::: PICTORIAL ISSUE :::
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Five of Scott No. 75, with the center stamp showing the Flying Goose flaw, on a cover dated July 26, 1898, addressed to Quebec
Province, Canada.
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Nine stamps comprise the Pictorial Issue. All nine were printed by the American Bank Note Company in New York. Five stamps were
issued February 28, 1894. E. W. Holdsworth designed the five stamps put on sale February 28, 1894, having won a design competition.
Another stamp followed on October 27, 1894. Three more stamps were issued in 1899. The 1899 stamps were color changes from three
of the first five stamps and were issued after Hawaii was a United States possession. Please
see Pictorial Issue Plate Arrangements for the three different plate
arrangements used in printing the Pictorial Issue. For examples of Pictorial Issue stamps on foreign destination
covers, please see UPU Later Issues on Cover and for examples of Pictorial Issue
stamps on local and interisland mail, please see Pictorial Issue Stamps on Domestic Covers.
When the five cent stamp of 1894 was issued, the philatelic press widely regarded it as an error because the word "Cents" was omitted from the design and
no "c" followed the "5". Speculation drove up the price as collectors and dealers awaited news of an immediate replacement - news that never came so prices
fell. However, when the color changes were made in 1899, the word "Cents" was added to the design of the five cent stamp.
Three different governments issued the nine stamps of the Pictorial Issue. The first five stamps were issued by the
Provisional Government, created in 1893 to provide an interim government following the revolution of January 17.
The Republic of Hawaii was established July 4, 1894, and the twelve cents stamp was issued by the Republic of
Hawaii on October 27, 1894. The twelve cents stamp is the only one of these nine stamps to bear the name "Republic
of Hawaii". Hawaii was annexed to the United States on August 12, 1898. After annexation, the formerly independent
"Republic of Hawaii" continued to exist as a United States possession for purposes of conducting all internal
affairs, including the operation of its independent postal service. The Republic of Hawaii as a possession of the
United States ceased when Territorial status was established on June 14, 1900. The final three Pictorial stamps were
issued by the Republic of Hawaii, a possession of the United States.
Before June 14, 1900, stamps of the United States were distributed to all the Hawaiian post offices. A minor run on
Hawaiian stamps occurred before the change to territorial status and at midnight on June 13, all Hawaiian stamps
became invalid for postage. Remaining stocks of Hawaiian stamps were sent to Honolulu on June 15 where they were
boxed and sent to Washington, D. C. and burned on February 9, 1901. Interim accounts were made of the remainders
but a final accounting has not been located so the total number of stamps destroyed is somewhat uncertain. Please
see Pictorial Issue Quantities for details of the quantities issued for each
stamp of the Pictorial Issue with an approximate figure for the number burned of each stamp.
PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT PICTORIALS
FEBRUARY 28, 1894
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Scott No. 74
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Scott No. 75
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Scott No. 76
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Scott No. 77
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Scott No. 79
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INDEPENDENT REPUBLIC OF HAWAII PICTORIAL
OCTOBER 27, 1894
This stamp is the only Hawaiian postage stamp bearing the "Republic of Hawaii" name.
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Scott No. 78
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REPUBLIC OF HAWAII, A UNITED STATES POSSESSION, PICTORIALS
1899
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Scott No. 81, February 2, 1899
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Scott No. 80, June 7, 1899
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Scott No. 82, July 21, 1899
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IMPERFORATE ERROR
Only one major error exists in the Pictorial Issue. A single pane (50 stamps) of Scott No. 81, the 2¢ salmon of
1899, was issued without horizontal perforations. This stamp was produced on a plate of 200 images arranged in four
panes of 50 images each (layout VII). After printing, the sheets were run through the perforating machine. One
sheet of four panes escaped the horizontal perforating pins. Only one of the four panes was actually issued.
Imperforate horizontally stamps are Scott No. 81b. They must be collected in multiples of at least a pair to be
certain the stamps are genuine No. 81b.
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FLAWS
Of the Pictorial Issue stamps, Scott No. 75, the 2¢ brown Honolulu Harbor, provides some
interesting varieties. There are many transfer flaws on these stamps and several
corrosion flaws, one of which is prominent enough to earn the nickname "Flying goose."
The flying goose flaw also appears on the 1899 2¢, Scott No. 81, which has its own much
fainter set of transfer flaws. Transfer flaws and plate flaws are also found on Scott No. 78.
FLYING GOOSE FLAW IN SCOTT NOS. 75 AND 81
Scott Nos. 75 and 81 were printed on plates of 200 stamps. The printed sheet was cut
into quarters of fifty stamps each before being shipped to Hawaii. Stamps thus can be
assigned to one of four panes. Scott No. 75 went through four printings. Before the
fourth printing, the plate was re-entered. We thus have three printings of the original
state of the plate, State I, and one printing of the re-entered plate, State II. Scott
No. 81 had two printings, both on the re-entered plate of State II. Each printing of Nos.
75 and 81 was of 1,250,000 stamps (312,500 from each pane). Full sheets are known for six of the eight
panes of Scott No. 75, panes UR I and UL I being the exceptions. Full sheets are identified
for all four panes of Scott 81.
