The Canal Zone was a tiny area and administrative district that was carved out of the Republic of Panama in the early years of the twentieth century for the purpose of building an canal across the isthmus of Panama. The political rationalization for the Canal Zone was that the United States was going to put up the money to build a canal between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and we wanted to be sure that we had administrative control over a region that had very little government indeed.
The philately of the Canal Zone is among the most interesting in all of our hobby. The stamps are listed in the Scott United States Specialized catalog and comprise hundreds of major issues. But the real interest in this country is in the many varieties. As many of the stamps and overprints were locally produced,there are literally thousands of varieties listed by Scott and as many more that are not even in the catalog. And the great fun of this country is how inexpensive it is compared to rarity. Here is a US area of influence country in the Specialized catalog with varieties of which less than 50 or 100 were issued and they often sell for less (sometimes much less) than $100 each. We are offering a nice selection of Canal Zone in our August Auction (what a coincidence!). If you re looking for a new area of interest, take a look at Canal Zone. And the specialists of this area have and active and interesting club that can be found here http://www.canalzonestudygroup.com/