Spanish Philippines Revenues 1856-1898

Blog update October 17, 2025

I started to collect the Spanish period Philippines revenues, 1856-1898 some 5 years ago.

I have now collected enough stamps to start a serious study. This period revenues is very interesting. All revenue stamps are at least 125 years old. they are reasonably easy to find and the price for most of the stamps is quite modest. The Philippines as a Spanish period is quite unknown, but their revenue stamps give an interesting glimpse in the history and the social and economic activities of the 19th century Philippines.

The Spanish period ended in 1898 when the Spanish-American war ended, and the USA became the new colonial power in the Philippines.

The Warren Revenue Stamp catalog for Spanish Philippines.

The "Warren" Philippines revenue stamp catalog refers to Arnold H. Warren's comprehensive works, most notably "Fiscal Stamps of the Philippines: Handbook-Catalogue, 1856 to 1941" which was serialized in The American Philatelist, starting in 1967. This catalog is used by collectors to identify and reference Philippine revenue stamps, with "W" numbers assigned by Warren. The Warren catalog can be found by clicking HERE.

The Nigel Gooding collection of Spanish Philippines period 1856-1898.

Because the Warren catalog is in black and white, it is sometimes quite difficult to identify stamps. The Nigel Gooding collection, which is posted on his website, https://nigelgooding.co.uk/ is nearly complete and all the stamps are referenced by the Warren number. To View Nigel Gooding's collection, click HERE.