2016-10-13 Thu

The first ever postage Stamps of the Kingdom of Hawaii are known as the Hawaiian Missionary Stamps. Issued in 1851, they came to be known as the "Missionaries" because they were primarily found on the correspondence of missionaries working in the Hawaiian Islands.

Prior to the fourth decade of 19th Century, there was little demand for postal services in Hawaii. By 1840, American missionaries and traders were sufficiently numerous that letters were being sent home to New England being carried by ship captains.

In response to this, a post office was established the Hawaiian government. The first postmaster Henry Martyn Whitney was authorized to print stamps in June 1851. The stamps went on sale October 1, 1851. These stamps were issued in three denominations covering three rates: a) the 2-cent stamp was for newspapers going to the US, b) the 5-cent value was for regular mail to the US and c) the 13-cent value was for mail to the US East Coast.

Though these stamps feature a very simple design with the denomination in the centre as well as written at the bottom, the Hawaiian Missionary stamps are one of the greatest rarity of the philatelic world.