Post office · Goa (Portuguese India)
Mapuca
- Handstamps
- 4
- Rare
- 4
Mapuca has 4 pre-1854 hand-struck postal markings recorded in this census. Each figure links to its covers, rarity and provenance.
Mapuca handstamp summary
All recorded markings at a glance — click any row for full details and covers.
Mapuca— postal history & markings
Mapuca's four markings all belong to Portuguese Goa, and every one is rare. Like its neighbours in Portuguese India, the office names its functions in a distinct vocabulary and form: FP 1 is a straightline 'Mapuca', FP 2 a 'P.P.', FP 3 a 'P.N.P.' straightline, and FP 4 a straightline 'Livre' — free — in black. As a Goa office, Mapuca lies outside the Hammond Giles catalogue of British India, its marks recorded here directly from surviving material. Every strike being rare, its small record is a valuable window onto the Portuguese postal tradition of the western coast.
Frequently asked — Mapuca postal history
- What are the pre stamp covers of Mapuca?
- Pre stamp (pre philatelic) covers of Mapuca are folded letters and envelopes that passed through the Mapuca post office before India's first adhesive stamp of 1854, so postage was shown entirely by hand-struck postal markings and manuscript rates. Mapuca was a post office of the Goa (Portuguese India), British India, and this census records 4 distinct postal markings used there, of the pre-adhesive period.
- How many handstamps are recorded for Mapuca?
- 4 hand-struck postal markings are recorded for Mapuca in this census, of which 4 are graded rare or better. Each mark carries its Hammond Giles catalogue figure number, colour, date range, evidence-based rarity grade, and links to every surviving cover recorded with it.
- How do I identify a Mapuca postmark or cover?
- Compare your cover against the reference impressions on this page — each figure shows the mark's design, ink colour and recorded date range. If your Mapuca cover bears a mark that matches a figure, open that figure's page to see every recorded example with provenance. If it matches none, it may be unrecorded: submit photographs through the form on this page and the editors will review it for inclusion in the census.
For background on the material itself, see the guides to the handstruck stamps of India, the pre covers of India and the pre stamp covers of India, which explain how marks like those recorded at Mapuca were struck, catalogued and graded for rarity.
Also searched as: Mapuca, Mapuca handstruck stamps, Mapuca pre stamp covers, Mapuca postal history.
How to cite
“Mapuca, Goa (Portuguese India) — pre-1854 handstruck stamps & covers,” Hand Struck Stamps, https://handstruckstampsindia.com/goa/mapuca (accessed 8 September 2026).
Updated: 8 Sept 2026
An unrecorded mark from Mapuca?
If you hold a cover or strike from Mapuca that does not match any figure above, submit it below. Approved additions appear here as new entries in the census — every submission is reviewed first.
Same presidency
Other post offices in the Goa (Portuguese India)
Explore the pre-1854 postal history of other Goa (Portuguese India) post offices — each page lists its recorded handstruck markings, dates and surviving covers.