The Melita issue is a series of dual-purpose postage and revenue stamps issued by the

Crown Colony of Malta The Crown Colony of the Island of Malta and its Dependencies (commonly known as the Crown Colony of Malta or simply Malta) was the British colony in the Maltese islands, today the modern Republic of Malta. It was established when the Malta Pr ...

between 1922 and 1926, depicting the national personification Melita. They were

commemorative stamp A commemorative stamp is a postage stamp, often issued on a significant date such as an anniversary, to honor or commemorate a place, event, person, or object. The ''subject'' of the commemorative stamp is usually spelled out in print, unlike defi ...

s since they celebrated the islands' new status as a

self-governing colony In the British Empire, a self-governing colony was a colony with an elected government in which elected rulers were able to make most decisions without referring to the colonial power with nominal control of the colony. This was in contrast to ...

following a new constitution in 1921, but also a definitive issue intended for regular use over an extended period of time. Designed by two leading Maltese artists, Edward Caruana Dingli and

Gianni Vella Gianni Vella (9 May 1885 – 3 September 1977) was a Maltese artist. After studying in Rome, he produced many religious works which can be found in many churches in the Maltese Islands, but he also produced some secular works including landscape ...

, the issue consisted of stamps in various denominations from ¼ d to £1; Caruana Dingli's designs were used on the pence and pound values and Vella's design on the shilling values. The designs were poorly received when they were issued, and Caruana Dingli himself criticized the execution of the design. In subsequent years, however, Caruana Dingli's design came to be regarded as one of the most iconic Malta stamps, and his design for the figure of Melita formed the basis of the

Maltese lira The lira ( mt, lira Maltija, plural: ''liri'', ISO 4217 code: ''MTL'') or pound (until ca. 1986 in English, code ) was the currency of Malta from 1972 until 31 December 2007. One lira was divided into 100 cents, each of 10 mils. After 1986 th ...

banknotes of 1989–2008 and gold and silver

bullion coin Bullion is non-ferrous metal that has been refined to a high standard of elemental purity. The term is ordinarily applied to bulk metal used in the production of coins and especially to precious metals such as gold and silver. It comes fro ...

s minted since 2018.

Background

The oldest known depiction of a personification of Malta dates back to 1481. The figure of Melita seems to have developed from allegorical representations of the Order of St John, which ruled Malta between 1530 and 1798. Melita first appeared on stamps in 1899. A 2 s/6d olive-grey stamp depicted her holding a sword and a shield, the latter emblazoned with the Maltese cross. In the background were the flags of Malta and of the Order. This stamp was reissued with a different

watermark A watermark is an identifying image or pattern in paper that appears as various shades of lightness/darkness when viewed by transmitted light (or when viewed by reflected light, atop a dark background), caused by thickness or density variations ...

in 1919, and remained in use until it was replaced by the 1922 Melita issue. Special printings of the 1899 design, sometimes in new colours or watermarks, were also issued with

overprint An overprint is an additional layer of text or graphics added to the face of a Postage stamp, postage or revenue stamp, postal stationery, banknote or Ticket (admission), ticket after it has been Printing, printed. Post offices most often use ...

s for revenue purposes between 1902 and 1908. In 1921, the

was granted a limited form of

self-government __NOTOC__ Self-governance, self-government, or self-rule is the ability of a person or group to exercise all necessary functions of regulation without intervention from an external authority. It may refer to personal conduct or to any form of ...

according to the Amery-Milner Constitution. This divided control of Malta between two governments: the Maltese Government and the Maltese Imperial Government. The former included a bicameral legislature with a Senate and Legislative Assembly, while the Imperial Government was led by the

Governor of Malta A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

, a British colonial official who retained direct responsibility of certain reserved matters such as defence and maintaining public order. On 17 June 1921, a

competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indiv ...

was announced calling for the design of a set of stamps to commemorate Malta's partial independence. The stamps were therefore to be commemoratives, but they were also intended as definitives for regular use over an extended period of time. The Maltese wanted to issue the new stamps by the time the new parliament was inaugurated on 1 November 1921. There was not enough time for the stamps to be produced and delivered within that timeframe, however, since the printers De La Rue had to deal with a large workload, causing delays. The Malta Post Office therefore decided to overprint the then-current definitives (which depicted King

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...

and some pictorial scenes, including the 1919 reprint of the 1899 Melita design) with the words "SELF-GOVERNMENT" diagonally to commemorate the new constitution. The overprinting was carried out by the Government Printing Office in the capital

Valletta Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an administrative unit and capital of Malta. Located on the main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, its population within administrative limits in 2014 wa ...

