Série vovó: Brazilian definitive stamps of 1920-1941
As long as I remember, I’ve been afraid of sorting Brazilian definitive series of 1920-1941 (also known as ‘Série vovó’). The facts for the series are quite frightening: 11 designs, 44 face different stamps (incl.overprints), 13 different papers. Depending on catalog used, there are 145-168 major numbers to collect. And that’s just the big picture. These stamps have a mountain of different perforations, color variations etc. These make a daunting identification challenge indeed! Anyway, I made myself a new years promise to get all the duplicates (as well as those already in my collection) properly organized.
I spend most of new years day by going through various stamp catalogs in my possession: Michel SudAmerika, Yvert Classics du Monde, Scott Classic Specialized and RHM Brazil. Not so surprisingly, I once again learned that catalogs have plenty of contradicting information (which surely adds confusion). Part of mixed knowledge might be explained by the fact that I don’t have the latest & greatest editions of catalogs, but still… I would have expected more consistency. Sigh…Anyway, I headed onwards by creating a detailed summary of available details from various sources using Microsoft Excel as my aid:
By typing information found on various catalogs into Excel, I gained much better understanding of what's available. Also I no longer have to resort to multiple catalogs, as all the information is on single spreadsheet in easy-to-search format.
The Designs
The series has 11 different designs, and 44 face different stamps. All the high values (1,000 Reis or more) are engraved, lower values are printed using letterpress (typo). This series is a prime example of classic stamp design at it’s best.
Brazil 1920-1941. Definitive series 'vovo' - horizontal designs. Designs in this series are more or less allegorical: movement (railroad), navigation and faith & energy.
Brazilian RHM catalog divides the stamps into two series. The original series was issued on unwatermarked paper in 1920. These stamps were re-issued three times on differently watermarked paper.
Brazil 1920-1941. Definitive series 'vovo' - vertical designs. More allegorical designs: industry (worker), commerce (Mercury),aviation, and agriculture (farmer).
The second series with new colors and values was issued from 1928 to 1941; these exist in 9 different watermarks.
Brazil 1920-1941. Definitive series 'vovo' - high values. The engraved high values in the series display education and Ruy Barbosa. The education stamp exists with inscription BRAZIL and BRASIL, and there is another design for Mr. Barbosa stamp with different frame and larger central image. Unfortunately I don't have these, so no images - sorry.
Additionally, some of the stamps have been overprinted with new values both for regular (definitive) or commemorative (Zeppelin overprints) usage:
Brazil 1931. Commerce. 200 reis on 300 reis overprint on ESTADOS UNIDOS DE BO BRASIL watermarked paper (Yvert 253b, Michel 389X, Scott 377, RHM 352). In mythology, Mercury was god of commerce and trade. The details of the design are astonishing.
About watermarks
When looking back at my past attempts to sort these, possibly the biggest mistake I did was neglecting the watermark identification if possible. For this series, watermark is the only trustworthy identification characteristic. I can’t stress the importance of this: always check the watermark first!
Available watermarks on this series. Watermark images © Schwaneberger Verlag / Michel. Click for larger image.
Identifying the watermark accurately is not the easiest task, as there are several similar ones and sometimes the watermarks can be very weak. But it’s doable with time and patience. Personally I noted that the easiest approach is to first rough sort available stamps into three piles: those that seem unwatermarked, those that seem to have horizontal or vertical text watermark, and those with other type of watermark. Then simply rework one pile at a time and compare what you have to both watermark images and other stamps.
One of the interesting philatelic tidbits is that stamps from CASA DA MODA sheet watermark paper can exist unwatermarked. This is because the design of sheet / watermark leaves some stamps into position where no parts of the watermark face a stamp.
According to Michel, watermark position has usually no influence on catalog values.
There are few very valuable watermarked varieties to spot, and RHM catalolog lists some unique finds not listed on other catalogs. It seems new finds are still made from these stamps. Who knows what rarities are lurking inside all the messy worldwide lots 
About perforations
On general level these stamps come in two distinct and easy to identify perforation types: thick (perf.11½ or less) and thin (perf.12½ or higher). The quality of perforation varies a lot, especially stamps with thick perforation seem to prone for missing perfs and other faults.
1931 Brazil. 400 Reis Commerce. Same stamp, but different perforation and shade. Watermark CORREIO BRASIL with southern cross. Yvert 176b, Michel 360, Scott 336, RHM 285.
Possibly the biggest nuisance I have experienced so far comes with perforation measurements. There’s huge amount of contradicting information for precise perforation figures on catalogs. So what catalog to rely upon? The Brazilian RHM catalog would feel like the most logical choice, but it has lots of occasions where perforation is not stated precisely (or I can’t read/understand the listings correctly ). And I’ve definitely learned to love and trust the German quality provided by Michel catalogs. But even Michel doesn’t seem to be fully accurate on these stamps 
So my advice: if you are into collecting all the varieties, measure every stamp.
About colors
All values are known with endless variety of tones/shades (see earlier image). Identification based on color is simply not trustworthy on these stamps!
Errors and flaws
With such long running and complex series there must be tons of errors and flaws waiting to be found. Though I started with just a small pile number of these stamps, I managed to find a small ’scratch flaw’ worth including to my album:
Brazil 1920. Aviation, 100 reis red. Unwatermarked paper (Yvert#170,Michel#215,Scott#223,RHM#180). Notice the scratch flaw running through sky.
