ALFONSO XIII - BABY HEAD stamps of the PHILIPPINES
Details
Gaceta de Madrid - 12 October 1897
On the 12 October 1897 the Gaceta de Madrid published the Royal Decree of the Queen Regent on behalf of King Alfonso XIII as proposed by the Ministry of Overseas issued 8 October 1897 and signed by the Minsiter of Overseas, Segismindo Moret.
The decree modified the rates for correspondence within the Philippine Islands (also Cuba and Puerto Rico) and announced the printing of new stamps of various values which would be used for both postal correspondence and telegraphs.
Extract from Gaceta de Madrid, 12 October 1897
Translation
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MINISTRY OF OVERSEAS ROYAL DECREE |
| At the proposal of the Minister of Overseas, in agreement
with the Council of Ministers: In the name of My August Son,
KING Alfonso XIII and as QUEEN Regent of the Kingsom, I herby
decree the following: Article 1. The attached General Postal Rate for the islands of Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines which will come into effect on 1 January 1898, is approved. Article 2. For the application of said rate, 20 types of stamps and postcards will apply; the former will be of the following values: 1,2,3,4 and 5 thouthands of peso: 1,2,3,4,5,6,8,10,15,20,40, 60 and 80 cents of peso; the latter (i.e. postcards) will have the prices of 5 thouthands, 1,2 and 3 cents of peso for the simple types or with a paid response. Each stamp will have the names of the isaland and year to which it corresponds printed at the top; on both sides the words "Post Office", "Telegraphs", and on the bottom the value of the stamp; these must be renewed when the Ministry of Overseas deems it appropriate. Article 3. As of that date, the special Telegraph stamps that have been printed for the islands of Cuba and the Philippines are suppressed, being replaced by the ones indicated above. |
| Given in the Palace on 8 October 1897. MARIA CHRISTINA. The Ministry of Overseas, Segismundo Moret. |
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The destinations of correspondence in the first column of the
Table can be translated as follows: |
| Interior (or within) the towns on the islands of Cuba,
Puerto Rico and the Philippines. Interior (or within) the islands of Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines. From the island of Cuba to that of Puerto Rico and vice versa. From the island of Cuba and Puerto Rico to that of the Philippines and vice versa. From the island of Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines to the Penisula (i.e. Spain), the Balaearic Isalnds, the Canary Isalnads and the Spanish possessions in North Africa, the western coast of Morocco and the Gulf of Guinea. |
The explanatory notes accompanying the Table is provided below:
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Postage.- The postage of
correspondence is obligatory, and must be done by affixing
communication stamps, in accordance with the previous rate.
Unfranked or insufficiently franked correspondence will
circulate only to the destination office, which will notify the
recipients so that they can collect it, using the necessary
stamps, which will be attached to the letter and made unusable
by the Administration. |
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Weight Limit. - No object that
circulates through the mail, regardless of its nature, origin
and destination, may exceed its weight of 4 kilograms. |
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Sending used keys.- These can be sent
attached to the letters, adhering to the envelope the postage
stamps that correspond to the total weight of the shipment, in
accordance with the letter rate indicated with number 1st. |
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(1) Letters - A letter will be
considered any closed object whose content is not indicated or
known and any writing, even if it circulates openly, and that is
current and personal in nature. |
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(2) Postcards. - These will be single
and double or with a paid response; On the front side they may
only contain the route through which they must be sent, name and
surname, address and address of the person to whom it is
addressed. Postcards made by individuals in good quality
cardboard and with the dimensions of the official ones, that is,
14 centimeters long by 9 wide, and carrying communications
stamps attached with a value equal to the price at which they
are issued, may circulate through the post office with the
official ones for the same destination. |
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(3) Newspapers.- Newspapers are
considered to be those printed in public for a fixed period with
the same title repeated in each copy, regardless of the subject
matter they deal with. They may not contain handwritten phrases
or words; The envelopes may be handwritten, and may include the
title of the newspaper, the name, address and address of the
person to whom it is addressed, and the date on which the
subscription expires. They must be sent packaged so that it is
possible to easily recognize the inside of each package. They
will circulate with the stamps that correspond to the tariff
attached to the strip, being completely suppressed all the
agreements with the journalistic companies, and for which today
they are paying in stamps and in determined periods the amount
of the postage. |
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(4) Printed documents and business papers.
