THE ROOSEVELT OFFICIALS Georg Maier
In June, 1949 a number of stamps appeared on the philatelic market bearing a likenen of Franklin D. Roosevelt with a partial outline of Ecuador’s territorial boundaries in the background. These so-called stamps were presumably printed in the USA by an unknown source, in an unknown quantity, and distributed free of charge. It is said that they were supposed to replace a set of three stamps (Scott Nos. 202-204) which had been used for oficial correspondence only in 1947. No documentation exists regarding their usage for this purpose. These so-called “Roosevelt Officials” had a face value of 30 centavos and 60 centavos respectively. They are known in an imperforate and or perforate condition although the latter are possibly of a private nature. As oficial correspondence stamps they were to be used exclusively for the dispatch of mail between the various governamental ministries in the Capitol of Quito. Although the ministries were obligated to use them for this purpose it is doubtful whether any genuine usage exists. Inspite of the unofficial status of these stamps, or more appropriately labels, they are avidly collected. A stamp álbum printed in Ecuador by the Central Bank lists them under the numbers 1084-1114 and the Scott Catalogue mentions them under the oficial correspondence column without elaborating on them. Given these anomalies none of these stamps would be applicable for usage between ministries which was their supposed original designation. This brings into question the motive for which these stamps were produced and questions their status as philatelic material to be used for official correspondence. The following are the identified Roosevelt officials. 1) Ten stamps with a 30 centavos value overprinted “POSTAL” of which nine also show an overprint of a respective ministry. 2) Nine stamps with a 30 centavos value showing the initials of a ministry only. MEDIO REAL Número 16 Vol. IV – Núm. 4 Octubre-diciembre / 2020
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