The Mauritius Post OfficeThe Mauritius Post Office, is what crosses one’s mind immediately when thinking of Mauritius. But what is the story behind the most famous stamp of the world?
The Mauritius Post Office owes its fame to the absentminded engraver Joseph Osmond Barnard. He had the appointment to produce the stamps for the invitation letters to a masked ball of the British Governor Sir William Gomm in September 1874 in Port Louis. For this purpose he produced 500 orange-red One-Pence-stamps and 500 blue Two-pence-stamps. But those stamps had one flaw: instead of the usual “Post Paid” Barnard printed “Post Office” on them. Barnard had produced a wrong pressureplate in a hurry. Like this the stamps were sent into the whole world. Most of them must have ended up in the bins, and only 12 blue and 14 orange-red stamps survived. These rarities are nowadays sold as some of the most expensive stamps of the world. Even Queen Elizabeth is said to be the owner of a pair of them.
