Habilitado Por La Nacion
1868 – 1874
Brief History
The revolution that led to the dethronement of Queen Isabella II
was the work of army oligarches led by Francisco
Serrano y Domingues and Progressive conspirators
behind General Prim y Prats, the Prime Minister. The Democrats became active in setting up juntas after the
revolution. The Democratic intellectuals' main contribution was to add a
radical democratic content to the demands of the military oligarchy. The
generals were determined to keep the leadership of the revolution in their
own hands by channeling it into a constitutional
monarchy. On September 30, 1868, the Revolutionary Committee in Spain,
prompted perhaps by a revengeful spirit as well as a desire to emphasise the
change in form of the government, decreed that the legend "HABILITADO
POR LA NACION" (Validated by the New Government), should be surcharged
on all remaining stamps of the 1864 issue while awaiting a new delivery of
stamps ordered from the Fabrica Nacional
de Moneda y Timbre in Madrid. Over a six year
period, a number of other Queen Isabella issues were also overprinted in
order to meet the increasing demand of stamps whilst awaiting further
deliveries from Many varieties of hand stamping dies for these surcharges were
made at the Casa de la Moneda, in The surcharging was done very hastily by Filipino employees of
the ordinary class, and because there were no specific instructions given on
how to apply the overprint to the stamps, there are many varieties in usage,
as well as errors. As a result, stamps are found with the surcharge applied
vertically, reading upward or downward; diagonal, reading upward or downward;
inverted; doubled; or in any combination of these possibilities. |
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