The Ferrer block is a corner block of 15 of the 80 centésimos green 1856 'Diligencia' (Suns)

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the f ...

s, and is regarded by many philatelists as the most important item of Uruguayan philately.

Fred Melville Frederick John Melville (25 February 1882 – 12 January 1940)Schofield, Brian. ''Who Was Who in British Philately''. London: British Philatelic Trust, 2003, p.34. Online versiohere. was a British philatelist, prolific philatelic author and fo ...

, speaking philatelically, called it "one of the seven wonders of the world"."The Spell of the 'Suns'" by Nils Farnstrom in ''

The London Philatelist ''The London Philatelist'' was first published in January 1892
by

The postal services in

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

organised by the stagecoach companies, issued on October 1, 1856, the so-called 'Diligencia' (stagecoach stamp). This issue was intended for correspondence carried by stagecoach. There were three values: * 60 centésimos blue, for single page letters * 80 centésimos green, for two-page letters * 1 real red, for three-page letters. The stamps were issued in sheets of 35, printed on white woven unwatermarked paper at the Mège Lithograph Workshop of Mège y Willems Printing Ltd in Montevideo.

Largest known multiple

The 80 centésimos green corner block of 15 is a multiple from the top right of an unused sheet of 35. It includes positions 3–5, 8-10, 13–15, 18–20, 24-25 and 30. Plating of the 'Diligencias' was made possible by the slightly shifted alignment of transfers and the common characteristics of this sheet. This multiple originates from a complete sheet originally owned by Dr. Wonner. The ‘Soto Hermanos’ philatelic dealers broke it up into several blocks in the 19th Century. Subsequently, it was part of the collection of Vicente Ferrer (who named it), Wonner, Charles Lathrop Pack, E.J. Lee, Alfred Lichtenstein, Roberto Hoffmann, Norman Hubbard,

Gene Scott William Eugene Scott (August 14, 1929 – February 21, 2005) was an American minister and teacher who served for almost 50 years as a pastor and broadcaster in Los Angeles, California. He pastored the Faith Center and Wescott Christian Center ...

and Tito Giamporcaro.

Significance

The block enabled Pack to establish new concepts on the plating of this issue, which were improved by E.J. Lee. Lee, E.J. ''The Postage Stamps of Uruguay''. London: M. Harvey, 1931. (Awarded the

Crawford Medal :::''See also'' Crawford Award for fantasy novels. :::''See also'' Max Crawford Medal Australian academic award. The Crawford Medal is a vermeil medal awarded by the Royal Philatelic Society London for the most valuable and original contribution ...

) Most plating of this issue has been derived from this block and it is considered the foundation upon which the technical philately of Uruguay is built. In September 2009 it sold at Investphila in Switzerland for €432,000 including fees (lot nr. 674, starting at €300,000).

References

{{Reflist

External links

A Great Collection of Uruguay
by Fred J. Melville.

* ttp://www.davidfeldman.com/2012/07/uruguay-montevideo-suns/ Uruguay’s Montevideo Sunsby L. N. Williams Postage stamps Philately of Uruguay