Uruguayan definitive stamps

Uruguayan definitive stamps originated with private stagecoach services before transitioning into state-approved postal issues in the late 1850s. Organised by stagecoach companies under the direction of postal contractor and director Atanasio Lapido, the earliest stamps—designated the Diligencia issues—were produced to frank inland correspondence. Following Lapido's resignation in late 1857, his successor Prudencio Echevarriarza proposed the introduction of stamps for mail sent across the whole country. This led to official government sanction by decree on 11 June 1859, with the first government-approved stamps appearing on 1 July 1859.

Prior to adhesive stamps, Uruguayan mail had been conveyed along colonial staging routes and maritime packet links, but internal services suffered severe disruption during the Guerra Grande civil war between 1839 and 1851. After the postal administration returned to state control in 1852, staging posts were established throughout the interior from May 1853. The initial Diligencia series was released on 1 October 1856 solely for domestic coach transit, operating under postage rates based on weight after distance tariffs were dropped in May 1856. A redrawn version followed on 1 October 1857, and an additional series was printed in 1858 to prepay letters sent to the Republic of Argentina.

The 1856 Diligencia issues were produced in sheets of thirty-five on white woven unwatermarked paper by the Mège Lithograph Workshop of Mège y Willems Printing Ltd in Montevideo. They bore the inscription Diligencia at the top and were issued in three values: 60 centésimos blue for single-page letters, 80 centésimos green for two-page letters, and 1 real red for three-page letters.