page_title: Postage stamps and postal history of Malta
section_title: Malta stamps under British rule (1860–1964)
hierarchical_section_title: Postage stamps and postal history of Malta / Postage stamps / Malta stamps under British rule (1860–1964)
caption_attribution_description: Polski: Znaczek Malty z okazji koronacji Elżbiety II 1953
context_page_description: The postal history of Malta began in the early modern period, when pre-adhesive mail was delivered to foreign destinations by privately owned ships for a fee. The earliest known letter from Malta, sent during the rule of the Order of St John, is dated 1532. The first formal postal service on the islands was established by the Order in 1708, with the post office being located at the Casa del Commun Tesoro in Valletta. The first postal markings on mail appeared later on in the 18th century.
  The postal service was reformed in 1798 during the French occupation of Malta, and the islands were taken over by the British in 1800. In the early 19th century, two separate post offices were established in Malta: the Island Post Office and the Packet Office, with the latter forming part of the British Post Office. Their operations were amalgamated in 1849, and British postage stamps began to be used in Malta in August 1857. Malta's first postage stamp—the Halfpenny Yellow—was issued in 1860 for use on local mail, while letters sent to foreign destinations continued to be franked with British stamps.
context_section_description: Queen Victoria and King Edward VII definitives (1860–1911)
  Malta's first postage stamp, the Halfpenny Yellow, was issued on 1 December 1860. It was only valid for local letters, and British stamps had to be used for mail addressed to foreign destinations. The stamp was printed by De La Rue initially on blued unwatermarked paper. It was reprinted 29 times over the course of over two decades, resulting in stamps from the printings having differences in the colour shade, paper, watermark or perforation.
  At the end of 1884, a series of definitive stamps depicting Queen Victoria was issued, and they became valid for use on 1 January 1885 when control of the postal services was fully transferred to the local colonial government. The ½d value of this issue had the design of the 1860 stamp but was printed in green, while the other stamps (with denominations of 1d, 2d, 2½d, 4d and 1/-) had designs which incorporated the Maltese cross. The colours of all six stamps were based on UPU regulations. A 5/- value in a larger format was added in 1886.
  Four new definitive stamps were issued in 1899. Instead of depicting the monarch, these stamps featured: a Gozo boat (4½d), a Hospitaller galley (5d), the national personification Melita (2/6) and St Paul's Shipwreck (10/-). A ¼d value depicting the Grand Harbour was added in 1901 for the postal rate of local printed matter. In 1902, there was a shortage of 1d stamps, so stocks of the Queen Victoria 2½d stamp of 1885 were overprinted One Penny at the Government Printing Office in Valletta. One stamp in each sheet had an error such that the overprint read One Pnney. It is believed that this was produced deliberately.
  Between 1903 and 1904, a set of seven stamps with face values between ½d and 1/- was issued. The frame of the stamps was based on the halfpenny yellow but they included the portrait of the new monarch Edward VII with a crown added on top. The 1886 5/- and the 1899–1901 pictorials remained in use. A new watermark was introduced in October 1904 and it was used on subsequent reprints of the 1899–1901 pictorials and 1903–1904 definitives. From 1907 to 1911 there were colour changes, and some bicoloured stamps were reissued in one colour. A 5/- value depicting Edward VII was issued in March 1911 replacing the 1886 issue.
  King George V definitives (1914–1930)
  After George V became king in 1910, new definitives which depicted his portrait were issued between 1914 and 1920. These stamps had standard keytype designs which were used in other British colonies, and they were inscribed Postage Revenue since they were equally valid for postal and fiscal use. The lower values between ¼d and 1/- had a smaller size than the 2/- and 5/- high values. A pictorial 4d value which was similar to the 1901 ¼d was also issued, and the 2/6 of 1899 was reprinted with a new watermark in 1919. That year, a 10/- value with a modified version of the 1899 St Paul's Shipwreck design was released. 1530 copies were issued, and today it is Malta's most expensive stamp.
  Two war tax stamps with denominations of ½d and 3d were issued in 1917 and 1918, during World War I. In late 1921 and early 1922, some of the 1914–1919 issues were reprinted with a new watermark (including the 10/- value, but this is not as scarce as the 1919 issue). The 2d value of this issue had a new design. On 15 April 1922, this stamp was also issued locally surcharged One Farthing after there was a shortage of ¼d stamps.
  In 1921, Malta was granted a limited form of self-government which led to the establishment of a Senate and Legislative Assembly. To commemorate this, 1899–1922 definitive stamps were locally overprinted Self-government and were issued between 12 January and 29 April 1922. Between August 1922 and 1926, a set of stamps known as the Melita issue was released, with face values between ¼d and £1. The stamps featured allegorical representations and they were designed by the Maltese artists Edward Caruana Dingli and Gianni Vella. In 1926, separate revenue stamps began to be issued again, so the Melita stamps up to 10/- were issued wi
caption: 1½d omnibus issue stamp commemorating the 1953 coronation of Elizabeth II
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