the place where Paleontology and Paleoanthropology meets Philately
Bolivia
Dinosaurs and their traces, fossil found places, paleontologists on stamps and postmarks of Bolivia
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Contents:
- Country overview
- Philately of Bolivia
- Official stamps of Bolivia related to Paleontology
- Another stamps of Bolivia to consider
- Commemorative postmarks of Bolivia related to Paleontology
- References
- Acknowledgements
Bolivia, officially known as the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in western-central South America. It is bordered to the north and east by Brazil, to the southeast by Paraguay, to the south by Argentina, to the southwest by Chile, and to the northwest by Peru.
Although only one-third of the country is located in the Andean mountain range, its largest city and principal economic centers are in the Altiplano. Bolivia was formerly known as Upper Peru and became an independent republic on 6 August 1825. [R1]
It has produced its own stamps since 1867. Stamps from Bolivia are marked as Correos de Bolivia. Tensions between Chile and Bolivia have influenced both country's stamps and postal history. [R2]
So far dinosaurs have appeared on stamps of Bolivia only twice in 1997 and 2012. Bolivia issues FDCs in very limited quantities. For example, only 200 covers were issued for the 2012 dinosaur stamps.
Official stamps of Bolivia related to Paleontology: dinosaurs, fossils, paleontologist
| 30.01.1997 "Tourism in Chuquisaca" [1] | 26.09.2002 "Bicentenary of the birth of Naturalist Alcide d'Orbigny" [2] | 08.07.2012 "Paleontological Deposits of Chuquisaca" |
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| 2018 overprinted "Paleontological Deposits of Chuquisaca" [3] | ||
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Notes:
[1] Chuquisaca is a department of Bolivia located in the center south. It borders on the departments of Cochabamba, Tarija, Potosí, and Santa Cruz. The departmental capital is Sucre, which is also the constitutional capital of Bolivia.
Many dinosaur footprints are found there. The footprints and dinosaurs who left these footprints are depicted on the stamps issued in 1997 and 2012. They were also used in the illustration for the 2007 Tourism, Tourist destinations, Tourist Departments – Chuquisaca” issue.
[2] Alcide Charles Victor Marie Dessalines d'Orbigny (6 September 1802 – 30 June 1857) was a French naturalist who made major contributions in many areas, including zoology (including malacology), paleontology, geology, archaeology and anthropology.
He was also the first person to describe planktonic foraminifera from modern oceans. [R3]
[3]
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| The overprint mark of Bolivian Post 2018. |
According to the Bolivian Philately Club, the Bolivian Post Authority dissolved la Empresa de Correos de Bolivia (ECOBOL), the company responsible for producing Bolivia’s postage stamps from 1993 to 2017, during a reorganization in 2018. To prevent illegal reprints or the unauthorized use of leftover ECOBOL stock, the stamps held by the Bolivian Post were overprinted between May and June 2018 with a small red mark “Agencia Boliviana de Correos”, applied in several sizes ranging from 9.9 mm to 10.8 mm. [R4]
The dinosaur overprinted stamps received their Scott numbers in the October 2023, December 2023, and February 2024 Scott Updates: 1503A–1506A (the letter “A” was added to the original 2012 stamp numbers). As of August 2025, the MICHEL catalogue does not yet list these dinosaur stamps, although it does include some other overprinted issues. The catalogue notes:
Other remaining stocks of invalidated stamps were overprinted with the red post office stamp, but it cannot be proven beyond doubt which ones were actually issued by the post office.
However, the original (non-overprinted) stamps are still accepted for postage. The example below shows overprinted stamps from 2007 and 2017 on the left, alongside identical stamps, without overprint, cancelled on a cover posted in 2025. This evidence raises doubts about the claim that the 2018 overprints were introduced to prevent the postal use of pre-2018 issues.
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| Overprinted stamps of Bolivia from 2007 and 2017. | Original stamps of Bolivia from 2007 and 2017, on an envelope posted in 2025. |
Other stamps to consider: fossil found places
| 14.12.2007 "Tourism, tourist destinations, Tourist Departments - Chuquisaca" [1] | 06.09.2013 "Conservation Association of Torotoro, 25th Anniversary" [A1] | |
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Notes:
[A1] The Conservation League Torotoro (ACT), was founded on June 10, 1988, in order to promote the conservation, protection and proper management of flora and fauna, paleontological and speleological resources and natural beauty of the area Torotoro. Some dinosaurs are depicting on FDC and commemorative postmark.
Commemorative postmarks and meter franking of Bolivia related to Paleontology: dinosaurs, contributors to Paleontology
Legend is here| 26.09.2002 "Bicentenary of the birth of Naturalist Alcide d'Orbigny" [2] [FDC] | 08.07.2012 "Paleontological Deposits of Chuquisaca" [1] [FDC] | 06.09.2013 "Conservation Association of Torotoro, 25th Anniversary" [A1] [FDC] |
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References:
- [R1] Bolivia: Wikipedia, WikiTravel, FlagCounter.
- [R2] Postal History and Philately of Bolivia:
Wikipedia,
Links to official website of the Post Authority, stamp catalog and a list of new stamps of Bolivia are here. - [R3] Alcide Charles Victor Marie Dessalines d'Orbigny: Wikipedia
- [R4] Bolivian Philately Club: official website
Acknowledgements:
Many thanks to Dr. Peter Voice from Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Western Michigan University, for reviewing the draft page and his very valuable comments.
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