the highlights include:

• 1867 and 1874 cover census.

• Illustrations for the 70 different main types of the 1879 issue stamps.

• A comprehensive listing of the 1887-88 private envelopes.

• The recently found issue date for the '1 Centavo' 1889 provisional.

• An updated classification on the Seebeck papers.  

As a new numbering system has been developed for the Handbook, the Society has considered it would be also very useful to also work on the creation of  a Specialized Catalogue of El Salvador, which would list all issues, varieties, and proofs for both stamps and stationery, in contrast to the Handbook which would provide a deeper understanding of the reasons for the issues and would cover the postal history aspects.