Description
Tonga 1962 (7 Feb) "Emancipation" 5s orange-yellow and slate-lilac, type 59 overprint, ERROR OVERPRINT INVERTED, SG127a.
A very fine unmounted mint example with full original gum.
An attractive stamp featuring the "Mutiny on the Bounty".
The overprinted stamps were issued in celebration of the Centenary of Emancipation. Emancipation Day remains a public holiday in the Kingdom of Tonga to this day celebrating the abolition of the system of serfdom which had been used by the local chiefs for centuries as a means of forced labour. On June 4th 1862, Tonga's first Christian king, George Tupou I declared the abolition of serfdom in the official emancipation edict as part of his 1862 Code of Laws.
Stanley Gibbons catalogue value: £225.