Gaze At One Of The World's Rarest Stamps At The Blue Penny Museum In The Capital, Port Louis

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Visit the Blue Penny Museum to see two of the rarest, most fascinating and most expensive stamps in the philatelic world.

Founded in November 2001 by the Mauritius Commercial Bank, the Blue Penny Museum of Art and History is named after the first two stamps issued in Mauritius during the British Empire. Located in the lively Caudan Waterfront complex in Port Louis, the museum houses historical collections of art and documents belonging to the Mauritius Commercial Bank. It was also the country’s first philatelic museum

In September 1847, Mauritius was the first British colony and fifth country in the world to issue postage stamps. The one-penny orange and two-pence blue stamps were then engraved and printed locally by Joseph Osmond Barnard. Legend has it that the initial issue of these stamps was printed with the wrong wording. “Post Office” instead of the conventional “Post Paid” was printed on the side. Only once the stamps were printed was the mistake realized and production ceased.

The 1d Post Office and 2d Post Office stamps fetched US$2 million on November 10, 1993 at an auction in Switzerland. The successful bidder was a consortium of Mauritian companies headed by the Mauritius Commercial Bank. The stamps have returned home and are on display at the Blue Penny Museum. Surviving stamps are now mainly in the hands of private collectors but others may be viewed at the museum. For a few minutes every hour, on the half hour, these stamps are lit up for ease of viewing.