Dominican Republic, 50 Different Stamps

The Oldest City in the New World —
50 Different Stamps from the Dominican Republic

Santo Domingo, founded by Bartholomew Columbus in 1496, is the oldest permanent European settlement in the Americas — and the Dominican Republic has been issuing its own stamps since 1865. What fills the decades between those two landmarks is one of the more dramatic histories in the Caribbean: Spanish and Haitian rule, periods of political instability, a brief US military occupation from 1916 to 1924, and then the 31-year dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo, who ruled from 1930 until his assassination in 1961.

The stamps in this collection are largely drawn from the Trujillo era and its aftermath — a philatelic period unlike any other in Latin America, and one that rewards collectors who appreciate the history behind what they're holding.

What's inside will vary, but here's a sample of the stamps and topics you're likely to find:

• Trujillo propaganda stamps — "Año del Benefactor" — Trujillo used the postal service as an instrument of self-promotion from almost the beginning of his rule. Stamps marked "Año VIII del Benefactor — Paz, Trabajo, Progreso" (Year Eight of the Benefactor — Peace, Work, Progress) numbered the years of his regime directly on the stamps, just as one might number a royal reign. These issues are a direct and unvarnished record of how a dictatorship projected its image through the mail.
• "Pro Archivos y Biblioteca Nacionales" — engraved portrait (1 centavo) — a finely engraved stamp, likely depicting a Dominican historical figure, produced in support of the national archives and library. Dominican stamps of this era were often printed by American Bank Note Company and feature the precise intaglio line work associated with that firm.
• Chlorostilbon swainsonii — Zumbador hummingbird (2c) — a nature definitive depicting the Hispaniolan emerald, a hummingbird endemic to the island of Hispaniola. Wildlife definitives from the Dominican Republic are popular with bird topical collectors.
• Heliconius charithonia — zebra longwing butterfly (2c) — a striking illustrated stamp depicting the zebra longwing butterfly, part of a nature series that brought Dominican flora and fauna to collectors worldwide.
• Centenario del Primer Sello Postal Dominicano 1865–1965 — the centennial of the Dominican Republic's first postage stamp, issued in 1965. A stamp commemorating stamps — always popular to collect.
• Ruins of the Church of San Francisco, Ciudad Trujillo (10c airmail) — the colonial-era ruins of one of Santo Domingo's earliest churches, appearing under the capital's Trujillo-era name. After Trujillo's assassination in 1961, the capital's name reverted to Santo Domingo.

Fifty stamps from a country whose postal history reads like a compressed version of the wider Caribbean story — colonialism, dictatorship, and the slow recovery of democratic life. Order today.