Putting stamps into album
Usually I follow the order defined by Michel when putting stamps into my albums, but this time I chose differently and created a mixture of RHM and Michel.
I started by designing and printing placeholders for all the series and stamps (using Microsoft Word). Then I cut those placeholders and put them in proper order to stock book. Finally, I simply had to identify the stamps, and put them on top of proper placeholder.
This is what the final result looks like. There is a space for each major variety, and as You can see, lots of spaces to fill. The stamps on bottom of right page are varieties (colors, perforations, flaws etc)
I sorted well over 100 stamps, but managed to fill only 45 spaces; so I still need to locate the rest 117 varieties I have spaces. These seem to be oh so common, but yet elusive. Well, I’m sure I’ll come accross most of the missing items some day.
Closing words
Here’s one final tidbit for the road… The Portuguese nickname of the series, vovó, means grandmother. The following Brazilian definitive series (almost as challenging to collect) were named as ‘Netinha’ (granddaughter) and ‘Bisneto’ (grandson). I’ve read several explanations for the names, but one of the most common ones is that grandmothers seem to go on forever, whereas grandaughters and grandsons are usually pretty short lived
I definitely learned a lot from this series, and I hope You had fun with this short general introduction as well. If any of you would like to receive the Excel sheet I created (and the placeholders), please do ask. I’ll be more than happy to email a copy of them.
Till next time, happy collecting!
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Fun, isn’t it?
The 1920-41 definitives of Brazil ( What I call the “orphan” definitives because of lack of space in Scott International part I album) is clearly a challenge. I managed only to identify about 50% of the watermarks on first go-around; perhaps I would do somewhat better now.
Thanks for the nice discussion and the Michel watermark identification guide.
@Jim… Indeed this was lots of fun. The watermarks on these can be challenging, but I think the more you look at them, the better you get at identifying them. Surprisingly I managed to identify most of them simply by looking against the light, or placing stamp on black surface and looking at angle – only very few required more techical solutions (MorleyBright or fluid)…. I’ve already got the stamps from ‘Netinha’ series spread all over my table and I’m eagerly waiting to sort them out properly.
I too have struggled with the watermarks on these, especially where the watermarks include the same letters but in different sizes. I can’t figure out how Scott measures things. For example, with watermarks, are they measuring from the top to bottom of the design itself or from the bottom of one line to the bottom of the next. The watermark measurements in Scott seem to never match the sizes on the stamp.
The same usually is true for the sizes they list for the face of the stamp. Is it the size from perf edge to perf edge or the edges of the design or something in between? Often neither matches my stamps. I’ve taken to using automotive calipers, instead of my ruler, which decreases margin of error on my part but often still does not resolve to the same measurements as the catalog.
In the end, I usually compare what I have and make my best guess. Maybe I make it sound horrible but it can be fun when you get into it!
Re, watermark sizes… I think Scott relies on other catalogs on this, as the figures are identical on all sources. The measurements are row sizes: from top line of letter to bottom line of letter Here’s another trick (similar to using foil for identifying engraved stamps)… Cut yourself very small (3-4mm wide) pieces of paper that are equal to height of watermark (ie. 6,7 and 8mm). Then when you are viewing the watermark (either against black background, or against light), place the paper (partially) on top of the watermarked letter – and voila. Measuring watermark sizes becomes very easy.
Re, stamp size… As far as I know, every catalog measures it from one edge of the design to another.
And making guesses… There’s nothing wrong with that. I’ve been thinking that when going through ‘grandsons/daughters’, but I’m too stubborn to give up yet
Added afterwards… Come to think of it, some papertypes can shrink / enlarge when wet. But this should not affect the dimensions much (less than 0.5mm).
Hi Keijo,
I’d would like a copy of the excel sheet for these Brazilian definitives.
Just love the information that you share!
TIA
Denise
@Denise… One copy coming right up your way. I’d be more than happy to hear what you think of it.
Great work, I’m currently working on these series. Following mostly RHM, i’ve written this post on my blog about them: http://albumdeestampillas.blogspot.com/2011/09/brasil-vovo-netinha-e-bisneta.html
I would really like to see the spreadsheet and the place holders, thanks.
Pablo
Hi Pablo,
You’ve done some excellent work with Your blog post too
I’d really love to hear/read your further opinions on collecting the Vovo-series (and especially the grandchildren).
I just sent you email – hope you’ll find the files useful.
Hi Keijo,
Can I too have a copy of the excel sheet for these Brazilian definitives please?
As always, a most interesting blog article
Thanks
Laurence
@Laurence… Sure. I just sent you email. Hope You find it useful.
This will make me take a closer look at my stamps!
Just a small correction, netinho = little grandson; bisneto = great-grandson (the forms ending in ‘a’ being feminine).
@Spiegel…
Good catch… Fixed the typo. Thanks
You have encouraged me to return to my piles of these to try and sort. I have to sort through more than I care to count (probably 000+) spread across several binders and glassine envelopes.
I also would appreciate a copy of your spreadsheet.
Thanks for the nice article.
@Bruce J…. Trust me, these are very sortable once you get into them.
I just sent You email, so please check Your inbox.
Oi Keijo,
I thought to make a same file in Excel, it’s bether if you have created it.
I’d would like a copy of the excel sheet for these Brazilian definitives.
Many thanks.
Dominique.
@Dominique… I just sent you email.