The Moldavian Bull's Heads (, lit. "aurochs head") are the first Romanian postage stamps, sold by the Principality of Moldavia from July to October 1858. Released in four values, these stamps are renowned for their rarity. The second and third Romanian issues also feature the head of the aurochs, symbol of Moldavia—the former on its own and the latter, printed after the Union of the Principalities, alongside a representation of Wallachia.
First issue Following the 1856 Treaty of Paris, the Danubian Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia took a number of modernizing measures, including postal reform. Their leaders were aware of the appearance of postage stamps, starting in the United Kingdom in 1840. In Moldavia, caimacam Nicolae Vogoride and his council named a postal committee and directorate as well as hiring trained personnel from Austria. The postal headquarters was set up in a 14-room building in Iaşi, and price regulations were issued on June 30 and July 6, 1858. A letter traveling up to eight post offices cost 27 para (57 bani), and one going more than eight cost 54 para (1.14 lei). Short-distance registered letters were 81 para (2 lei) and long-distance ones cost 108 para (2.28 lei). From Iaşi, one could send a regular letter for 27 para to Bacău, Botoşani, Dorohoi, Fălticeni, Huşi, Mihăileni, Piatra Neamţ, Roman, Târgu Ocna, Târgu Neamţ and Vaslui. (Mihăileni was farther than eight post offices, but received a lower rate since it was a border crossing point.) The higher rate was charged when sending to Adjud, Bârlad, Bolgrad, Cahul, Focşani, Galaţi, Ismail and Tecuci. Letters bearing the stamps could only circulate within Moldavia. The charges were valid until October 31, 1858, with a new stamp series and a single charge introduced the following day. Mihail Cezar Săvulescu, "Cap de bour – 150 de ani de la apariţie" , România Liberă, August 14, 2008; accessed June 3, 2012
Starting on July 1, 1858, letters without stamps were placed in mailboxes placed in public squares and at the postal headquarters in Iaşi, while in other towns such letters were handed over at the post office. Payment would then be made by the recipient. Although the rates went into effect on July 1, it seems the stamps were not placed into circulation until July 15. Their printing was approved May 26, and four steel dies costing 389 lei had been produced by July 1, the engraver unknown. The stamp sheets were printed one by one with the aid of a manual press; in all, 24,064 stamps were printed. Unlike many stamps of the period, which featured the ruling head of state, Moldavia's had the ancient coat of arms with the head of an aurochs. There is a five-pointed star between the horns. The aurochs' lower lip rests on a post horn, within the inner tube of which is the stamp's value in Arabic numerals. The horn and head are enclosed in a circle. Around this circle, in the interior above the head, are the Romanian Cyrillic letters ПОРТО СКРИСОРИ (PORTO SCRISORI; "letters to be paid for by the recipient"). The use of the word PORTO is a mistake; FRANCO denotes letters where the postage has been paid by the sender, as was the case for letters using these stamps.
Aside from the economic advantage derived from simplifying communications, the stamps and the symbol they used were a political statement against the Ottoman Empire that still exercised suzerainty over the principality. The Ottomans themselves would not issue a stamp until 1863. Indeed, they are the first stamps from Southeast Europe, with Greece issuing its first in 1861, Serbia in 1866 and Bulgaria in 1879. Dan Arsenie, "Cap de bour – timbrul care a împuns Poarta Otomană costă 100.000 de euro", Evenimentul Zilei, November 13, 2010; accessed June 3, 2012 Earlier attempts to introduce a national coin or seal had been denied by Turkey, but the stamp, Moldavia's first exercise of autonomous statehood, was allowed because the relevant imperial authorities there were not yet familiar with the notion.Nicolau, p.53
The paper used to print the stamps came from Bath, Somerset, imported by an Iaşi merchant and bought by the Finance Ministry. (According to another variant, the project was undertaken in haste, and leaves of paper were bought from an Iaşi bookstore.) Each sheet had 32 stamps, with four rows of eight, and the middle rows included eight tête-bêche pairs. The 27 para were done in black ink; the rest in blue. The sheets were tinted rose (27 para), greenish (54 para), bluish (81 para) and light rose (108 para). The paper was horizontally lined, except for the 81 para, which was ordinary paper. The sheets were gummed manually with a brush using gum arabic. The stamps were imperforate, cut with scissors at the post office. Because of this, individual stamps have significant size differences between them. Also, due to the manual printing, the rows of stamps were not properly aligned on the sheets.
Stamps were cancelled with a double circle featuring the name of the post office above and the word Moldova below, in capital letters. In the middle, in fractional form, were the date and month in Arabic numerals. The rubber stamps were ordered from Vienna.
The first 187 sheets of 32 (5,984 stamps) were sent from the press to the treasury on July 11, 1858. These were sent to the post office headquarters the following day, receipt confirmed on July 14. Headquarters decided not to send the stamps to other post offices until the full stock was received. The remaining 18,080 stamps had arrived by July 21, when the first stamps were sent to the main post office in Iaşi. In August, stamps were sent to Bacău, Bârlad, Botoşani, Dorohoi, Fălticeni, Focşani, Galaţi, Roman, Tecuci, Târgu Neamţ, Vaslui and Mihăileni. The earliest letters featuring the stamps date to July 22; the latest, to October 31.
