1920 10c Flier in Plane Watching Biplane, unused without gum as issued, large margins all around, rich colors, fresh and v.f. Only 53 unused examples have been recorded, cat. $4500 (Cat No. C5) (Image)

Cat. $4500, Est.US$2,500

1870 Private Post "El Dorado", used and unused singles, also one tied by pen cancel on FL to Bogota, fine and interesting group (this local was issued in 1870 and only about 10 covers are known to exist with this private carrier stamp. The covers originate from a correspondence obtained from a descendant of the Urdaneta family, all sent (and handwritten) by Mr. Crowther to Enrique Urdaneta. Lake Guatavita is believed to be the actual site of the legend of El Dorado, the lost city of gold. The law of 27 April 1859 reformed the Colombian postal service and authorized the first postage stamps. It recognized the difficulty of providing postal service to all areas of its mountainous country and did not make the postal service a national government monopoly. As a result, many private posts were organized - the majority of these services operated in the 1920s and 1930s. The earliest service listed and documented was this private carrier called "CORREO SEMANAL DEL DORADO". Very little is known of the origin of these stamps or the method of printing, printer, etc. They were printed in shades of orange, dull red on unwatermarked wove paper, very thin paper with flower watermark, greenish thin paper, bluish laid paper and bluish quadrilled paper. The cancellation device was in the form of a manuscript "G" quite possibly for Guasca, the town from which a weekly postal service supposedly operated) (Image)

Est.US$2,000