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Sheet of "Playa Girón" fundraising stamps (Fidel Castro), Imprenta Nacional de Cuba, Serie 4
Object/Artifact
A complete printed sheet of 25 identical stamps (5 × 5), perforated and still joined, on paper with selvage (margins) on all sides. Each stamp shows a side profile portrait of Fidel Castro against a blue ground; denomination "1 ctv." at upper right; "Playa Girón" across the center; "Cuba Democrática y Socialista" below; and, along the left edge and top of each design, the slogan "Los pueblos no temen a la muerte sino al yugo," with the name "Fidel Castro" in small type. The sheet selvage is printed vertically at left "IMPRENTA NACIONAL DE CUBA," vertically at right "COMISIÓN PLAYA GIRÓN," and at bottom center "SERIE 4." A handwritten "17" appears in the upper-right margin.
2025.1.201
Preserved by Leopoldo Arús Gálvez
The Cabrera Arús family collection
Leopoldo Arús Gálvez collection
2025.1
Imprenta Nacional de Cuba
1961
1960s
Date: 1961 (tentative on exact year — see Research Notes). The issue commemorates the April 1961 Playa Girón (Bay of Pigs) battle and was a fundraiser for a monument to those who died; sources place it in 1961, with related philatelic accounts referencing a withdrawn 1962 Fidel Castro semi-postal.
On each stamp: "1 ctv."; "Playa Girón"; "Cuba Democrática y Socialista"; "Los pueblos no temen a la muerte sino al yugo"; "Fidel Castro." Sheet selvage: "IMPRENTA NACIONAL DE CUBA" (left); "COMISIÓN PLAYA GIRÓN" (right); "SERIE 4" (bottom). Margin annotation: handwritten "17", upper right.
Paper
Materials: Wood-pulp stamp paper; lithographic/offset inks (blue, green/khaki, black, ochre); gummed reverse presumed (not imaged). Technique: Offset/lithographic printing; line-perforated sheet.
Good
Leopoldo Arús Gálvez
owner
Havana
Cuba
Caribbean
Central America
ownership
Playa Girón
This is not a regular postage stamp but a fundraising/commemorative stamp tied to Playa Girón. A 1-centavo stamp printed in 1961 carried Fidel Castro's image in profile against a blue ground, lettered "Playa Girón," "Cuba democrática y socialista," and "Los pueblos no temen a la muerte sino al yugo," and was made to raise funds for a monument to the martyrs of the April 1961 Playa Girón battle. It is cited as the first Cuban stamp to bear Fidel Castro's image — and notably not a postal stamp. The "Comisión Playa Girón" in the selvage is the issuing body; "Serie 4" indicates this was one of several series.
A Cuban philatelic journal specifically documents "The Withdrawn Fidel Castro Semi-Postal Issue of 1962" — a 1962 Fidel Castro semi-postal stamp withdrawn from circulation. Whether that withdrawn 1962 semi-postal is this exact "Comisión Playa Girón / Serie 4" item, or a closely related issue, isn't fully settled by the sources at hand; the standard explanation for early withdrawals of Castro-portrait stamps is the revolutionary leadership's stated policy against a personality cult (no living leaders on stamps/currency). Flagged as tentative — recommend confirming the specific recall and its date (and whether it applies to this fundraising series vs. the 1962 postal issue) before finalizing.