Status: Presidential Republic
Population 9,594,440 (2022 estimate)                    
Area: 43,278 sq. miles                    
Currency: 100 centavos = 1 lempira (1 lempira = 4 U.S. cents) 

Honduras is a Central American nation about the size of Tennessee. It was discovered by Columbus in 1502 on his fourth and final voyage and was the first place Columbus set foot on the North American continent. 

In 1521, after his conquest of the Aztec Empire, Hernan Cortés sent a force under Cristobal de Olid to conquer Honduras. He established a settlement at Puerto Cortés on the Caribbean coast. The discovery of silver and gold in the central highlands led to moving the capital to Comayagua and then Tegucigalpa. 

After independence from Spain in 1821, Honduras was briefly part of the Central American Federation. It withdrew in 1838. For the next century, Honduras suffered from internal strife and wars with its neighbors. The U.S. Marines intervened six times in Honduras between 1903 and 1925 to restore order or to protect American interests. 

In 1864, the newly elected President Medina instructed his consul in England to order postage stamps. Two versions of the stamp were printed, one on a pink wood pulp paper and one on a light green cotton fiber paper. The first was for parts of the country where copper currency was prevalent, the second for areas where only silver currency was accepted. Many sheets of the first issue were sold by Honduran diplomats directly to a British stamp dealer before the stamps ever reached Honduras. Although inscribed “dos reales,” a rate change resulted in the stamps being sold for one real.

From left to right: The rare Black Honduras airmail overprint, Scott C12, recently sold by Mystic Stamp Company. (Image courtesy of Mystic Stamp Co.). , Scott 291, and Scott C23

There was little demand for the postal service. The majority of the population was illiterate and the wealthy preferred a more reliable means of communication. About half of the mail was international. In 1876 President Soto revamped the postal system in preparation for joining the new UPU. It was admitted in 1879.

In 1922, the government contracted with Thomas Pounds, an American eye doctor, to initiate an airmail service from the capital to Puerto Cortés, the major port on the north coast. The first flight was April 20. An accident in late June resulted in suspension of the flights. 

The mail required two stamps — one a regular postage stamp, the other a special “airmail” stamp for the contractor. The government could not produce the special stamps in time for the flight so they gave Pounds some remainders from the 1915-16 issue which he was authorized to overprint. Pounds teamed up with Karl Snow, head of a Seventh-day Adventist English school in Comayagua, who overprinted the stamps “Aero Correo” on a crank printer in his basement. Several values were also surcharged 25 centavos – the basic letter rate. 

Snow produced a number of varieties, including the famous “Black Honduras” and “Red Honduras,” the rarest airmail stamps, whose interesting stories have been well researched by Ken Lawrence. 

Left: Honduras Scott C288, Right: Honduras Scott C728 

Honduras’ roads remain poor and its mountainous terrain difficult, with the result that air transportation continues to enjoy great importance in the country. Consequently, the Scott catalog records more than four times as many Honduras airmail stamps as regular postage stamps – a unique ratio for any country.