Malta stamp collection issued in limited edition

Maltapost yesterday launched The Malta Stamp Collection 1964 - 2004, an exquisite collection of Maltese stamps limited to 4,500 copies.

The collection, which costs Lm300, includes more than 1,100 stamps in mint condition issued by Malta from the time it declared independence in 1964 through to its EU accession in 2004. About 50 of the stamps in the collection are rare.

The collection includes a 380-page cloth bound volume, with red-tipped pages, offering specific background on every issue. The introduction is by President Eddie Fenech Adami.

Each album is hand numbered and comes with a special certificate of authenticity. It includes a first day cover of the EU accession stamps cancelled in gold.

The volume and the stamps, housed in a specially designed folder, come in their own presentation box.

Considering that there are 280 stamp issues with a present day value of about Lm300, the collection is a valuable investment, Maltapost said.

Maltapost's Michael Stewart, senior manager marketing and business development, said the postal company was targeting both local and international collectors, corporate entities and EU governments.

The collection, he said, presented the most comprehensive collection of Malta stamps ever. It was a once-only opportunity to own many of the stamps in the collection.

There are estimated to be about 7,000 stamp collectors in Malta.

Tony Aquilina, of Promotion Services Ltd, who has been in charge of the publication, said that five-and-a-half months of research was involved in its production. Pictorial content had to be found to go with every stamp issue.