Lithographed in black, on dull blue paper, wove and rather thick. All the lettering very coarse and clumsy. The frame is broken under the letter N of CENTS. The 2 is not nearly so tall as the 5. The condor is very dark; it has a white patch on the cheek, the eye is plainly visible, and the left wing extends some distance under the R of PORTE. The cannons are thick black smudges, and the wheel on the carriage of the right-hand one is scarcely visible. The horizontal lines of background are very much interrupted, not one of them going right across without a break. The appearance is as though they had not taken up the ink properly. Below TS of CENTS, outside the border, there is a little spot. The words and figures appear to have been printed by types, after the rest of the stamp, but I will not be positive about this.

I need not spend much time over this stamp. It differs totally from the 25 c., is very boldly drawn, and is enclosed in octagonal frame.

Lithographed on thin, bluish-white wove paper. The top compartment of the shield bears seven horizontal lines of shading. The middle compartment contains a cap of Liberty, very distinct, with the tail tailing over to the left-hand side, and shaded with oblique lines. The lowest compartment, of the shield contains an isthmus, with a ship (or mark to represent one) in each sea, both above and below the isthmus. The bird above the shield is a condor, and it has a ring of feathers at the base of the neck. The neck is rather thin, and swan-like; the eye is very small and round. There is a row of white pearls, of tolerably uniform size and shape, all round the central oval, and none of the pearls are missing. Nine eight-pointed stars or asterisks are outside the pearls, all of them pretty distinct and regular. There is a stop after E and U and COLOMBIA, but none after any of the other parts of the inscription. All the lettering is distinct and easy to read. There are two small, crossed white branches at the bottom of the colored oval band; each branch has seven leaves. The center tongue of the E of PESO projects so far as to be almost level with the top and bottom strokes of the letter. The white space inside the O of PESO is perfectly square, and the stop after this word is very much nearer to the end of the label than to the O. The postmark is usually a written word, or other obliteration in pen-and-ink; but occasionally the stamp is cancelled with an oval, containing the name of town in large capitals.

Nine stars in oval; T in ESTADOS has a short head-stroke.

Spandrils not very clearly done. A good glass (which every collector should possess) will show thirteen lines in the upper left-angle, and twelve in the right; below, fifteen on left side, and thirteen on right, O of CORREOS is too large, and is very close to the angle of inner frame; both the horizontal and perpendicular outer-lines of which would, if continued, go through the side and bottom of the letter respectively. The S of CORREOS, and c of the following word, are narrower and more upright than the other letters. The inscribed oval breaks into the frame below, and at the right side; also, less distinctly, but still very apparent, upon the left.

The lowest value inscribed 2 i Centavos, and the highest 1 Peso.

There is a good deal of variety, both in colour and mode of printing, in the stamps of this issue. The earliest impressions are very well executed, in dark olive-green, somewhat dull and chalky; and the smallest details of the design are brought out clearly. In the later impressions the colour is paler, the green having a slightly yellowish tint, and very dull and chalky. The stamps are on white wove paper, very similar to that of our own newspaper wrappers, but not so soft. The cap of liberty in the fess in the center of the shield is on a short pole, which can be seen through the cap. (This is very evident in the earliest impressions.) Beneath the fess is a three-masted vessel, sailing to the left; and at the bottom of the shield is a tiny lighthouse, with an equally tiny boat rowing obliquely past it.

This stamp is very clearly printed in black, on colored paper. The figure 2 in 2 1/2 has a solid top with dot in center. The solid label bearing the inscription is divided into three parts by faint lines, one of which is under the CO of CORREOS, another under S of NALES, and the third under the S of CENTS. Both limbs of the UU are of equal thickness.

There are two small scrolls across the top containing the motto of the Republic; LIBERTAD in the left-hand scroll, ORDEN in the right. These words can easily be read, and will serve as a good test. In the bottom corners there is a figure 2, with a dot before, after, and beneath it, (• 2 •). The spears bearing the flags are very distinct, and one third of the left-hand flag (the 1/3 nearest the pole) is covered with little dots. These dots signify in heraldry, that the part covered with them is to be gold.