, and the stamps were released between 12 January and 29 April 1922.

Design

Two designs were chosen from the competition, one by Edward Caruana Dingli and one by

. Caruana Dingli's design won first prize and it was used for ten denominations: the pence values ranging from ¼d to 6d, and also the highest value of the set, the £1. Vella's design was used for the five shilling values ranging from 1/- to 10/-. Caruana Dingli's design depicts Melita as a robed and helmeted figure holding a

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally air or water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adve ...

, representing Malta as being in control of her own destiny. The background contains a seascape, with the lighthouse near

Fort Saint Elmo Fort Saint Elmo ( mt, Forti Sant'Iermu) is a star fort in Valletta, Malta. It stands on the seaward shore of the Sciberras Peninsula that divides Marsamxett Harbour from Grand Harbour, and commands the entrances to both harbours along with Fort ...

and a Gozo boat visible. Shields depicting the

Union Jack The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...

and a colonial badge representing Malta are located at the bottom of the design. Vella's design contains two figures representing Malta and the United Kingdom, Melita and

Britannia Britannia () is the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used in classical antiquity, the Latin ''Britannia'' was the name variously applied to the British Isles, Great ...

. Melita holds an olive branch in her hand, and embraces Britannia by lifting her hand around Britannia's neck. Britannia wears a helmet and holds a shield with the Union Jack. The figure representing the United Kingdom is sometimes interpreted as being a male figure, but was intended as female, with the design representing Malta and Britain as sisters or mother and daughter. This represented the care and protection that Britain offered Malta, and symbolized friendly relations between them. This design also contains the Roman numerals MCMXXI (1921) to the left of the figures. The Maltese emblem is located at the lower left corner, while many small Maltese crosses frame the design. Both designs contain the inscription "POSTAGE REVENUE", indicating that they were valid for use as both

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the f ...

s and

revenue stamp A revenue stamp, tax stamp, duty stamp or fiscal stamp is a (usually) adhesive label used to designate collected taxes or fees on documents, tobacco, alcoholic drinks, drugs and medicines, playing cards, hunting licenses, firearm registration, ...

s. They can therefore be found both postally and fiscally used.

Technical details

The stamps of the Melita issue were printed by De La Rue using typography, with the exception of the £1 top value which was recess-printed. The typographed stamps were printed on chalk-surfaced paper. Each stamp was printed in two operations, with a key plate and a duty plate. In most cases each plate was printed in a different colour, but for some of the low values both plates were printed in the same colour. The

used on the stamps is known as ''Multiple Script CA'', since it consists of the letters "CA" (referring to the

Crown Agents Crown Agents Ltd is a not-for-profit international development company with head office in London, United Kingdom, and subsidiaries in USA and Japan. Crown Agents fully owns Greenshields Cowie, a freight forwarding limited company incorporated in ...

) in a script typeface, beneath a representation of the

Tudor crown The Tudor Crown, also known as Henry VIII's Crown, was the imperial crown, imperial and state crown of Kingdom of England, English monarchs from around the time of Henry VIII until it was destroyed during the English Civil War, Civil War in 16 ...

, arranged multiple times next to each other. The watermark was sideways for the pence values and upright for the shilling values. The £1 was initially printed with a sideways watermark but in 1925 it was also issued with an upright watermark. The pence values were printed in sheets of 160 stamps (consisting of two panes, each containing 8 rows of 10 stamps, separated by a gutter), the shilling values were printed in sheets of 80 (one pane of 8 rows of 10 stamps) and the £1 value was printed in sheets of 40 (one pane of 4 rows of 10 stamps). The stamps were perforated with

gauge Gauge ( or ) may refer to: Measurement * Gauge (instrument), any of a variety of measuring instruments * Gauge (firearms) * Wire gauge, a measure of the size of a wire ** American wire gauge, a common measure of nonferrous wire diameter, ...

