Authentic colour reproduction of an original stamp; front illustration, not authentication of watermark, paper, perforation or exact shade
1899 / Heritage
Gozo fishing boat
The first pictorial definitives
Denomination4½d
Issue date1899-02-04
The story behind the issue
Four pictorial designs brought local boats, maritime history, an allegory of Malta and Saint Paul onto the island’s stamps. The lower values used Crown CA paper, while the two higher values used Crown CC.
Technical details
- Issuing authority
- Malta Post Office
- Postal purpose
- Postage
- Currency
- GBP pre-decimal
- Designer
- Not documented
- Printer
- De La Rue
- Printing process
- Line engraving
- Stamp dimensions
- Not documented
- Stamps per sheet
- 120 stamps in two panes of 60
- Plate number
- No plate number reported by Séfi
- Perforation
- Not documented
- Watermark
- Crown CA
- Paper
- Not documented
- Colour
- Sepia
- Quantity
- Not documented
Sources & verification
VerifiedImage & attribution
UK/Malta Post Office artwork; original-stamp scan from BC Stamps, uploaded by Gwillhickers to Wikimedia Commons · Public domain — exact source page explicitly declares expired UK Crown copyright (PD-UKGov); stamp artwork published 1899
Base designs only; shades, errors, proofs and later printings excluded.
