Malta 2009
"Definitive issue 2009"
Issue Date |
28.12.2009 |
ID |
Michel: 1612-1628, ;
Scott: 1383-1399;
Stanley Gibbons: 1638-1654, MS1655;
Yvert et Tellier: , BF44A;
Category: pF |
Design |
Edward Pirotta and Paul Psaila |
Stamps in set |
17 |
Values |
1c - Skeleton of Prehistoric animal (Pleistocene Period)
2c - Ruins of stone temple (Early Temple Period)
5c - Carved stone pattern (Late Temple Period)
7c - Pair of Pots (Bronze Age)
9c - Gold statue (Phoenician and Punic Period)
10c - Mosaic (Roman Period)
19c - Gold coin (Byzantine Period)
26c - Fragment of carved stone (Arab period)
37c - Painting (Norman and Hohenstaufen Period)
50c - Stone tablet carved with shield (Angevin and Aragonese Period)
51c - Gold pattern with central Maltese Cross (Knights of St. John)
63c - Painting of officers and crew disembarking in rowing boats from ships (French Period)
68c - George Cross (British Period)
86c - Independence
1.00 - Republic
1.08 - EU Accession
5.00 - Arms of Malta
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Emission/Type |
definitive |
Issue place |
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Size (width x height) |
stamps: 44 mm x 31 mm,
Se-tenant Sheet: 169 mm x 263 mm
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Layout |
Mini-Sheets of 10,
Se-tenant Sheet of entire set of 17 stamps |
Products |
FDC x6, PP x1, Se-tenant Sheet x1 |
Paper |
Maltese Cross watermarked |
Perforation |
14 x 14 |
Print Technique |
offset |
Printed by |
Printex Ltd |
Quantity |
Se-tenant Sheet - 11.500 (numbers: 000001 to 007500)
€0.01 (fossil) - 400.000 stamps (40.000 sheets with numbers: 000001 to 040000)
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Issuing Authority |
Malta Post plc |
On February 28
th, 2009, the Post Authority of Malta issued
the set of 17 definitive stamps with face values from 0,01€ to 5,00€.
Later some stamps were reprinted:
- €0.01 - 19 October 2011, 21 April 2015
- €0.19 - 14 May 2011
- €0.37 - 19 October 2011
- Miniature sheet - 23 May 2011
These stamps were issued in separate Mini-Sheets of 10 and
in one combined Sheet with all 17 stamps.
The set tracks Malta's historical phases and milestones by
depicting their related iconic images.
This remarkable set of stamps offers a philatelic and historical
timeline while also confirming that a small postage stamp can
succinctly tell a major story
said Joseph Said, Chairman, MaltaPost p.l.c.
To celebrate this new Definitive Set, MaltaPost, in collaboration with
Midsea Books Ltd, published a book titled
"
The Historical Collection Celebrating Malta's Heritage Through Stamps".
The book, was released on December 29
th, 2009,
narrates Malta's history through a number of essays by specialist historians.
The combined, numbered, Sheet with all 17 stamps was included in the first 2,500
numbered copies of the book.
Both the Sheet and the book bear a matching number.
![Skeleton of dwarf elephant Elephas falconeri on definitive stamp of Malta 2009 Skeleton of dwarf elephant Elephas falconeri on definitive stamp of Malta 2009](../../images/details/stamps/official/malta/2009/preview/malta_2009_corner.jpg)
Fossil
Elephas falconeri dwarf skeleton is depicting on one of the
stamps with a face value of Euro cent 1 (€0,01).
This fossil-found in Ghar Dalam cave which located on the outskirts of
Birzebbuga, Malta containing the bone remains of animals that were
stranded and subsequently became extinct on Malta at the end of the Ice Age.
Dwarf elephant, hippopotamus, deer and bear bone deposits found
there are of a different age; the hippopotamuses became extinct about
180.000 years ago, whilst the deer species became extinct much later,
about 18.000 years ago.
It is also here that the earliest evidence of human settlement on Malta,
some 7.400 years ago, was discovered.
The cave was first scientifically investigated in 1885, but was not
opened to the public until 1933.
It was used as an air-raid shelter during World War II.
A museum was set up on site by the then curator of Natural History Dr. J.G. Baldacchino.
In 1980, the most important and irreplaceable relics such as four tusks of
dwarf elephants and the skull of a Neolithic child were stolen from the museum.
The cave was investigated in 1987 under the direction of Emanual Anati,
Professor of paleontology at Lecce University.
His team of Italian archaeologists from Centro Camuno di Studi Preistorici discovered
Palaeolithic cave art depicting human hands, anthropozoomorphic, and
several animal designs from underneath the stalagmatic formations.
Some depict elephants which have been extinct in the Maltese region since
the Pleistocene.
Many stamps of the set, including the dwarf elephant, were reprinted in the coming years.
Reprinted stamps have some design differences, for example the logo of Malta Post at top-left part of a
Mini-Sheet.
The original and reprinted stamps from 2011 and 2015
Products and associated philatelic items
Official FDC |
Combined Sheets |
Set of Mini-Sheets |
![Set of FDC with definitive stamps of Malta 2009 Set of FDC with definitive stamps of Malta 2009](../../images/preview/fdc/t_malta_2009_fdc.jpg) |
![Combined Sheet with definitive stamps of Malta 2009 Combined Sheet with definitive stamps of Malta 2009](../../images/details/stamps/official/malta/2009/preview/t_malta_2009_ms.jpg) |
![Set of Mini-Sheet with definitive stamps of Malta 2009 Set of Mini-Sheet with definitive stamps of Malta 2009](../../images/details/stamps/official/malta/2009/preview/t_malta_2009_ms_all.jpg) |
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Official FDC with fossil stamp |
Mini-Sheet with fossil stamp |
Presentation Pack |
![FDC with Elephas falconeri definitive stamps of Malta 2009 FDC with Elephas falconeri definitive stamps of Malta 2009](../../images/details/stamps/official/malta/2009/preview/t_malta_2009_1_fdc.jpg) |
![Mini-Sheet with Elephas falconeri definitive stamps of Malta 2009 Mini-Sheet with Elephas falconeri definitive stamps of Malta 2009](../../images/details/stamps/official/malta/2009/preview/t_malta_2009_1_ms.jpg) |
![Presentation Pack with definitive stamps of Malta 2009 Prehistoric animals on FDC of Kyrgyzstan 2024](../../images/details/stamps/official/malta/2009/preview/t_malta_2009_pp_cover.jpg) |
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Examples of Circulated Covers |
![Elephas falconeri definitive stamp of Malta 2009 on circulated letter FDC with Elephas falconeri definitive stamps of Malta 2009](../../images/preview/used/t_malta_2009_env_used.jpg) |
![Mini-Sheet with Elephas falconeri definitive stamps of Malta 2009 Mini-Sheet with Elephas falconeri definitive stamps of Malta 2009](../../images/preview/used/t_malta_2011_env_used.jpg) |
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The cover with the fossil stamp from the first reprint in 2011,
posted to Germany in 2012. |
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References: