Stamp Values: Philippines Montalban Gorge

The Spanish colony of the Philippines was occupied by US forces in 1898. On 15 November 1935, the Philippines was declared a Commonwealth of the United States of America and it was only in 1946 that the country became a fully independent republic.

On 15 February 1935, a set of fourteen definitive stamps printed by the US Bureau of Engraving and Printing was issued. It is a handsome set featuring local scenery, references to Philippine history and, strangely, an equestrian portrait of George Washington on the top 5-peso value.

This set was then overprinted ‘COMMONWEALTH’ in the 1936-1937 period. Only 30,000 copies of the 4-peso value depicting the Montalban Gorge were thus overprinted, making it quite a scarce set today. In UMM condition the set currently catalogues at US$120.

However, there was a second issue of the same overprint in much smaller letters issued in the 1938-40 period. Once again it’s the 4-peso stamp which is the key item in this set as only 6,500 stamps were overprinted.

What should I look for?

Be on the look-out for 1938-1940 sets which have been misidentified. The second set has a mounted mint catalogue value of some US$200 and unmounted mint about doubles the value. Recently an UMM mint set was offered on an internet auction site for just $99, which seems extremely reasonable.

Philippine stamps are not that popular generally in today’s market conditions but many of the better sets released while the Philippines was a US possession are in demand.