14.2 by 14 comb perforations. A number of die proofs and plate proofs of stamps from the Melita issue exist. Die proofs are individual prints from the stamps' original dies made at various stages of production, and are impressions of either the key die or the duty die of each value, or composite die proofs of both dies together. Plate proofs, which are test printings made from the stamps' printings plates, exist of the ¼d, ½d, 1d, 3d and £1 values in unissued colours. A wide range of versions of these exist, either perforated or imperforate, on unwatermarked or watermarked paper, and with or without a specimen overprint. Specimens of all the stamps in the issued colours also exist, except for the reprints made in slightly different shades, the 1925 2½d on 3d surcharge, and the 1926 postage overprints.

Issued stamps

Malta 1925 Melita 2½d on 3d bright ultramarine

The first Melita stamps were issued on 1 August 1922, with the denominations of ½d, 1d, 6d, 1/- and 2/-. A ¼d value was issued on 22 August, followed by 2d, 3d, 4d, 2/6, 5/-, 10/- and £1 values on 28 August. A 1½d value was added on 1 October 1923. On 25 April 1924, the 1d value was reissued in a new colour while the ¼d and 3d were reissued in slightly different shades. The £1 was reissued in a slightly different shade and with a different orientation of the watermark on 14 May 1925. A requirement for a 2½d value arose in 1925 when the foreign-letter rate was reduced; stocks of the 3d were overprinted "Two pence halfpenny" by the Government Printing Office and were issued on 3 December 1925. A 2½d value and the 3d in a new colour were subsequently issued on 16 February 1926. Some stamps exist with an inverted watermark, and flaws are known on the 1d and 3d values.

1926 Postage overprints

Due to a change in procedure, dual-purpose postage-and-revenue stamps were discontinued in 1926 and replaced by separate issues of postage stamps and revenue stamps, so it was decided to overprint the stamps of the Melita issue with the word "POSTAGE". The

forme Forme may refer to the following: * Forme (printing), a chase with type locked up ready for printing * Forme, Škofja Loka, a settlement in Slovenia * Forme Tour, a professional golf tour See also * FORM (disambiguation) * Form (disambiguation) ...

of the overprint was prepared by John Muscat Fenech and Carmelo Cacopardo, and the overprinting was hastily carried out by the Government Printing Office on a Warfedale printing press in the last week of March 1926. The ink used in the overprinting was a special mix made at the Office of Public Health. The overprinting was applied to all the stamps from ¼d to 10/-, except those which had been earlier replaced by new colours, and the stamps were issued on 1 April 1926. The overprint was reportedly also applied to a small quantity of the £1 stamp, but these were never issued and a decision was made to destroy the stock. The issued overprints were on sale for only about a week, and a new series of stamps bearing the "POSTAGE" inscription was issued only five days later on 6 April. Some stamps with errors were detected during the printing, and these were kept by the Acting Postmaster General before being burnt at the Power Station. Despite this, some stamps with errors still ended up in circulation, including the 3d value with the overprint inverted, and various denominations with the overprints misplaced to varying degrees, the most notable being a variety of the 4d in which the overprint reads "AGE POST".

3d with inverted overprint

Malta 1926 Melita Postage 3d black on yellow overprint inverted

The 3d black on yellow is known with the overprint inverted, and it is one of Malta's best-known error stamps. It is believed that only two sheets of the error were printed, and they were allegedly acquired on the first day of issue by politician

Alfredo Caruana Gatto Count Alfredo Caruana Gatto (3 September 1868 – 15 October 1926) was a Maltese lawyer, politician and naturalist. He was born on 3 September 1868 in Valletta to Antonio Caruana Gatto and Vincenza Formosa. He studied at the University of Malta ...

, then a Senator and a former Minister for Justice. The exact circumstances of their issue remain unclear, and it is not known whether they were acquired over the Post Office counter or not. Caruana Gatto is said to have immediately sold the two sheets to the

speculators In finance, speculation is the purchase of an asset (a commodity, goods, or real estate) with the hope that it will become more valuable shortly. (It can also refer to short sales in which the speculator hopes for a decline in value.) Many s ...

Carol Saliba and Pio Grech, and the sheets were eventually broken down and sold to stamp dealers and collectors. A small amount of the error stamps were used on mail by philatelists (including on letters addressed to themselves, posted for the purpose of acquiring the stamp in used condition), but the vast majority were retained in mint condition. In 1930, uncertainty about the stamp's issue formed the basis of a political campaign by the Constitutional Party against the Nationalist Party which became known as the "Postage Stamps Scandal". The matter was brought up in the Legislative Assembly on 31 March 1930 when Constitutional Party member Alfred Gera De Petri asked Robert Hamilton, the Minister for Posts, about the circumstances of the stamp's issue. A committee was later appointed to investigate the matter, and it included

Gerald Strickland Gerald Paul Joseph Cajetan Carmel Antony Martin Strickland, 6th Count della Catena, 1st Baron Strickland, (24 May 1861 – 22 August 1940) was a Maltese and British politician and peer, who served as Prime Minister of Malta, Governor of the L ...

