John Howker, Treasurer of the Brandywine Valley Stamp Club and Chairman of the club’s DELPEX Committee, presents an introduction to the Map Postage Stamps of Panama.
These stamps originated in Columbia and then changed issuance to Panama when the latter gained its independence. This was shortly followed by the demarcation of the Canal Zone across the isthmus in preparation for the construction of the Panama Canal.
As a new country, Panama used existing map stamps of Columbia and overprinted them in 1904 with both ‘Panama’ and ‘Canal Zone’. Other renditions followed for the next two years. Various overprints were used during this period, and they varied by city.
Come along for a canal ride as visualized by these beautiful Map Postage stamps and the postal history covers they were used on with the Philatelic Society of Lancaster County.