Mauritius Stamps Guide

Mauritius was the first British Colony to issue postage stamps on 21st September 1847. The Blue Penny Museum in Mauritius (Caudan Waterfront, Port Louis) is home to the stamps 1d Post Office and 2d Post Office (Mauritius, Scott 1-2: 1847 1-penny orange and 2d blue definitives) that were purchased at auction by philatelists David Feldman of the Hiroyuki Kanai collection of Mauritius in Zurich, Switzerland on 10th November 1993 for the sum of USD2 Million (the 1d orange and the 2d blue sold for $1,072,260 and $1,148,850 respectively).

The stamps were designed by local miniature painter and engraver named Joseph Osmond Barnard showing the head Queen Victoria. 200 of each were made by a watchmaker hired by the government. The stamps are inscribed with the words ‘POST OFFICE’ words that were later replaced by ‘POST PAID’ (Scott 3-6) after the governor discovered that the watchmaker had made the error.

Only 400 stamps bearing the words ‘POST PAID,’ were ever issued and about 26 are still known to still exist. Of the 26 that has survived, there are 2 mint and 12 cancelled One Penny stamps, and 6 mint and 6 cancelled Two Penny stamps.

The wife of the Governor Gomm, Lady Gomm, had actually used the first issues with the words ‘Post Office’ on invitations to a fancy dress party that was held on 30th September 1847. An envelope with the stamp first issues can be found on the invitation to the Governor’s ball that you can actually be viewed at the British Library, UK.