Tierra Del Fuego 1891

 In 1890, Julio Popper (right) of Romania obtained a license from the Argentinean authorities to mine for gold in the eastern regions. 

As part of his business practices, Popper established his own local mail service to move letters from his scattered mining camps to the nearest postal authorities in Argentina. 

Popper had a supply of stamps produced in 1891 by Juan H. Kidd & Company in Buenos Aires and shipped to the island.

The Tierra del Fuego stamp was designed by Rudolfo Soucup an Austrian lithographer.

The stamps first appeared in April 1891 and were in use for approximately four months before being withdrawn.

Genuine covers are extremely rare.

It is noted that there were 2 shipments a very small initial one that accounts for the rare usage. A large shipment arrived later but apparently none were used.

The stamps were printed in sheets of 100 (10 x10), perf. 11.5 on unwatermarked paper.

An intermediate stone of 12 stamps (4 x 3 ) (Transfer Types A - L) was created and transfers were taken from this stone to build up the complete sheet (10 x 10).

Left the original design of Soucup  compared to an original

The design does not have the envelope scratch that appears in all the stamps and the shading lines in the ribbon are printed in a different direction.

12 Transfer Features

The transfer allow to determine which type (A-L) the stamp belongs to.

The stamps are laid out in the following repeating pattern (bottom right corner shown)

A sample strip - the largest I have - the features are indicated

Reprints

The bad news  - well over 90% of the stamps on sale are reprints and there is no way to really determine them from an image.

I have seen some say the perfs are neat for one type but not for the other

This simply does NOT work as neat and rough perfs exist for both.

The reprints were made in 1916 and there are differences.

Below the originals on the left, reprints right.

Note the paper color

The original ones have a particular color,  carmine red, darker and duller than de color of the reprints. The perforations are "generally" more irregular and measure 11.5 and the gum is generally yellowish and lumpy.

The reprints of 1916 are red and brighter, the perfs are almost "generally" neater and the same11.5 

The paper is of better quality, whiter and flat. The gum is also white and flat.

The originals can be over $100 for a good sample, the reprints a few dollars - so BUY from a dealer or auction house that specializes in stamps of Argentina.

Forgeries

I am not aware of any - the good news

Postmarks

These are the known postmarks

All in black except the TEKENIKA in purple