Mauritius - Stamps History

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Mauritius holds a special place in the affections of stamp collectors since the first stamps issued there are now among the greatest rarities in the philatelic world. In 1993, at an auction in Zurich, a buyer paid the equivalent of US$3.3 million for ‘the crown jewel of philately’, an envelope – ‘the Bordeaux cover’ – with two stamps on it, sent from Mauritius to a Bordeaux wine importer in 1847. This is the only cover known with the two values (one penny and twopence) of the Mauritius ‘Post Office’ series.

Mauritius was the first British colony to use adhesive postage stamps, and was only the fifth country in the world to issue stamps, in 1847. The first 1,000 postage stamps (500 at a penny value and 500 at twopence) were produced by Joseph Barnard, a watchmaker and jeweller of Port Louis, who engraved the dies on a copper plate and laboriously printed the stamps one at a time, direct from the engraving. Despite his skills as a craftsman, the results were very primitive compared with the famous penny blacks of Britain. They also contained an error. Instead of the words POST PAID he engraved POST OFFICE in the left-hand margin.

The stamps were released on 21 September 1847. On the same day, Lady Gomm, the governor’s wife, used a considerable number of the orange-red one-penny value on invitations to a ball at Le Réduit. Only 15 one-penny stamps and 12 of the blue twopenny value are believed still to exist.

Barnard was instructed to produce further stamps in 1848. To facilitate printing, he engraved each stamp 12 times on the plate. The result was that no two stamps

were identical, although they had the correct words POST PAID on them. These stamps, which were in use until 1859, are also highly prized among collectors.

Another fascinating rarity turned up in a philatelist’s collection in 1994. Two twopenny blue stamps postmarked 9 November 1859 revealed spelling errors. One shows ‘Maurituis’, the other ‘Mauritus’. The issue appears to have been withdrawn from circulation the same day. Being unique, the stamps are priceless.

After 1859, mass-produced stamps, printed in Britain, were issued. However, stocks of frequently used stamps were often exhausted before fresh supplies arrived from London. Consequently, the lower-value stamps were surcharged, creating more stamps of interest to collectors.

The first pillar boxes were erected in Port Louis in the early 1860s. Special date stamps for mail collected from them were used from 1885 to 1926 in Port Louis, Beau Bassin, Curepipe, Mahébourg and Rose Hill. Examples of such cancellations are rare.

Other historical events have also given Mauritius stamps special value. Airmail services were launched to Réunion in 1933 and to Rodrigues in 1972. The first use of aerogrammes in Mauritius was on 27 December 1944.

Today, used postage stamps and first-day covers are sold in shops selling tourist souvenirs in Port Louis and Curepipe, and stamps can be bought in the General Post Office and at the Postal Museum in Port Louis.

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