Description
This fascinating film from our archives showcases the work of the Malta Post Office in the 1970s.
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 1857.
Malta’s first postage stamp, the Halfpenny Yellow, was issued in 1860. It was only valid for local letters, and British stamps had to be used for mail addressed to overseas 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 slight differences in colour.
At the end of 1884, a series of definitive stamps depicting Queen Victoria was issued, and they became valid for use in Malta 1 January 1885
Later in 1885, the Malta Post Office was set up and Halfpenny Yellows and British stamps were no longer valid in Malta. A set of six definitive stamps along with several types of postal stationery were issued. Malta continued to issue stamps and stationery throughout the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.
In 1995, the private company Posta Limited was set up to run the postal service. The public limited company MaltaPost took over in 1998, and was gradually privatized between 2002 and 2008.
