Mexico 1856 Hidalgo Issue, First Postage Stamp

Mexico · 1856 · ½ real

This stamp features a portrait of Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, a key figure in Mexico's War of Independence. As the first postage stamp issued by Mexico, it is crudely engraved and was printed without perforations. To prevent theft and reuse, stamps were overprinted with the name of the district post office where they were sold.

Issued in 1856, this stamp marks Mexico's entry into the postal reform movement that began with Great Britain's Penny Black. The use of district overprints was a unique security measure for the time.