MaltaPost postage paid envelopes

Abstract

On 16th September 2002, Maltapost issued its first series of Postage Paid envelopes. Although these envelopes at the time were publicised as being the first such envelopes issued in Malta, this was not exactly correct. Over a hundred years earlier, exactly on the 1st of May 1900, a series of different sized one penny postage paid envelopes had been issued. These envelopes, printed by Messrs. De La Rue, bore an embossed oval rose-coloured stamp which featured the then reigning Queen Victoria's head. The Maltapost Postage Paid envelopes, printed locally by Intermarkets Stationeries Limited and issued over the past five years, provide the philatelist with a member of envelope types and varieties. Unfortunately, Maltapost does not usually consider such official postal stationery as possible future postal history items. For this reason there exist a number of different types of postage paid envelopes which were issued but which as yet have neither been recorded nor communicated to the philatelic community. Some of these are already very rare and hard to find as they were issued in very limited numbers. [excerpt]