- Books, pamphlets, music papers, catalogues, whether bound or
not, proofs, engravings, prints, lithographs, printed in more
colors, plan drawings, maps, photographs, business cards,
wedding cards, baptism cards, congratulatory cards, death cards,
etc., advertisements, prospectuses, circulars, notices, etc. are
considered printed. Business papers will be understood as
totally or partially written or hand-drawn documents that do not
have the character of current and personal correspondence, such
as route sheets, invoices, service documents of Banking
Companies and Companies; public instruments or private writings
issued on sealed paper or in current unstamped form, and their
copies; manuscripts of works or newspapers sent separately and
letters of late dates. All these types of forms or business
papers must be sent conditioned, so that it is possible to
recognize the inside of each envelope or package, otherwise it
will be considered a letter for postage purposes. |
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(5) Samples and medicines - Trade
samples that have no sale value may circulate by mail with their
corresponding postage provided that they are presented under a
band in envelopes, boxes, bags or attached to cardboard, but in
conditions of easy examination and that they cannot stain or
deteriorate the correspondence; Medications and vaccine crystals
will be admitted under the same conditions. Packages may not
exceed the following size and weight: 30 centimeters long by 20
wide, and 10 high and 250 grams. The Administration will not
accept responsibility for any deterioration that may occur to
samples and medications during transportation. |
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(6) Certificates. The fixed fee
for certificates of all types of correspondence will be 5 cents
pesos. Letters, postcards, printed matter, newspapers and
samples and medications can be sent with the guarantee of the
certificate, even if they are addressed to the same population.
Certified objects may not have the address written in pencil,
nor the name of the recipient expressed with initials; They will
be presented to the Administration well closed with rubber,
larre, seal, etc., at the sender's will, as long as there are no
signs of having been opened and closed again. The Administration
is not responsible in any way for the content of the
certificates, and only for their delivery to the recipients. The
loss of a certificate, not caused by force majeure, will give
rise to compensation of 5 pesos that will be paid to the sender,
or at the request of the sender to the recipient. The
compensation will be paid by the State Funds and by concept of
"Reduction of income" from the sale of communications stamps,
prior to the appropriate file and subject to the corresponding
reimbursement that corresponds to the cause of the loss. To be
entitled to compensation, it will be a precise condition that
the claim for certificate notices has been requested by the
state within the following terms: one month for those traveling
within the islands of Cuba and Puerto Rico; forty-five days for
those who travel from one of said islands to the other; one
month for those traveling within one of the Philippine islands;
three months for those who travel from one island to another of
said Archipelago; four months for those who from the islands of
Cuba and Puerto Rico go to the Peninsula, the Balearic Islands,
the Canary Islands and Spanish possessions in North Africa and
the western coast of Morocco; six months for those who go to
said points from the Philippines; seven months for those
traveling between the islands of Cuba and Puerto Rico with the
Philippines and vice versa, and eight months between Cuba and
Puerto Rico and the Philippines with the Spanish possessions of
the Gulf of Guinea. |
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Notice of receipt. - The recipient of
a certified object may request at the time of imposition notice
of receipt of its shipment, signed by the recipient, by delivery
to the office of origin of a two-cent communications stamp.
weight, whose seal will be attached to the notice and made
unusable, adhering the notice to the certified object, which by
which by the receiving office will be returned to the office of
origin by the first opportunity. Each notice request may not
refer to more than a single certified object. |
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Alcance (prioirty) mailboxes . -
All types of correspondence that are deposited in the alcance
mailboxes, which until the last minute must be located in the
Post Office, must have a one- cent stamp attached, in addition
to those that in accordance with the rate corresponds to them.
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Declared values. - The certificates of
declared values will continue to be subject to the provisions
issued for this purpose; but in the part of the certificate and
postage fee they will be subject to the present rate. All
correspondence that circulates by foreign means from one point
to another within Spanish nationality, originating from the
island of Cuba, Puerto Rico or the Philippines, must be franked
in accordance with this rate, except in the case in which it is
lower. than that established for the Universal Postal Union, in
which case the latter will be the one that must govern. |
| Madrid 8 October 1897 - Approved by S. M - S. MORET. |
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