Ecuador Coat of Arms 1 real blue and 4 reales red on Judicial Correspondence cover

Ecuador · 1865 · 1 real & 4 reales

This is a piece of judicial correspondence from Guaranda, Ecuador, featuring two of the country's first postage stamps. The cover includes the 1 real blue and the 4 reales red stamps, both depicting the national Coat of Arms. The stamps are tied to the cover by a manuscript cancellation, a common practice in the early days of postal services in Ecuador.

Issued in 1865, these were Ecuador's first postage stamps, marking the country's entry into the global postal system. Manuscript cancellations were frequently used in provincial towns before standardized handstamps became widely available.