Second and third issues
The second series had three stamps: 5 para, 40 para (1 leu) and 80 para (2 lei). Regular letters cost 40 para, registered mail 80 para, simple newspapers 5 para and double newspapers 10 para. Mihail Cezar Săvulescu, "Cap de bour – 150 de ani de la apariţie" , România Liberă, August 14, 2008; accessed June 3, 2012Nicolau, p.57 On these stamps, the head and horn were surrounded by a rectangle with rounded corners, and the inscription (PORTO GAZETEI for the 5 para and PORTO SCRISOREI for the 40 and 80 para) was in Latin characters, while "parale" was in Cyrillic. Printing figures are as follows:Nicolau, p.60
Value27 Oct. 18584 Nov. 185814 Nov. 1858185918601861Total5 para9602,0484,0004,0328,0004,00023,04040 para7,0404,960033,03237,00024,000106,03280 para2,8162,208016,04823,00016,00060,072Total10,8169,2164,00053,11268,00044,000189,144
These stamps circulated in Moldavia, and very rarely in Wallachia after the Union of the Principalities on January 24, 1859. They were withdrawn on May 1, 1862, although four stamps were cancelled on May 3 in Botoşani, official use having been extended on request until May 5.Nicolau, p.53
The third series of Romanian stamps, issued under the auspices of the United Principalities, was valid between May 1, 1862 and December 31, 1864. It featured the aurochs' head as well as the Wallachian vulture, replaced PORTO with FRANCO, and used only Latin letters. It appeared in values of 3, 6 and 30 para, in two series (1862 and 1864). Printed in Bucharest, a delay meant the stamps were not placed in circulation until May 26. The second series of the third issue were sold from September 13, 1864 until the end of the year.Nicolau, p.69-70
Scarcity and legacy
Printing figures for the first issue are as follows: 6,016 of the 27 para; 10,016 of the 54 para; 2,016 of the 81 para and 6,016 of the 108 para. By the end of October, when they were withdrawn, 11,756 of 24,064 had been sold. The remaining 12,308 stamps were deposited at the headquarters. Later, following Moldavia's union with Wallachia and the creation of a single postal service, they were moved to the old central post office on Strada Doamnei in Bucharest (now the site of the Stock Market Palace). The stock was destroyed in a devastating fire in 1874. Mihail Cezar Săvulescu, "Cap de bour – 150 de ani de la apariţie" , România Liberă, August 14, 2008; accessed June 3, 2012 A 1994 study (giving slightly different figures for the number of stamps sold and withdrawn) of the first issue stamps still extant found the following:Nicolau, p.53 ValuePrintedSoldWithdrawnIn collectionsUsedUnused27 para6,0163,6912,3251761601654 para10,0164,7725,2442622382481 para2,0167091,307623725108 para6,0162,5743,44218716918total24,06411,74612,31868759295
By 1864, the collection of British philatelist Edward Loines Pemberton featured Bull's Heads, already famous for their scarcity.Scăiceanu, p.40 Philipp von Ferrary owned thirteen of them at one point. The set included a 27-para tête-bêche pair later owned by Arthur Hind and purchased by King Carol II of Romania in 1935 for £1000. The unique pair subsequently vanished.Scăiceanu, p.42, 268 An early Romanian collector was Costică Câncea of Craiova; in 1882, a Turnu Măgurele philatelist offered 5-10 lei each for his first and second-series Bull's Heads.Scăiceanu, p.44-5 Meanwhile, in 1881, two brothers from Iași offered a Bucharest postal official 125 gold francs for an 81-para used stamp, and in 1882, a Botoșani collector offered a second-issue 40-para stamp to a Bucharest counterpart. In 1879, Dimitrie C. Sturdza-Scheianu became the first Romanian to donate his collection to the state (more precisely, to the Romanian Academy); his holdings included Bull's Heads.Scăiceanu, p.46
A number of noted Romanian collectors are associated with the Bull's Heads. George Matheescu-Sinaia obtained several Bull's Heads by scouring the attics of people during his travels. In 1938, he paid a large sum for a sheet of essays thought to be unique. It turned out that Baron Job Wilhelm von Witzleben also owned a sheet, and that these were forgeries baked in an oven to appear older. The woman who sold them was acquitted of any wrongdoing, as she had obtained them from a convicted murderer who reportedly escaped from prison using the proceeds. In 1933, a German philatelist had loaned him an 80-para second-issue stamp, asking 150,000 lei. Matheescu offered 75,000; the owner refused, asking for the stamp to be returned. When the former failed to do so, the owner wrote to King Carol to intervene and sued; ultimately, in 1939, a court ordered Matheescu to pay the full amount, plus a fine of 5000 lei.Scăiceanu, p.128-30