The Red and Blue Mauritius are the first two stamps of the British crown colony of Mauritius. They were issued on 21st September 1847, and this fact made Mauritius the seventh postal territory to issue stamps.
These two postage stamps of one and two pence are referred to as the Mauritius Post Office. Both are considered by philatelists to be among the rarest and most valuable stamps in the world. 500 stamps with Queen Victoria’s likeness were printed using the intaglio printing technique.
In 1981, 27 surviving copies of these stamps were known worldwide: 12 “Blue Mauritius” and 15 “Red Mauritius” pieces. The Blue Mauritius far surpassed the popularity of the Red. The so-called “Bordeaux letter” with both stamps was the most expensive philatelic collector’s item in the world until 2014. Since then, it has only been surpassed by British Guiana One-Cent Black on Magenta.