, Hamilton, Walter Salomone,

Paul Boffa Sir Paul Boffa, OBE (30 June 1890 – 6 July 1962) was a Maltese prime minister (1947–1950) who took office after self-rule was reinstated by the British colonial authority following the end of World War II.Ugo Pasquale Mifsud. The committee members belonging to the Constitutional Party produced a report in which they stated that there was no evidence that the error was ever sold at a Post Office or that Caruana Gatto (who had died in 1926) had sold the stamps. They concluded that the inverted overprint was applied at the Government Printing Office without authorisation to sheets of genuine stamps which were not part of the Post Office stock, meaning that the overprints were

forged Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compressive forces. The blows are delivered with a hammer (often a power hammer) or a die. Forging is often classified according to the temperature at which it ...

. Boffa mentioned that the overprinting might have even been done outside the Government Printing Office, while Mifsud only agreed with the conclusion that there was no evidence of Caruana Gatto's involvement in the matter. There were gaps in the evidence collected by the committee, and it did not produce any arguments which countered various opinions that the overprints were the result of a genuine mistake, making its findings inconclusive. The committee's report was criticized in the press due to these shortcomings. Philatelists regard the inverted overprint as a genuine error, even though its exact origins remain unknown. As of 2015, the stamp is priced at £170 mint and £500 used in the

Stanley Gibbons catalogue The first Stanley Gibbons stamp catalogue was a penny price list issued in November 1865 and reissued at monthly intervals for the next 14 years. The company produces numerous catalogues covering different countries, regions and specialisms; ma ...

Critical reception

The stamps received mostly negative reactions from the public and stamp collectors upon their release. Even Caruana Dingli was dissatisfied with the way the stamps were printed, stating in the local newspaper ''Il Popolo di Malta'' on 4 August 1922 that: Amongst other criticism, he expressed his dissatisfaction that the lighthouse in the background was remodelled to look like a

beehive A beehive is an enclosed structure in which some honey bee species of the subgenus '' Apis'' live and raise their young. Though the word ''beehive'' is commonly used to describe the nest of any bee colony, scientific and professional literature ...

or the Mosta Dome. He also complained that the colours were not to his liking, and that he had not been consulted about them. He exhibited an enlarged version of his original design at the Bibliotheca in Valletta to showcase the difference in the designs. An article in ''

The Boy's Own Paper ''The Boy's Own Paper'' was a British story paper aimed at young and teenage boys, published from 1879 to 1967. Publishing history The idea for the publication was first raised in 1878 by the Religious Tract Society, as a means to encourage yo ...

'' described the issue as a "handsome set", but also mentioned the criticism aimed at the colour scheme of the 4d value in yellow and blue. This article incorrectly identified Melita as being a sea nymph. In ''Mekeel's Weekly Stamp News'' of 16 May 1927, a certain Capt. H. W. Jessop wrote that: Criticism was also directed towards the lack of a portrait of King

on the stamps, although the stamps were aimed at specifically manifesting Malta's newly established independence from complete British control. The 1926 Postage overprints were widely criticized as being unnecessary, and they were unpopular both locally and among collectors. In contrast to when it was issued, today Caruana Dingli's design is held in high esteem, and in 2011

MaltaPost MaltaPost p.l.c. is the postal service company in Malta. The public limited company took over the postal services previously carried out by Posta Limited, and started operating on 1 May 1998. History MaltaPost p.l.c. was registered with the Malt ...

stated that "it is widely considered to be one of Malta's most beautiful stamps." A 2019 article in the ''Stamp Magazine'' describes the Melita issue as "some of Malta's finest" stamp designs, but also comments on the contrast between Caruana Dingli's and Vella's Melitas, describing the latter as having "an awkward pose".

Sale and collecting

In 1922–23 the Post Office recorded an increase of £1920. 19s. 9½d. in revenue when compared to the previous year. This increase was attributed to the sale of stamps to

philatelists Philately (; ) is the study of postage stamps and postal history. It also refers to the collection and appreciation of stamps and other philatelic products. Philately involves more than just stamp collecting or the study of postage; it is possi ...

