1857 Cuba ½ Real Plata Queen Isabella II Stamp – Spanish Colonial – Used

1857 Cuba ½ Real Plata – Queen Isabella II – Spanish Colonial Period

Original antique postage stamp from Spanish colonial Cuba featuring the laureate portrait of Queen Isabella II of Spain.

This classic imperforate issue represents one of the earliest periods of Cuban adhesive postage. The ½ Real Plata design was originally introduced with Cuba's first postage stamps in 1855 and was subsequently printed on different papers. This example appears to be from the no-watermark issue associated with the 1857 period. Contemporary philatelic references describe the 1857 ½ Real as printed on unwatermarked paper.

Details:

• Country: Cuba / Spanish Antilles
• Era: Spanish Colonial
• Date: circa 1857
• Denomination: ½ Real Plata Fuerte
• Monarch: Queen Isabella II
• Color: Blue-green / dark blue-green
• Format: Imperforate
• Condition: Used
• Watermark: None observed
• Cancellation: Heavily cancelled

Condition: Authenticity and exact catalog variety have not been professionally certified. The stamp shows substantial age and postal use, including heavy cancellation, toning, surface wear, irregular/close margins and edge wear. Please examine the enlarged front and reverse photographs carefully; the exact stamp pictured is the stamp you will receive.

A fascinating survivor from 19th-century Spanish colonial Cuba and an attractive historical piece for collectors of Cuban, Spanish Colonial and Caribbean postal history.