This is a revenue stamp from a series of stamps which was also used for postage. These were the only stamps used for postage in Venezuela from March, 1871, to August, 1873, and they were also largely employed for postal purposes in conjunction with the square “Arms” type, with control overprint, from this date onwards to 1879, when both were superseded by the larger-sized “Escuelas” stamp dating 1879. The inscription “Escuelas,” which is Spanish for “schools,” is explained by the fact that the revenue accruing from the use of these stamps was intended to be applied for the purposes of public instruction. They are so rarely found postmarked because only a very few places in Venezuela possessed a cancelling stamp at this date, and when used on letters they are generally found pen-cancelled. At the same time it is true that the great majority of the copies found to-day have been fiscally used. The stamps were lithographed, the heads being laid down first and the frames added afterwards.

• The stamps fall into three groups depending on overprint type:
  • A With control overprint in upright microscopic letters in two double lines reading ”BOLIVAR, SUCREM, MIRANDA” and “DECRETO DE 27 ABRIL DE 1870.”
  • B With control overprint in microscopic italic letters in one double line reading “DECRETO DE 27 DE JUNIO DE 1870 “many times repeated, the lines of lettering being tete-beche.
  • C With the same overprint as B, but in two double lines, As far as is known there were eight issues of these stamps