Postage stamps and postal history of the Canal Zone is a subject that covers the postal system, postage stamps used and mail sent to and from the Panama Canal Zone from 1904 until October 1978, after the United States relinquished its authority of the Zone in compliance with the treaty it reached with Panama.
The Canal Zone was a strip of territory long and wide across the Isthmus of Panama, and was ceded to the United States for the purpose of constructing and operating the canal which connected the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Upon the establishment of the Canal Zone in 1903, seventeen post offices had also been established and were operated by the U.S. government. The Canal Zone and its post offices, with the main distributing office in Cristobal, operated as an independent government agency under the direct authority of the president of the United States. In the towns where there were railroad stations, the station agents of the Panama Railroad functioned as postmasters. Along with ships and freight, domestic mail and mail from around the world moved through the canal. The Canal Zone Post Office began operating and issued its first postage stamps on June 24, 1904.Rossiter, Stuart & John Flower. The Stamp Atlas. London: Macdonald, 1986, p. 166. Initially these were the current stamps of Panama or (less often) the U.S., overprinted with 'CANAL ZONE' in various styles. Philatelists have identified over 100 varieties, some of them quite rare (and counterfeited).
First issues
The Republic of Panama was formally part of Colombia, and after it broke away from Colombia, with assistance from the United States, it established itself as a separate nation where it immediately became necessary to establish its own post offices and issue its own postage stamps.Bartles, 1906, p. 1 The Canal Zone Post Office was inaugurated on June 25, 1904. Beforehand the domestic rates of postage in the United States were made applicable to all possessions of the United States on June 20, 1904, which henceforth included the Canal Zone.Dade & Shay, 1949, p. viii
The first Panamanian stamps consisted of existing Colombian stamps, which were overprinted with Panama. These in turn were used for Canal Zone postage and were again, overprinted with CANAL ZONE with a red bar at top blocking out the name Colombia. Many varieties of the overprinting of PANAMA and CANAL ZONE exist, including doubled overprinting, complete inverts and stamps with the letter A inverted or completely missing.Evans, 1916, p. 6 The coloring of the overprinting varies from violet to bluish-violet, with the overprinting measuring 18 mm.Zemer, 2002, pp. 53–54 The first comprehensive study of these issues was conducted by George L. Toppan, and his classification of the various varieties that occur in these issues is the most feasible one yet presented.Evans, 1916, p. 4
The first stamps issued for Canal Zone postage consisted of three values, 2c, 5c and 10c, which were first issued on June 24, 1904, but were only used for twenty-four days, until July 17, 1904, and were removed from sale after that date. They were overprinted with a rubber handstamp. Dr. J. C. Perry, a surgeon in the U. S. Marine Hospital, and a philatelic student was stationed at Ancon at this time, whose investigations provided much information concerning this and some of the later series. In regard to the first stamp issues he said: The first issue of stamps was authorized by executive order of the Governor of the Canal Zone, which provided that a limited number of stamps of the Panama Republic should be secured and surcharged "Canal Zone" in order to meet the demands of the postal service until the United States stamps properly surcharged could be obtained from Washington.
These first issues were carefully guarded and purchases were limited to the amount of one dollar in silver or fifty cents in U.S. currency. The executive order also cautioned anyone about buying or keeping large quantities of these stamps, as they would not be available for postage after the above date. However, this cautionary measure was unnecessary.Evans, 1916, p. 5 This first series of Canal Zone overprint issues is the one with the most plentiful fakes.
