"You collect Nicaragua?"

Yes, someone asked me that not too long ago. I, indeed, collect Nicaragua. Nicaragua is one of about 30 countries I collect in Central and South America because I've been there. That's the same reason I collect about forty countries in Europe, Asia, and North America. I also collect every stamp issued between May, 1840, and December, 1990, plus at least a 'representative sample' of stamps from newly-minted countries after the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1990.

Actually, collecting Nicaragua can be both fun and exciting. Admittedly, there isn't much interesting to collect during the days of the Sandanistas. They put out the typical wallpaper issues prevalent in Africa during the same period, and only slightly better (in both quality and integrity) than the Sand-Dune junk. The early stuff, through about 1900, has the Seebeck blot upon it, but between 1901 and 1970, Nicaragua can be quite interesting.

First, Nicaragua has the largest fresh-water lake in Central America, Lago Nicaragua. It also has some of the most active volcanos in Central America, mostly located between the two lakes, Lago Nicaragua and Lago Managua, near the capital, and the Pacific Ocean. What most encyclopedias and other books won't tell you is that for most of Nicaragua's history, there was no easy, direct access between the Pacific and Atlantic coastal zones. The first road connecting the two zones was completed in the late 1970's or early 1980's. That's why many of the stamps are airmail - that was the only way to get letters from one place to another in the country, and it wasn't much easier to get mail to and from other Central American countries.

That led to two Nicaraguan oddities - the stamps for Cabo Gracias a Dios, and for the province of Zelaya. Stamps used in such oddly named towns as "Bluefield" and "el Bluff", of "Puerto Cabezas" and "San Juan del Norte", are prized by collectors who actually study Nicaraguan postal history.

No discussion of Nicaraguan stamps could be complete without discussing the many issues of the 1914 "National Palace" and "Leon Cathedral" sets, overprints, surcharges, and errors. A person could spend a lifetime studying just these stamps, and not have a complete collection. I always buy every one I can, because it's impossible to know which ones I have and what I don't!

I'm building an inventory of my collection that has spaces for every stamp issued by each nation, including the varieties. The Scott catalogues (at least my old 2003 varieties) number Nicaraguan stamps from 1 through 2371, from C1 through C1196, CB1 through CB11, CO1 through CO59, J1 through J48, O1 through O384, and RA1 through RA75, not counting the Zelaya and Cabo Gracias a Dios issues. I haven't built a complete inventory for Nicaragua yet, but I'm sure the total number of stamps will be significantly larger than the 4144 the catalogue would lead one to expect!