stamp printers by country

M

    = Understood to be a current stamp printer.

MACAO SAR 
 First postage stamp issued: 1884.
No stamps appear to have been produced locally.



MACEDONIA  
 First postage stamp issued: 1944.  

11 Oktombri Printing Works, Skopje.
First stamp(s) traced by compiler: 1997 for Macedonia.
Main printing process(es): Litho 

This is the correct name for the company and not a stamp issue date!  Despite this, it has not been possible to find out details about the company.


Makedonia Skenpoint, Skopje.
Founded:  1990.  
First stamp(s) traced by compiler: 2005 for Macedonia.
Main printing process(es): Litho. 



MADAGASCAR  
 First postage stamp issued: 1894.

London Missionary Society Press, Antananarivo.
First stamp(s) traced by compiler: 1895 for British Inland Mail use.



MADEIRA  
 First postage stamp issued: 1868.
No stamps appear to have been produced locally.



MALAGASY REPUBLIC  
 First postage stamp issued: 1958.
No stamps appear to have been produced locally.



MALAWI  
(Formerly NYASALAND)
 First postage stamp issued: 1908 (For NYASALAND).
No stamps appear to have been produced locally.



MALAYSIA  
 First postage stamp issued: 1867 (For STRAITS SETTLEMENTS).
Some local overprinting / surcharging occurred down the years, but the name of the printer(s) responsible is unknown.

Government Printing Office, Sandakan.
First stamp(s) traced by compiler: 1916 (Surcharges) for The State of North Borneo.


Government Survey Office, Khota Bharu.
First stamp(s) traced by compiler: 1922 (Overprints) for Kelantan.


Kelantan Printing Department, Khota Baru.
First stamp(s) traced by compiler: 1943 for Kelantan during the Thai Occupation of Malaya.


North Borneo Herald, Sandakan.
First stamp(s) traced by compiler: 1886 (Surcharges) for the British North Borneo Company Administration.


Osmania Logistics Sdn. Bhd. Sykt., Kuala Lumpur.
First stamp(s) traced by compiler: [when?].


Percetakan Keselamatan Nasional Sdn. Bhd., Kuala Lumpur.
Abbreviation known by: PNMB and PKN previously.
First stamp(s) traced by compiler: 2002 for Malaysia.

This is the Malaysian name for Security Printers (M) Sdn. Bhd and means "National Printing Corporation".


Ribeiro & Co., Penang.
First stamp(s) traced by compiler: 1919 (Surcharges) for Kedah.


Security Printers (M) Sdn. Bhd., Kuala Lumpur.    
Abbreviation known by: SPM.
First stamp(s) traced by compiler: 1981 for Malaysia.
Main printing process(es): Litho, embossing.

This firm is a subsidiary of Firma Metal Box Berhad. This printer has used a unique watermark SPM -See SG 331-334. See Percetakan Keselamatan Nasional Sdn. Bhd., above


Trengganu Survey Office, Trengganu.
First stamp(s) traced by compiler: 1944 in Trengganu during the Thai Occupation of Malaya.



MALDIVE ISLANDS
 First postage stamp issued: 1906.
No stamps appear to have been produced locally.



MALI  
 First postage stamp issued: 1959.
No stamps appear to have been produced locally.



MALTA  
 First postage stamp issued: 1860.

Government Printing Office, Valletta.
First stamp(s) traced by compiler: 1902 (Surcharges), 1925 (Postage Dues) for Malta.


Printex Limited, Qormi.  
Founded:  1970.  
First stamp(s) traced by compiler: 1972 for Malta.
Main printing process(es): Litho.

Printex is Malta's leading printing house, established as a subsidiary of Joinwell Limited. Aside from general commercial printing, they also print passports for the Maltese government.

In 1972, Printex was officially recognised by the Maltese Government as capable of producing postage stamps for the Department of Posts, both from the quality and security aspects.

In 1998, Printex Limited lost its 26-year old contract to print Maltese postage stamps to the German State Printers, the Bundesdruckerei. It is good to see that in 2004 the name of Printex returned to our stamp albums, as  once again they are producing stamps for the Maltese postal authorities.



MARSHALL ISLANDS  
   First postage stamp issued: 1897. 
No stamps appear to have been produced locally.



MARTINIQUE  
   First postage stamp issued: 1886.
No stamps appear to have been produced locally.



MAURITANIA  
 First postage stamp issued: 1960.
No stamps appear to have been produced locally.



MAURITIUS   
 First postage stamp issued: 1847.
Local surcharges and overprints have occurred at various times, but the printer(s) have gone unrecorded.

J. O. Barnard, Port Louis.
First stamp(s) traced by compiler: 1847 for Mauritius.

The famous and rare 'Post office Mauritius' stamps exist in 1d and 2d values with a catalogue value of around GBP1million for the pair. The stamp catalogues record that he engraved the stamps, but is also believed to have printed them as well. Barnard was a half-blind watchmaker and jeweller and this was his only incursion in the stamp field.


L. A. Dardenne,  [where?].
First stamp(s) traced by compiler: 1859 for Mauritius.


J. Lapirot, [where?].
First stamp(s) traced by compiler: 1859 for Mauritius.

The stamp catalogues record that he engraved the stamps, but is also believed to have printed them as well.


