Nineteenth century great power divisions start looking iffy once the twentieth century is under way and the great powers are discredited by World War I. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.
The visuals on this stamp are interesting. The depiction of the Latin personification of the island and it’s people is more a 19th century thing than a 20th century thing. Remember the predominance of a classical education of the educated class back then. So what better way to acknowledge the independent thinking of the people of the then still Crown Colony of Malta. Britain would have been in charge of stamp issuance and previous issues almost always were a depiction of the British Monarch. This was good for Britons far from home but may not mean so much for the local population. Britain did one little thing on the much rarer high denominations of this stamp issue. On those Melita is leaning against Britannia, the female Latin personification of Great Britain. It is fun to ponder what was meant by that.
Todays stamp is issue A20, a quarter Penny/one Farthing stamp issued by the Crown Colony of Malta in 1922. The Stamps depict Melita, the female Latin personification of the Maltese land and people. It was part of a 17 stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 70 cents used. The used one pound stamp from this issue is worth $500.
Malta was awarded to Britain in the treaty that ended the Napoleonic War in 1815. The local people on the island are mainly of Italian decent. Malta’s place in the central Mediterranean makes it a valuable port to control in terms of shipping lanes to the Suez Canal and keeping a check on Italian naval power.
The deprivations of World War I were felt hard on Malta despite there not being fighting there. It became hard to import food and the result was much inflation that left the bulk of the people unable to adequately provide for themselves. Playing into this frustration was a new generation of leaders that saw themselves more as Italian than British in terms of their loyalties. Enrico Mizzi formed a political party that sought independence. They were behind a series of riots in Valetta in 1921 that targeted public edifices where the British flag was displayed. Flags were taken or pulled down but the riots brought out British troops that shot 4 of the Maltese rioters.
Britain tried to soothe the situation by providing a new constitution that granted more self rule. This unfortunately lead to Malta being retained as a colony through World War II. During this war Malta was the subject of much Italian and German bombing. This targeted the British military presence but hid hard on the civilian population. My English father served in the Royal Air Force and during the war and passed through Valetta. A picture of a British ship burning in the harbor was one of his mementos.
Post war Malta quickly became self governing. Mizzi even briefly served as Prime Minister. Melita was seen as recently as the year 2000 on Maltese bank notes. They now use the Euro.
Well my drink is empty and so I will open the conversation in the below comment section. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.