The early issues from 1853 had the monarch's head, white and featureless, embossed on a coloured background. The most valuable stamps from this period are Gibbons catalogue nos 8 and 9 from the 1853 issue: the 100 reis lilacs. The first pictorial issue in 1894 commemorated the 500th anniversary of Henry the Navigator's birth. Vasco da Gama's voyage to India in 1497-1498 was the subject of an 1898 issue. The Vasco da Gama designs were also used in the African colonies and were inscribed Africa instead of Portugal. This was the only general issue for colonies. The 1910 King Manoel II definitives were overprinted “REPUBLICA” after the revolution and the first republican issue was the familiar Ceres type of 1912. Aeroplanes were first depicted in 1923 following the

Gago Coutinho Carlos Viegas Gago Coutinho, GCTE, GCC, generally known simply as Gago Coutinho (; 17 February 1869 – 18 February 1959) was a Portuguese geographer, cartographer, naval officer, historian and aviator. An aviation pioneer, Gago Coutinho and Sac ...

–

Sacadura Cabral Artur de Sacadura Freire Cabral, GCTE (23 May 1881 – 15 November 1924), known simply as Sacadura Cabral (), was a Portuguese aviation pioneer. He, together with fellow aviator Gago Coutinho, conducted the first flight across the South A ...

flight from Portugal to Brazil in 1922. In 1924, the first literary issue commemorated the birth of epic poet

Luís de Camões Luís Vaz de Camões (; sometimes rendered in English as Camoens or Camoëns, ; c. 1524 or 1525 – 10 June 1580) is considered Portugal's and the Portuguese language's greatest poet. His mastery of verse has been compared to that of Shakespear ...

in 1524. The common Caravel type first appeared in 1943, the Medieval Knight in 1953 and Portugal's first

railway stamp In philately a railway stamp is a stamp issued to pay the cost of the conveyance of a letter or parcel by rail. A wide variety of railway stamps have been issued by different countries and by private and state railways. Railway stamps of an unof ...

in 1956. The volume of stamp issues increased from the 1960s. The currency on Portuguese stamps changed from escudos to euros at the start of 2002. File:1898 5r Portugal Corro Telo Yv147.jpg, File:1898 25r Portugal Lisboa Yv149.jpg,

Sources

* Stanley Gibbons Ltd: various catalogues
Encyclopaedia of Postal Authorities
* Rossiter, Stuart & John Flower. ''The Stamp Atlas''. London: Macdonald, 1986. {{philately-stub Philately of Portugal

See also

Sources