Post office · Goa (Portuguese India)
Margao
- Handstamps
- 6
- Rare
- 6
Margao has 6 pre-1854 hand-struck postal markings recorded in this census. Each figure links to its covers, rarity and provenance.
Margao handstamp summary
All recorded markings at a glance — click any row for full details and covers.
Margao— postal history & markings
Margao's six markings belong to Portuguese Goa, and all are scarce — FP 1 and FP 2 rare, the remainder known from only two examples apiece. The office worked evenly in red and black. Like its neighbours in Portuguese India, Margao lies outside the Hammond Giles catalogue of British India, and its marks are recorded here directly from surviving material. Every strike being rare or nearly so, the office's small record is valuable precisely for its scarcity — a complete run of elusive handstamps from a principal town of the Salcete district on the western coast.
Frequently asked — Margao postal history
- What are the pre stamp covers of Margao?
- Pre stamp (pre philatelic) covers of Margao are folded letters and envelopes that passed through the Margao post office before India's first adhesive stamp of 1854, so postage was shown entirely by hand-struck postal markings and manuscript rates. Margao was a post office of the Goa (Portuguese India), British India, and this census records 6 distinct postal markings used there, of the pre-adhesive period.
- How many handstamps are recorded for Margao?
- 6 hand-struck postal markings are recorded for Margao in this census, of which 6 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 Margao 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 Margao 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 Margao were struck, catalogued and graded for rarity.
Also searched as: Margao, Margao handstruck stamps, Margao pre stamp covers, Margao postal history.
How to cite
“Margao, Goa (Portuguese India) — pre-1854 handstruck stamps & covers,” Hand Struck Stamps, https://handstruckstampsindia.com/goa/margao (accessed 8 September 2026).
Updated: 8 Sept 2026
An unrecorded mark from Margao?
If you hold a cover or strike from Margao 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.