Vol. 66: Argentine Stagecoaches 1852–1870 – The Pablo Reim Collection

Pablo Reim (born 1955) is one of the world's most successful and well-known exhibitors of important collections of Argentine and Brazilian stamps, for which he has been awarded many Gold and Large Gold medals. In 2017, his collection of the classic issues of Brazil was awarded the Grand Prix at BRASILIA, and his collection of classic issues of Argentina was also thus honoured in Thailand in 2018. Professionally and commercially successful, he has managed to put together many collections that leave nothing to be desired in terms of rarity. Such is the case with this collection, in particular as it is devoted to a subject that is not easy. To understand this fully it is helpful to take a look at earlier Kneitschel catalogues, whose content Reim has considerably expanded through his research and documentation.

The carrying of mail in this very large country was provided from 1852 onwards by stagecoaches run by private companies, which carried the mail and also travellers to towns and villages not served by the state postal service. The routes passed through valleys, across smaller and larger rivers, some of which had no bridges, and through the desert. The first route served by a stagecoach company was from Buenos Aires to Chascomus. After more and more companies contracted with the post office, the postal administrator Gervasio A. Posadas in 1858 laid down general rules and regulations that had to be followed by the stagecoaches. These included, among other things, an obligation to apply a postmark to items of mail carried by the stagecoaches, a regulation that was not always observed, however. With the introduction of adhesive stamps in 1858, their use on stagecoach correspondence became obligatory, yet in many cases the stamps remained uncancelled. Before the introduction of self-adhesive stamps, mail received individual postmarks designed and made by the stagecoach companies. Later, the private handstamps were also used in combination with the Argentine stamp issues.

Pablo Reim's collection offers a unique study of the various handstamps used by the stagecoach companies. At the same time, the collection documents the different stagecoach routes that were operated in different years. Rarities in this collection include six stagecoach postmarks that are unique, 14 stagecoach handstamps of which only two examples are recorded, three from a total of five known covers to Europe, two covers that were carried by two different stagecoach companies (only four or five such covers are known), and seven covers from stagecoaches that used the postmarks of travelling post offices. The Pablo Reim collection is the first collection in the history of Argentine philately to be exhibited in eight frames at an FIP international stamp exhibition. To be able to view it at leisure in this publication is an unparalleled pleasure.