Chihuahua


Chihuahua, medio real. Parral cancel Sz160 in blue.	Chihuahua, dos reales, plate I olive. Chihuahua Cancel Sz136 in red.	Chihuahua, dos reales, plate I sapphire. Parral cancel Sz160 in blue.	Chihuahua, dos reales, plate III blue-green. Guajuquilla cancel Sz156.

Chihuahua is the capital of the state of Chihuahua. It was the 20^th largest postal district, based on the number of stamps used, and 19^th by total value of all stamps used. The average cost of the stamps used was 1.72 reales. The city of Chihuahua had about 14,000 inhabitants in 1850.

Chihuahua had 16 sub-offices: Allende (Valle de San Bartolome), Mariano Balleza (San Pablo Balleza, San Pablo Tepehuanes), Batosegachic, Cosihuiriachic (Cusihuiriachi), Guadalupe y Calvo, Guajuquilla, Guazapares, La Concepcion, Mineral de Jesus Maria y Jose Rayon, Parral (Hidalgo de Parral), Paso del Norte, Pilar de Conchos, Rio Florido (Villa Coronado), Rosales, Santa Rosalia and Uruachic.

The following consignments were made according to Chapman:
	Day	Month	Year	Invoice #	Medio	Un	Dos	Cuatro	Ocho
Sent	30	8	1856	14	5760	4740	2040	300	780
Sent	31	12	1856	98		3000	3000
Sent	7	1	1857	6			1500	1500
Sent	11	5	1857	94	960	1000	2850
Sent	15	7	1857	142				600
Sent	14	8	1857	160			1900
Sent	26	10	1857	212	600	2000	3800
Sent	29	1	1858	14	600	1000	3800	300	300
Total sent				8	7920	11740	18890	2700	1080
Returned								-52
Total Used	42278			8	7920	11740	18890	2648	1080
Distribution					18.73%	27.77%	44.68%	6.26%	2.55%
Distribution vs. all stamps					1.04%	0.85%	1.18%	1.74%	1.15%

7,740 of the un real stamps (129 sheets) were from the wide setting, plate I and / or II, leaving only 4,000 stamps (20 sheets) from plate III and / or IV. Large margins should therefore be expected on most un real stamps.

The first two consignments probably contained 5,040 dos reales from plate I in the emerald and olive shades, while the third probably contained 1,500 stamps in the sapphire shade. However, the consignments could contain more than one shade, and almost any combination is possible, for example 2,040 emerald, 3,000 sapphire and 1,500 olive. 12,350 dos reales stamps from plate III were sent.

The Chihuahua overprint is approximately 21 by 2 mm. It's generally nicely struck.
The overprint is most often found in a horizontal position. Rarely is it found applied vertically. It seems that this practise was reversed sometime shortly after the introduction of the 1861 issue.

On average, the stamps have normal margins for the issue.

Forgeries from Chihuahua are uncommon.

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