A Unique Rizal Stamp

I have quite a number of Jose Rizal stamps in my collection, but the 1941 apple-hued 2c Commonwealth Regular is one of a kind. This stamp features the young Rizal as rendered by the New York photographer Elaine Rawlinson. The image on this stamp was copied from a menu card which won a stamp design contest sponsored by the Asociacion Filateleca de Filipinas. The stamp cause quite a stir among keen philatelist who noticed that Rizal's hair was parted on the right instead of the usual left! 
 
This is the only Rizal stamp which portrays his hair as such.

This stamp also became the first stamp of a series of postage stamps bearing the inscription "United States of America- Commonwealth of the Philippines". This replaced the the 1935 Commonwealth overprint series and as the last of the pre-war issues.

I acquired a few of the stamps bearing this inscription and these include the 1906 Jose Rizal PI-USA stamp- the first Jose Rizal stamp ever issued and the first stamp featuring a Filipino, the 1935 Pictorial Stamp 2 c Red Rizal Issue, the 1936 75th Birth Anniversary Issue, and the 2c sepia 1946 Rizal Regular and Official Issue released on May 28, 1946. 
 
This stamp was the last stamp released by the American Administrations Commonwealth because on July 4 of that same year, the Republic of the Philippines was born.
 
 
One only dies once, and if one does not die well, a good opportunity is lost and will not present itself again.
Jose Rizal

Popular posts from this blog

Rodolfo S. Cornejo on Stamp

Tops Artfest 2024- A Celebration of Art

Manuel H. Bernabe on Stamps

Glimpses of Old Cebu: Images of the Colonial Era

Vicente Fabella on Stamps

Great Achievers in Philippine Art- Honorata "Atang" de la Rama on Stamp