Sometime during the fourth printing of Scott No. 75 (State II), corrosion flaws began to
appear on the stamps in positions 48 and 49 of the lower right pane (48LR II and 49LR II)
and in the margin above position 49. The flaw in the center of the sky in position 48LR
II grew progressively until it resembled a large flying bird in the sky. All Scott No.
81 stamps are of State II so the fully developed corrosion flaw in the center of the sky
appears on all examples of 48LR of Scott No. 81. How many stamps of 48LR II of Scott No.
75 have the fully developed flaw is uncertain. In all 6,250 stamps of 48 LR II were
printed of Scott No. 75, but fewer than 1,000 were printed with a fully developed flaw.
Examples of 48LR II of Scott No. 75 exist without any sign of the flaw and other examples
show only a small dot where the larger flaw grew. Of Scott No. 81, 12,500 stamps were
printed from 48LR II.
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Bottom row of Scott 75, LR II, position 48 with the flying goose flaw is in the center.
The American Bank Note name is visible in the selvage below the stamp. The name appears
in the center at the top and bottom of each pane.
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Position 48LR II Early Corrosion Flaw Scott No. 75
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Position 48LR II Full Corrosion Flaw Scott No. 75
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Position 48LR II Full Corrosion Flaw Scott No. 81
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TRANSFER FLAWS IN SCOTT NO. 75
Scott 75, particularly State I, is known for its multiple transfer flaws affecting many
positions. Most of the transfer flaws evident in State I disappeared in the re-entry of
the plate, but some new ones, albeit faint, appeared and vestiges of some old transfer
flaws remained. These flaws make Scott 75 a fun and fertile field for plating. The
stamp is inexpensive and there are two hundred varieties. Examples:
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48LL I, transfer flaw in "A"
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29LL I, transfer flaws in "WAII"
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4LR I, transfer flaws in "CENT"
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TRANSFER FLAWS AND PLATE FLAWS IN SCOTT NO. 78
Scott No. 78 was produced in a sheet of 100 stamps divided into two panes set side by
side. Before shipping, the panes were separated. Thus, the sheets issued at the post
office were of 50 stamps each. Stamps are assigned to the Left pane (L) or right pane
(R).
Transfer flaws can be detected under strong
magnification in every stamp on both panes. They show up in the letters "LIC" in the
word "REPUBLIC" but only three are truly noticeable.
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Plate flaws also occur on many stamps but are
noticeable only on three. In R5, there is a ragged horizontal line running from near
the bow of the ship, through the letters II and on into the selvage. In R30, a clean
vertical line runs from near the stern up through the B. In R35, a clean vertical
line runs from the top of the mast to the top of the design (difficult to show in the
image). Entry lines can also be seen on many
stamps. They appear as horizontal or vertical lines above the letters C and the word
OF or between the words REPUBLIC and OF. A good example is R31.
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Production flaws also happened causing paper folds and perforation errors. Here are two examples:
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Paper Fold Flaw
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Perforation Flaw
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Misregistration Flaw
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ULTRAMAR HANDSTAMP
Hawaii sent mint examples of the new stamps to the Universal Postal Union in Geneva, as required by UPU rules. The UPU in turn distributed them to member
countries where the normal practice was to handstamp them with the word "SPECIMEN". However, Portugal used the word "ULTRAMAR" and examples with
this handstamp are found in the marketplace today.
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ULTRAMAR
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PICTORIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY
- Hitt, Henry C., "Error Transfers on The Hawaii 1894-99 Two Cent Brown", The
American Philatelist, Vol. 61, No. 2 [562], p. 133-143, November, 1947. Scott Nos.
75 and 81; an essential reference for the plating of these stamps. Mr. Hitt's
famous pre-World War II exhibit of these stamps remains virtually intact.
- Schwalm, Albert J., Plating Hawaii's 1894-99 Two Cent Stamp, Lyndon B. Johnson
Space Center Stamp Club, Houston, 1973. The key reference work on this subject.
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Pictorial Earliest Documented Uses:
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Scott No. |
Value/Color |
Issue Date |
EDU |
Notes |
74 |
1¢ yellow |
Feb. 28, 1894 |
Feb. 28, 1894 |
First day cover; multiple |
75 |
2¢ brown |
Feb. 28, 1894 |
Feb. 28, 1894 |
First day cover; multiple |
76 |
5¢ lake |
Feb. 28, 1894 |
Feb. 28, 1894 |
First day cover; multiple |
77 |
10¢ green |
Feb. 28, 1894 |
Feb. 28, 1894 |
First day cover; multiple |
79 |
25¢ dark blue |
Feb. 28, 1894 |
Feb. 28, 1894 |
First day cover; multiple |
78 |
12¢ blue |
Oct. 27, 1894 |
Oct. 27, 1894 |
Locally addressed first day cover |
81 |
2¢ salmon |
Feb. 2, 1899 |
Feb. 6, 1899 |
On cover from Honolulu to Molokai |
80 |
1¢ green |
June 7, 1899 |
June 9, 1899 |
Honolulu to Philadelphia |
82 |
5¢ dark blue |
July 21, 1899 |
July 21, 1899 |
Honolulu to Sioux City, Iowa |
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