Postage stamps and postal history of Madeira
On 1 January 1868, Portugal issued postage stamps for the islands of Madeira, consisting of the current stamps of Portugal overprinted "MADEIRA". Subsequent stamps were also overprinted, through 1881.
Unoverprinted Portuguese stamps were used from 1881 to 1892. From 1892 to 1905, while the administrative title of Madeira was changed to the District of Funchal, definitive stamps were issued with the inscription "Funchal".
In 1898 a series of stamps commemorating Vasco da Gama was issued with the inscription "Madeira". Subsequently Madeira used stamps of Portugal from 1905, with two exceptions; the first was the Pombal Issue of postal tax stamps in 1925, and a variant on the Ceres design, issued 1 May 1928. The 21 values of Ceres stamps were obligatory on all mail for eight days – 1 May, 5 June, 1 July, and 31 December 1928, and 1 January, 31 January, 1 May, and 5 June 1929. The funds raised went to help build a museum.
The Ceres stamps were the last to be produced for Madeira until 1980, when Portugal began issuing stamps inscribed "Portugal Madeira" that were valid in both Madeira and continental Portugal, similar to those issued for the Azores.
References
Bibliography
- Trincao, Carlos. Die Briefmarken von Madeira. Frankfurt am Main: Arbeitsgemeinschaft Neues Handbuch der Briefmarkenkunde e.V. im Bund Deutscher Philatelisten e.V., 1963 12p.
- Vieira, Armando M. O. Filatelia Da Madeira: Marcas Pré-Adesivas, Selos Postais Adesivos, Inteiros Postais, Marcofilia. Funchal: Filatelia Numismática Madeira, 1999 ISBN 972-731-018-4 116p.
- Rossiter, Stuart & Flower, John (1986). The Stamp Atlas. London: Macdonald. ISBN 0-356-10862-7.