El Salvador released its first postage stamps in 1867, around the same time as its neighbors in the area — Guatemala, to the north, issued its first in 1871; Honduras, to the south, in 1866.
El Salvador’s first stamps featured a volcano, and were used for several years. Early stamps of El Salvador used the legend CORREOS DEL SALVADOR, REPÚBLICA DEL SALVADOR, or something similar, so note that due to the rules of the Spanish language you might not actually see El Salvador on some stamps. In later years, stamps began to use the “… DE EL SALVADOR” form, perhaps to ensure that the name of the country appeared un-prefixed on stamps.
(Note also that in some alphabetical lists, the name of the country is grouped under S, instead of E. This is more correct technically — “El” just means “The” — but for this English-language website we’ve chosen to alphabetize El Salvador under E.)
More: Albania Stamps: Collecting a Twisted History of Names
Before 1905, El Salvadoran postage stamps used the currency system based on pesos. 1 peso = 8 reales or 100 centavos. In 1905, stamps were issued for the nation’s new currency: 1 colón = 100 centavos. There are quite a few overprints as well from this transitional period, with old stamps being surcharged with the new units.
In addition to regular-use postage stamps, El Salvador has issued air post stamps, official stamps, postage due stamps, and other collectibles. There are also special collectors’ items from various times, and collectors also often buy interesting and unique covers related to El Salvador.