1904 issues, second series These stamps consisted of existing U.S. regular issues of 1902–1903 and were overprinted in 1904 with CANAL ZONE and PANAMA in vertical fashion, for use as Canal Zone postage: Issued in denominations of 1c, 2c, 5c 8c and 10c. Benjamin Franklin became the first historical figure to appear on Canal Zone Postage.Scott's United States stamp catalogue, 1982, p.656 The overprinting was conducted in Washington, D.C.Evans, 1916, pp. 7–8 These were the first U.S. stamps overprinted for use in the Canal Zone, and consisted of a huge quantity on 10-million stamps. As the stamps featured American historical figures, such as Benjamin Franklin, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, they were generally not well received by the largely Panamanian population in and around the Canal Zone. These issues were briefly used for less than five months and were taken off sale as a result of the "Taft Agreement". This agreement was brought about as a result of an investigation into the protests made by Panama officials and business. These issues were in use from July 18 to December 11, 1904. Only a small percentage were actually sold, with the greater bulk of them destroyed on January 2–3, 1906, supervised by the Director of Posts, Tom M. Cooke.Dade & Shay, 1949, p.10
Two years after they were issued they were withdrawn from sale with the remainders of all values destroyed on January 2 and 3, 1906. Their withdrawal was arranged through an agreement between the Secretary of War, William Taft, and the Government of the Republic of Panama. The arrangement between the two governments resulted in many varieties for two reasons: One was due to the fact that the Canal Zone surcharge was printed on small quantities of stamps, with copper faced type which was reset at least five times for some of the values. The other was because many of the stamps used were those which had already been surcharged by the Panama authorities, and which were again surcharged with the Canal Zone overprinting. The last of these overprints were issued in 1939.Scott's United States stamp catalogue, 1982, pp. 655, 664
1904 issues, third series In 1904, the Taft agreement required that Canal Zone stamps be produced by overprinting Panama stamps, and that 40% of their face value was to be paid to Panama. Somewhat similar to the map design of the first issues of 1904, the Third Series of Canal Zone stamps went on sale December 12, 1904. This issue was first overprinted by Mr. C. Bertoncini, who was the Chief of the Canal Zone Division of Map Making, and then transferred to the Printing Bureau of the Engineering Department, also known as the 'Commission Printing Office', in August 1905. The Third Series is very interesting because of the myriad combinations in the overprints. The Canal Zone Director of Posts, sent a memorandum to all postmasters instructing them to sell these stamps for their face value in gold, or in Colombian silver at the rate of two for one. All the stamps in this series were overprinted in black from the same style of Canal Zone plates, in several different stages, with slight changes in the lettering for each stage. The overprinting plate was set up to overprint a full sheet of 100 stamps in one pass. new plates were brought in after several printings as needed, with each plate resulting in variations or errors in the overprinting.Dada & Shay, 1946, pp. 12, 29Scott's United States stamp catalogue, 1982, pp. 656–657Smithsonian national Postal Museum, Third Series (1904–1906)
8-cent surcharge
In December 1904 the Canal Zone postal authorities requested from Panama a supply of 8¢ stamps for to be employed as registration fee stamps. Panama at the time did not have an 8¢ denomination in its current series of postage, making it necessary to prepare an 8¢ surcharge stamp to existing stocks of postage stamps. To this end Panama used their regular 50¢ stamp from their current series of issues. The 8¢ surcharge was made in Panama on Colombian stamps already overprinted with a red colored bar and the word PANAMA and occurs in varying thickness and forms.Dade & Shay, 1946, p. 16 There are three varieties of the '8' in the surcharge.Scott's United States stamp catalogue, 1982, p. 656
1906–1909 issues Postage stamps issued in 1906–1907 were printed by the Hamilton Bank Note Engraving and Printing Co, in New York; Those issued in 1909 were issued by the American Bank Note Company. This series of stamps features portraits of statesmen, educators and other prominent men involved in Panama's early history. There were ten designs in all. Some of the issues were printed with the portrait inverted.Scott's United States stamp catalogue, 1982, pp. 655–660 The 1909 overprints were printed at the Isthmian Canal Commission’s Printing Office in Panama City.Dade & Shay, 1909, p. 154 The overprinting in the first printing places the word CANAL near the left side of the stamp, reading upward. Successive printings were issued with CANAL at the right, reading downward.Evans, 1916, p. 26 Some of the issues have missing or partially missing overprints, doubled overprints and inverted overprinting. A specialized catalog is needed to determine which values have the various oveprinting errors.
A second series of stamps was issued in 1909, honoring the same figures depicted above in the 1906 issues, with same color themes for a given stamp, but with different border designs.Scott's United States stamp catalogue, 1982, p. 658
1915 and 1917 pictorial issues A set of four pictorial stamps were issued by the Canal Zone authorities on March 1, 1915, to commemorate the opening of the Panama Canal. These series of stamps were very different from any of the previous issues in both shape and design. The designs consists of a black picture (a vignette) in the center framed by a colored border design.Evans, 1916, pp. 30–31
A second series of three pictorial commemorative stamps were issued in January 1917. On November 27, 1916, Executive Secretary McIlvaine wrote to Panama's Secretary of Foreign Affairs Narciso Garay, informing him that the official name of the cut had been changed from 'Culebra Cut' to 'Gaillard Cut' but by then the 12c and 15c stamps commemorating this had already been printed with the former title. Most of the 1917 issues were never sold and were destroyed.Smithsonian National Postal Museum, 24-cent S.S. Cristobal in Gatun Locks
1921 issues In 1921, the Republic of Panama planned to issue a centennial commemorative series in honor of the 100th anniversary of Panama's independence from Spain. The Canal Zone was invited to participate in a postal way and the Canal Zone's Executive Secretary was pleased to accept their invitation. By the middle of January 1924, all the stamps of the 1¢ and 2¢ denominations were nearly exhausted which prompted the next production of stamps, issued that year.Dade & Shay, 1949, p. 36
1924 Coat of Arms issue