What Can Be Done: Mexico is one of the most complicated and difficult countries to collect. Some areas, like Germany, are difficult to collect at an advanced level but fairly easy to assemble a nice, comprehensive, specialized collection by Scott. Mexico is complex at every level. First, there are an enormous number of very rare Mexican stamps. Most countries have a few scarce stamps which makes collecting them a enjoyable climb. Mexico has so many very rare stamps that assembling a high caliber collection is like scaling Mt. Everest.
The reasons for Mexico being such a difficult country are many. First, Mexico has always had a problem with forged stamps. The central government of Mexico in the nineteenth century had trouble controlling the vast area of the country. Many postal forgeries were made (postal forgeries are stamps that are forged by people trying to use them as postage to defraud the postal system). Postal forgeries have only been a real problem in a few countries (Spain is another). Postal forgeries are a form of counterfeiting and tend drive governments crazy (countries go to great lengths to prevent counterfeiting even when it is comparatively uncommon). Mexico’s response to the postal forgery problem was to create short lived issues (so postal forgers couldn’t use their forged plates for long), use various watermarks on the paper (which were very h
ard for forgers to duplicate), use various threads in the paper, and to place various district overprints on stamps before consigning them to regional post offices. Even disregarding the district overprints (which collectors rightly regard as minor varieties and not major numbers), Mexico has hundreds of collectible varieties for stamps that have little face difference.
If this were not enough, because Mexico had so many rare stamps so early in its philatelic history, and because Mexican law didn’t recognize counterfeiting demonetized stamps as a crime, philatelic forgeries of classic Mexico are very common and quite difficult to distinguish (Most philatelic experts get a pretty good feel for the genuine and fake of most countries. Mexico is quite a different matter). Raoul de Thuin was a famous Mexican (and Latin American) forger who made hundreds of different Mexican forgeries alone. No one could get the Mexican government to stop him, and the American Philatelic Society finally had to buy out his stock and his plates in the 1960s.
Overprints are another problem with Mexican stamps. Throughout the nineteenth and into the early twentieth century, many issues were overprinted, and many are quite rare. There are numerous forgeries. The Officials of Mexico are nearly all rare, and nearly all are just a simple overprint on a more common regular issue. Watermarks create another problem. Several long and valuable 1890-1920 sets are distinguishable only by watermarks. Anyone who knows this situation in the US with the Washington-Franklin issue knows that it doesn’t help to make a country collector friendly. Further, there are several very rare and valuable stamps from the 1930s that are distinguishable by watermark alone. No other country in the world has such rare (and expensive) major number watermark varieties that were issued at such a late date.
In the post-WWII period, where the philately of most countries is a walk in the park, Mexico continues its complexity. The definitives and airmails have scores of scarce and hard to distinguish varieties. Overall, Mexico is a challenge to collect and not a pleasant one.
Specialty Catalogs: Whenever a country is as difficult to collect as is Mexico, some of the
fault must lie with the catalogs. Scott is the main catalog used for Mexico. Its listings are very comprehensive. What many specialists criticize is Scott’s listing of some watermark varieties as major numbers and some as “a” number varieties. The difference is significant. A major number has a space in the specialty album and every collector needs it to complete the page. A minor number is only collected by specialists. The difference in price for such a distinction could be thousands of dollars. Mexico would a far more popular country to collect if the Scott catalog made the listings easier and more consistent.
Specialty Albums: Scott makes a very good specialty album. The Lighthouse hingeless specialty album for Mexico is excellent.
Expense: Overall, Mexico is one of the most expensive countries to collect. There are numerous stamps that sell for over a thousand dollars. Forgeries are very common and very hard to tell. Rarer Mexico stamps should only be bought with certificates from recognized experts.
Availability of Material: Overall, Mexico has issued thousands of different stamps. Most are inexpensive and readily available. An interesting sub-specialty of collecting Mexico is collecting district overprints on early stamps. To avoid counterfeiting and postal theft, the Mexican authorities overprinted early stamps with district and consignment numbers when they sent stamps to various post offices. Most district overprints are fairly common though some are rare. Books listing the overprints and their scarcity are available from the American Philatelic Research Library.
Overall Collecting Grade: C