1964Tonga FDC Pan Pacific Southeast Asia Womens Congress Gold Foil Hearts & Maps

Description

Up for sale is this beautiful Friendly Islands PPSEAWA
(
“Pan Pacific Southeast Asia Women’s Association”)
gold anodized foil stamps issue. This set is a complete “Hearts and Maps” FIRST DAY COVER collection from Nuku’alofa Tongan Islands. Postmarked October 19, 1964. Each of the eight stamps is in "Extremely Fine" condition and priced to sell. Very nice postal history cover.
SOME HISTORY:
The first postage stamps of Tonga appeared in 1886 with a 5-value set picturing Tonga’s King George I. The British Protectorate (now an independent British Commonwealth kingdom) produced many beautiful stamps in the years following. They were inscribed “Toga” until 1950. In the early 1900s, the harbor was too shallow for ships to dock at Nuku’alofa, the Capital of the Tongan islands group. Mail was thrown overboard in tins and Tongan swimmers picked it up. And they swam back with outgoing mail. Tonga produced the world’s first self-adhesive stamps in 1962. That wasn’t its only innovation. Tonga created a lot of fun for collectors with their many original stamp shapes – bananas, stars, crowns, hearts, coconuts, maps and lots more!
Overall, Tonga could be said to be the first country to issue self-adhesives for general use and these were followed by several different and original issues between 1963 and 1970.
This lot consists of eight (8) real postage stamps from Tonga. Each postage stamp design is embossed on gold anodized foil, inscribed overall with “TONGA the Friendly Islands” and around the border of each stamp is the embossed inscription “PAN PACIFIC SOUTHEAST ASIA WOMEN’S ASSOCIATION NUKU’ALOFA”. The design of each postage stamp features a coin commemorating the 1962 issuance of the First Gold Coinage in Polynesia embossed with a profile of Queen Salote Tupou III.
Denominations include the following:
·
On the 4 HEART STAMPS …. 3 & 9 Seniti Regular Postage and 2 & 6 Pa’anga Airmail Postage.
·
On the 4 MAP STAMPS …. 10 Seniti Regular Postage and 1’2, 3’6 & 6’6 Pa’anga Airmail Postage.
NOTE: A Tongan “Seniti” is roughly equivalent to a U.S. “Cent” and a Tongan Pa’anga can be thought of as very roughly equivalent to a U.S. “Dollar”
This Complete Set I am offering consists of:
·
Eight (8) embossed gold anodized foil stamps celebrating PPSEAWA
. This lovely complete FIRST DAY COVER set of 8 Tongan postage stamps are NEW, Never Hinged.
·
A sturdy Plexiglas display frame/case.
·
All stamps in this offer are rated “Very Fine” to “Excellent” and are mounted in MINT CONDITION and cancelled with the First Day of Issue Stamp.
Please see all pictures and ASK questions before bidding or buying. The photographs form part of the visual description. I am not a professional stamp dealer; I’m just an old family man trying to simplify my life and “downsize” my home and expenses. I purchased these stamps directly from the postmaster in Tonga while I was serving there as a teacher for my Church. I do not grade stamps or coins because everyone has a different idea of condition so, please look at the photographs to determine the grade yourself.
Shipping:
The weight of this set, complete, is 20.25 ounces. By the time I add packing material and a shipping container, the estimated shipping weight will be about 30 ounces. Shipping will be via USPS least expensive method, which will probably be “
USPS Retail Ground” which would cost up to .95.
It is my policy to share the shipping cost with the buyer.
Therefore, I am asking the buyer to pay .00 shipping and I will pay the balance.
Please wait for receipt of my invoice showing the total cost of your purchase. If the buyer would like shipping insurance or expedited shipping (i.e., Priority or express mailing) then the buyer will have to pay the entire cost of shipping as well as all other desired shipping expenses. If this is the case, please notify me via eBay mail and I will send a corrected invoice of the cost.