From from 30 March to 17 June 1922, Portuguese naval aviators Carlos Viegas Gago Coutinho, GCTE, GCC (1869–1959) and Artur de Sacadura Freire Cabral, GCTE (1881–1924) accomplished the first aerial crossing of the South Atlantic to mark the centennial of Brazil’s independence. Coutinho and Cabral flew in stages from Lisbon, Portugal, to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, using three different Fairey IIID biplanes, and covered 8,383 km (5,209 miles).
In 1972, Portugal and its colonies (Angola, Cabo Verde, Guinea, Macau, Mozambique, São Tomé & Príncipe, and Timor) issued stamps to commemorate the 50th anniversary of this event. The Portuguese set of four stamps was issued with a perforation of 11¾ x 12½, but two values were issued with a perforation of 13½, with a low number of stamps issued. I have found that some Portuguese colonial stamps have been hard to find and sometimes relatively expensive for their issue year, but the high face value of the 13½ pair, 3.80 escudo, was especially hard to find and very expensive.
Well, I recently made an offer on a mint unhinged 3.80 escudo stamp with 13½ perforation to a dealer in Lisbon, Portugal, which they accepted, and the stamp arrived a few days ago. This is part of my joy with stamp collecting!
Click here to see the collection: https://dicksstamps.online/collections/1972-s-atlantic-1st-aerial-crossing-50th/
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Posted 4 July 2024 by Dick Eassom