"owing to the issue of new design stamps". A massive increase of £27977. 16s. 6½d. in Post Office revenue was registered in 1925–26 when compared to 1924–25, and this was attributed to "an abnormal quantity of stamps sold to collectors for philatelic purposes" along with increased use of stamps for postal purposes. In 1926–27, another massive increase of £24870. 8s. 2d. was attributed to "large sales of stamps overprinted "Postage"." Due to the criticism at the colour scheme of the 4d value, that stamp was reportedly withdrawn by the postal authorities soon after it was issued. Some believed that the stamp could become a rarity and examples of it were sold for as much as 30/-. After a couple of days the stamp once again became available at post offices, and it is no longer scarcer than the other stamps in the issue. Today, the 1922–26 stamps are not rare, and the lower values up to the 2/6 are relatively cheap. The higher values are more expensive, with the most valuable stamp being the original £1 value of 1922 with a sideways watermark. Malta 1930 AR cover to United States

Although the 1926 Postage overprints were only on sale for about one week, the bulk of the stamps were sold to stamp dealers and collectors so most of them remain common. However, some values sold out soon after they were issued and stamps with the denominations of 4d, 2/-, 2/6 and 5/- remain scarce today. Since they were only in use briefly, most of the 1926 overprints are more valuable in used condition. The "POSTAGE" overprint has also been

, particularly on the 2/- and 2/6 denominations and on the 3d with inverted overprint. The Malta Study Circle, a group of philatelists who study Malta's stamps and postal history, has produced a number of publications relating to the Melita issue. Two study papers which related to the original 1922–26 issue and the 1926 Postage overprints were published in 1970, and they were combined into a single paper in 1972. A rewritten paper was published in 2006. The Study Circle's newsletter which is published three times a year is also entitled ''Melita''.

Legacy

The first set of post-independence Malta definitive stamps, which was issued on 7 January 1965, included an allegorical representation of Melita on the 2/6 denomination which commemorated the State of Malta. The design by

Emvin Cremona Emanuel Vincent "Emvin" Cremona (27 May 1919 – 29 January 1987) was a Maltese artist and stamp designer. He is regarded as one of the best Maltese artists of the 20th century. Cremona is known for designing most Maltese stamps from 1957 to th ...

depicts Melita holding a spear and a shield with Malta's 1943–64 coat of arms (including the George Cross), and she is shown sitting among ruins as if after a battle. An allegorical figure with a pose similar to Caruana Dingli's Melita design was used on the fifth and final series of

banknotes. These banknotes were introduced by the Central Bank of Malta on 18 September 1989, coinciding with the 25th anniversary of independence, and they had four denominations: Lm2, Lm5, Lm10 and Lm20. Another series of banknotes with the same design but with amended security features was issued on 1 June 1994. Versions with signatures of different Governors of the Central Bank were issued in 1997, 1999 and 2001, and there was also a special issue for collectors in 2000. These banknotes remained in use until Malta adopted the

euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

on 1 January 2008, and remained legal tender until 31 January 2008; they were demonetized ten years later on 31 January 2018. On 2 December 2011, MaltaPost issued a

miniature sheet A souvenir sheet or miniature sheet is a postage stamp or a small group of postage stamps still attached to the sheet on which they were printed. They may be either regular issues that just happen to be printed in small groups (typical of many ea ...

containing a €4.16 stamp to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the establishment of Malta's Senate and Legislative Assembly. This issue depicted the £1 Melita stamp of 1922 as a stamp on stamp. Caruana Dingli's Melita design was reused for the Melita bullion coins, a series of gold and silver

s minted by the Central Bank of Malta in collaboration with

Lombard Bank Lombard Bank Malta Plc is one of Malta's major banks, together with Bank of Valletta, HSBC Bank Malta and APS Bank. The Government of Malta through the National Development and Social Fund (NDSF) owns 49.1% percent of the bank. It acquired thes ...

. The coins are minted in different sizes and denominations, and were first issued on 30 November 2018. Coins are minted annually according to demand, retaining the same design except for the year of minting.

Notes

References

External links

{{commons category-inline, Melita issue Postage and revenue stamps Commemorative stamps Philately of Malta 1922 establishments in Malta 1922 works