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post1 (15K) Mauritius issued its first postage stamps on 22 September 1847, under Governor William Gomm. The system completely overhauled the course of postal invoicing, since before the introduction of postage stamps, it was the addressee who had to pay the cost of carrying the letter and not the sender as is the case now. Only four countries had issued postage stamps before Mauritius: England in 1840, Brazil and Switzerland in 1843 and the U.S.A in 1847. Mauritius thus became the fifth country in the world to have issued its own postage stamps.

Joseph Osmond Barnard was selected to engrave this first edition. The Colonial Director of Posts, J. Stuart Brownrigg, gave him instructions to produce 500 stamps of an indigo-blue colour of a value of 2 pence, and another bright red stamp worth 1 penny. Barnard printed 500 copies of each.

The two stamps had to carry the left profile of Queen Victoria, like the first British stamps which came out in 1840. Together with its value, "Mauritius" was printed on the stamp to indicate its country of origin, "Postage" to signify that the postage had already been paid for, as well as the words "Post Office" which was the legal term for the Post in those days.

And the famous "Post Office" was thus launched. According to the legend, Barnard had engraved "Post Office" instead of "Post Paid" by mistake. The latter appellation was to be seen on all Mauritian stamps during almost twenty years. Much later it was proved that "Post Office" was really the legal term used for the Post in those days.

post2 (25K) Through this assumed error, the "Mauritius Post Office" stamps have become rare gems of world philately. They are in fact the first Mauritian stamps, among the very first in the world. They are also among the rarest because only 500 of these stamps were printed for the Mauritian Post.

Being among the first in the world and being a rare species, coupled with "an error of fabrication", the "Post Office" instigated stamp-collectors to look for these stamps in all the countries of the world where Mauritians could have sent letters.

Today, these stamps are viewed as the most precious in the world. In 1993 a group of 16 Mauritian business enterprises, led by the Mauritius Commercial Bank, bought for the fabulous sum of U.S $ 2.2 million, two new copies of these "Post Office" stamps. These two stamps are now on exclusive exhibition at the Blue Penny Museum, at the Caudan Waterfront.

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