imported>Randy Kryn: removed onesource tag from 2014 (fixed since)

2025-06-01T12:29:02Z

removed onesource tag from 2014 (fixed since)

New page

{{Short description|American territorial postage stamp with design error}}
{{Use American English|date=May 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2023}}
{{Infobox rare stamps
| common_name = Pagsanjan Falls
| image = Philippines-pagsanjanfalls-1932.jpg
| caption = Pagsanjan Falls stamp depicting [[Vernal Fall]] in [[Yosemite National Park]]
| country_of_production = [[United States]]
| location_of_production =
| date_of_production = May 3, 1932
| printer = [[Bureau of Engraving and Printing]]<ref name="linns"/>
| nature_of_rarity = Postage stamp design error
| number_in_existence =
| face_value = 18 cents
| estimated_value = [[United States dollar|US$]]26.00 (mint) (2008)<ref name="scott"/>
}}

The '''Pagsanjan Falls stamp''' is a [[postage stamp]], issued on May 3, 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]],<ref name="scott"/> at that time a [[Insular Government of the Philippine Islands|United States territory]]. It is a [[postage stamp design error]] printed in the [[Postage stamps and postal history of the United States|United States]] and intended to display an image of [[Pagsanjan Falls]], a tourist attraction in [[Laguna (province)|Laguna province]] in the Philippines. However, the image on the stamp is actually of [[Vernal Fall]] in [[Yosemite National Park]], California. The stamp was withdrawn on November 17, 1932.<ref name="linns">{{cite web |last=McCarty |first=Denise |title=Finding America's natural treasures on foreign stamps |work=World Stamps |publisher=[[Linns Stamp News]] |date=3 May 2021 |url=https://www.linns.com/news/us-stamps-postal-history/finding-americas-natural-treasures-on-foreign-stamps.html |access-date=9 May 2023 }}</ref>

The error has made the stamp the most sought after in the set: the 2008 [[Scott catalog]] 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.<ref name="scott">{{Cite book | editor-last=Kloetzel | editor-first=Joseph | title=Scott 2008 Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue | volume=5 | publisher=[[Scott catalogue]] | date=August 2007 | location=Sidney, OH | pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780894873997/page/231 231] | isbn=978-0-89487-399-7 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780894873997/page/231 }}</ref> The rest of the set comprises 2¢ – [[Mount Mayon]], 4¢ – the [[Manila Central Post Office]], 12¢ – Pier No. 7, Manila, 20¢ – planting rice, 24¢ – rice terraces and 32¢ – [[Baguio]] zigzag.<ref name="scott"/>

==Description==
The [[postage stamp design]] 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 [[Philippine peso|centavos]] [[Denomination (postage stamp)|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==
[[File:Vernal Falls Rainbow.jpg|right|upright|thumb|[[Vernal Fall]]]]
Although the inscription reads Pagsanjan Falls, the waterfall on the stamp is Vernal Fall, a waterfall in [[Yosemite National Park]] in [[California]].<ref name="scott"/><ref>{{cite news |last=Allen |first=K |title=There's Money In Mistakes—If They're Postage Stamps |publisher=The World's News |date=April 13, 1946 |location=Sydney, NSW |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/137122104?searchTerm=Pagsanjan+Falls+stamp+error |access-date=April 29, 2020 }}</ref> The error came about because the [[engraver]], the [[Bureau of Engraving and Printing]], 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.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Burns, Jr. |first=Franklin R. |title=Stamps |journal=Boys' Life |page=38 |publisher=[[Boy Scouts of America]] |location=Philadelphia |date=July 1941 |issn=0006-8608 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oM4HALJwz_kC&pg=PA38 |access-date=April 20, 2014 }}</ref> No stamp was issued with a corrected image.
{{clear left}}

==See also==
*[[List of postage stamps]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Postage stamps]]
[[Category:Philately of the Philippines]]
[[Category:1932 works]]
[[Category:Yosemite National Park]]

Pagsanjan Falls stamp - Revision history

imported>Randy Kryn: removed onesource tag from 2014 (fixed since)