The Pagsanjan Falls stamp is a

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 ...

, issued on 3 May 1932, which is notable for having an error. It is part of a set of seven stamps showing places of interest and landmarks in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, at that time a

United States territory In the United States, a territory is any extent of region under the sovereign jurisdiction of the federal government of the United States, including all waters (around islands or continental tracts). The United States asserts sovereign rights for ...

. It is a

postage stamp design error A postage stamp design error is a mistake made during the design phase of the postage stamp production process. Design errors most commonly occur as minor mistakes, such as a missing letter in the binomial name of an organism depicted on the stam ...

printed in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and intended to display an image of

Pagsanjan Falls Pagsanjan Falls, also known as Cavinti Falls (local name: Magdapio Falls) is one of the most famous waterfalls in the Philippines. Located in the province of Laguna, the falls is one of the major tourist attractions of the region. The three-drop ...

, a tourist attraction in

Laguna province Laguna, officially the Province of Laguna ( fil, Lalawigan ng Laguna), is a province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region in Luzon. Its capital is Santa Cruz while its largest city is the City of Calamba and the province is sit ...

in the Philippines. However, the image on the stamp is actually of

Vernal Fall Vernal Fall is a waterfall on the Merced River just downstream of Nevada Fall in Yosemite National Park, California. Like its upstream neighbor, Vernal Fall is clearly visible at a distance, from Glacier Point, as well as close up, along the M ...

Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park ( ) is an American national park in California, surrounded on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service and covers an ...

, California. The error has made the stamp the most sought after in the set: the 2008 Scott catalogue value for a very fine mint never-hinged copy of the stamp (Scott #357) is US$25.00, while no other stamp in the set exceeds US$1.00. The rest of the set comprises 2¢ –

Mount Mayon Mayon ( bcl, Bulkan Mayon; tl, Bulkang Mayon, ), also known as Mount Mayon and Mayon Volcano ( es, Monte Mayón, Volcán Mayón), is an active stratovolcano in the province of Albay in Bicol, Philippines. A popular tourist spot, it is renown ...

, 4¢ – the

Manila Central Post Office The Manila Central Post Office, often called the Post Office Building, is the main postal office of Manila, which also serves as the home of the Philippine Postal Corporation. It also houses the main mail sorting-distribution operations of the Phi ...

, 12¢ – Pier No. 7, Manila, 20¢ – planting rice, 24¢ – rice terraces and 32¢ –

Baguio Baguio ( , ), officially the City of Baguio ( ilo, Siudad ti Baguio; fil, Lungsod ng Baguio), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines. It is known as the "Summer Capital of the Philippines", ...

zigzag.

Description

The

postage stamp design Postage stamp design is the activity of graphic design as applied to postage stamps. Many thousands of designs have been created since a profile bust of Victoria of the United Kingdom, Queen Victoria was adopted for the Penny Black in 1840; some ...

is of an upright rectangular form, a shape chosen so that the waterfall could be displayed in its entirety, and is printed in yellow and orange inks. The textural elements are at the top and bottom of the stamp; the base panel reads "United States of America" with 18 centavos denomination corner box on either side. Above this is a small banner that reads "Pagsanjan Falls" while a panel at the top of the stamp are the words "Philippine Islands" in an arc. The picture illustrates a large waterfall with trees growing at the top and a few boats nearby. The colors are bright so as to render the picture highly visible. Additional design elements frame the image on both sides.

Error

Although the inscription reads Pagsanjan Falls, the waterfall on the stamp is Vernal Fall, a waterfall in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. The error came about because the engraver, the

Bureau of Engraving and Printing The Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) is a government agency within the United States Department of the Treasury that designs and produces a variety of security products for the United States government, most notable of which is Federal Re ...

, used a photograph of Vernal Fall as the basis for the image on the stamp because the wrong image had been supplied by the post office in Manila. At the time, July 1941, it was estimated that one and a half million copies had been printed even though a recall was considered. No stamp was issued with a corrected image.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pagsanjan Falls Stamp Postage stamps Philately of the Philippines 1932 works Yosemite National Park

Description

Error

See also

References