R. Sherwin, [where?].
First stamp(s) traced by compiler: [when?] for Mauritius.

The stamp catalogues record that he engraved the stamps, but is also believed to have printed them as well.



MAYOTTE  
 First postage stamp issued: 1892. 
No stamps appear to have been produced locally.



MEXICO  
 First postage stamp issued: 1856.
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MICRONESIA  
  First postage stamp issued: 1984. 
No stamps appear to have been produced locally.



MOLDOVA  
   First postage stamp issued: 1991.

Nova Imprim, Chisinau.
First stamp(s) traced by compiler: 2011 for Moldova.
Main printing process(es): Litho.


  Tipografia Centrala, Chisinau.
First stamp(s) traced by compiler: 2004 for Moldova. 
Main printing process(es): Litho.
 

Universul (sic) Printers, Chisinau.
First stamp(s) traced by compiler: 2008 for Moldova.
Main printing process(es): Litho.



MONACO  
 First postage stamp issued: 1885.
No stamps appear to have been produced local



MONGOLIA  
 First postage stamp issued: 1924.

State Printing Works, Ulan Bator.  
First stamp(s) traced by compiler: 1926 for Mongolia.



MONTENEGRO  
 First postage stamp issued: 1874.
No stamps appear to have been produced local



MONTSERRAT  
 First postage stamp issued: 1876.
No stamps have been produced locally, unless The Mansfield Press recorded under WHAT COUNTRY?  is a Montserrat company. However, local surcharges and overprints have occurred at various times, but the printer(s) name(s) have gone unrecorded.



MOROCCO  
 First postage stamp issued: 1912.

Lecocq Mathorel & Chr. Bernard, [where?].  
First stamp(s) traced by compiler: 1912 for Morocco.



MOZAMBIQUE  
 First postage stamp issued: 1876.

Fabrica de Volores Postals, Maputo.
English Translation: State Printing Works.
First stamp(s) traced by compiler: 1995 for Mozambique.


Lito Emol, [where?].  
First stamp(s) traced by compiler: 1976 for Mozambique.


State Printing Works, Maputo. 
First stamp(s) traced by compiler: 1995 for Mozambique.
Main printing process(es): Litho.



MYANMAR    
(Formerly BURMA)
Overprinting has occurred locally, but the name(s) of the printer(s) have not survived.

Government Security Printing Works (SPW), Rangoon, now at Wazi.
First stamp(s) traced by compiler: 1940s for Burmese government.

In the August 1988 number of The American Philatelist there is an article titled "Politics and Philately in Modern Burma" attributed to one Warren Sykes, a pseudonym used by a respected collector for political reasons: much of the article is based upon information sent to him by correspondents in Burma, whose activities would have made them suspect. One of his friends there was interrogated by military intelligence because of his overseas philatelic correspondence.

Starting at the bottom of p.753, there is an account of how the Security Printing Works / Security Paper Works was established at Wazi in Upper Burma, around 1972 or so, and started printing Burma's stamps, revenue stamps and papers, national school examinations, and currency. A West German company was responsible for getting the printing works to function. This company was Fritz Werner GmbH, which had a significant role in providing Burma with munitions and small arms factories in the 1960s and 1970s. Werner's, a state-owned company, got out of Burma when the politics of the regime became too odious to be ignored at home in Germany.

A former Fritz Werner employee (a stamp dealer in Calgary) reported that on the banks of the Rhine at Geisenheim, headquarters of the company, there is a fine small Burmese teak pagoda.

The printing works is at Wazi, which is not to be found on any Burmese map as the government tries to keep its location very hush-hush. There are several major defence industries on the west bank of the Irrawaddy in central Burma, the Wazi printers among them. Wazi doesn't appear to be on any European-language map of Burma, either; however, from a table of postal codes, it is known to be a subsidiary to the main post office district of Pakkoku, which gives an indication of the general location area. Organizationally, there is a Directorate of Security Printing that reports to the Military Training General and then to the Chief of Staff of the Army. The Security Printing Works is within this Directorate. The compiler's source for the structural information is Andrew Selth, "Burma's Armed Forces: Power without Glory," Norwalk Conn, Eastbridge Press, 2002, pp. 56-57.

The main work at Wazi is the printing of banknotes, for inflation is propelled by government spending that is supported by nothing more than the printing presses. When the compiler was in Burma in 1995, the free market exchange rate was Kyat 195 to US $1; the 2004 rate was around Kyat 1100 to US $1.

A sleeve from a bundle of postal stationery that shows both the logo of the printing works and the hand stamp impressed on the sleeve is illustrated. This seems to indicate that there is a security paper works somehow attached to the security printing works. Contacts in the country advise that there are only two paper mills, one in the Sittang Valley and one near Taungoo, which are far removed from Wazi. The west bank of the Irrawaddy is very dry, hardly pulp forest country, so it is not easy to explain where the raw material comes from.


G. Kolff and Company, Batavia.  
First stamp(s) traced by compiler: 1943 for Burmese government.


Rangoon Gazette Press, Rangoon.
First stamp(s) traced by compiler: 1942 for Burma.