US Postage Stamps // Philatelic Project // Unincorporated Territories

        

Guam
[Guåhån]
Hagåtña (formerly named Agana), GU // Micronesia // Chamorro Time
First European landing: March 6, 1521, Ferdinand Magellan's
(* 1480, † 1521) Spanish expedition
Claimed for the Spanish Crown: 1565 by Miguel López de Legazpi
(* c. 1502, † 1572), Governor-General of
Spanish East Indies
Spanish colony established: 1668
by Padre San Vitores (* 1627, † 1672)
Invasion of US forces: June 20, 1898 at Apra Harbor during the
Spanish-American War (*)
Japanese occupation in WW II: December 8, 1941 - July 20, 1944
Liberation by US forces: July 21, 1944
US citizenship granted: July 1, 1950
(*) Spain ceded Guam, along with the Philippines and Puerto Rico, then under Spanish sovereignty, to the USA under the Treaty of Paris on December 10, 1898.
View map of Guam

#4286 // September 2, 2008
(self-adhesive coil definitive)
Flags of Our Nation Series

Territorial flag of Guam,
fish and tropic bird
View Guam quarter

Stamps overprinted "Guam" were issued while the post office was under the jurisdiction of the Navy Department from July 7, 1899, until March 29, 1901, when a Postal Agent was appointed by the Post Office Department and the postal service passed under that Department's control. From this date on Guam was supplied with regular US postage stamps, although the overprints remained in use for several more years.
#1 // 1899
(overprint on US #279)

Benjamin Franklin
(* 1706, MA, † 1790, PA),
one of the United States'
Founding Fathers,
and first US Postmaster,
in office 1775 - 1776
#2/a // 1899
(overprint on US #279B/c)

George Washington
(* 1732, VA, † 1799, VA),
one of the United States'
Founding Fathers,
and first US President,
in office 1789 - 1797
#3 // 1899
(overprint on US #268)

Andrew Jackson
(* 1767, Waxhaws, † 1845, TN),
7th US President,
in office 1829 - 1837
#4 // 1899
(overprint on US #280a

Abraham Lincoln
(* 1809, KY, † 1865, DC),
16th US President,
in office 1861 - 1865,
assassinated
#5 // 1899
(overprint on US #281)

Ulysses S. Grant
(* 1822, OH, † 1885, NY),
General of the Union Army,
18th US President,
in office 1869 - 1877
#6 // 1899
(overprint on US #282)

James A. Garfield
(* 1831, OH, † 1881, NJ),
20th US President, in office
March 4, 1881 - Sept 19, 1881,
assassinated
All of the black overprints were applied to the stamps in the US, while the red overprints were done at the post office in Guam. The overprints were sold for exactly double the face value currently on the US stamps. The "Guam" overprinted stamps are extremly scarce and have a high catalogue/market value.
Scott catalogue value for stamp set Nos. 1-8, 10-12 (11 stamps)
US$ 3,000 (mint, never hinged), US$ 1,500 (mint, hinged), US$ 1,900 (used)
#7 // 1899
(overprint on US #272)

William T. Sherman
(* 1820, OH, † 1891, NY),
General of the Union Army
#8/9 // 1899
(overprint on US
#282C [brown - #8],
#283 [orange brown - #9])


Daniel Webster
(* 1782, NH, † 1852, MA),
Whig leader and US Senator
#10 // 1899
(overprint on US #284)

Henry Clay
(* 1777, VA, † 1852, DC)
Politician
#11/a // 1899
(overprint on US #275/a)

Thomas Jefferson
(* 1743, VA, † 1826, VA),
one of the United States'
Founding Fathers
and third US President,
in office 1801 - 1809
#12/13 // 1899
(red overprint on US
#276 [type I - #12],
#276A [type II - #13])


Oliver Hazard Perry
(* 1785, RI, † 1819, Trinidad)
Naval Commander
(Battle of Lake Erie, 1812)
#E1 // 1899
Special Postal Delivery
(red overprint on US #E2)

Messenger running

#C143 // June 1, 2007 // Barrigada, GU
Air Mail Stamp
Scenic American Landscapes Series

Hagåtña Bay, Guam, located on the
island's western shore

Guam, located in the western Pacific Ocean, is the southernmost island of the
Mariana Island chain and largest island in Micronesia.

The Chamorros, the indigenous people of Guam,
first populated the island approximately 4,000 years ago.

Guam's main sources of income are tourism and the island's US military facilities.
Land Area
rounded mi2 [km2]
209 [541]
Population
(census 2010)
159,358
Population Density
per mi2 [km2] of land area
762 [295]


        

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