2018-10-31 Wed

The British colony of the British Virgin Islands issued its first stamps in the year 1866. The British Virgin Islands or the Virgin Islands is a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean.

he first Post Office was opened in Tortola in 1787, at this time postage stamps were not invented yet and it was not until 1858 that a small supply of adhesive stamps issued by Great Britain depicting Queen Victoria was utilized by the local Post Office.

The first stamps denominated 1 penny, green, and 6 pence rose, were issued in December 1866, early 1867, and featured a depiction of Saint Ursula. According to a legend, Saint Ursula had 11,000 virginal handmaidens, after whom the islands had been named.

The stamp depicts Virgin facing left holding scales in her hands. She is surrounded by eleven scales each one of them represents 1,000 virgins each, total 11,000 virginal handmaidens altogether. At the top, the stamp shows the name of the Country and the denomination at the bottom.

Image Courtesy: https://colnect.com