British Honduras was a Crown colony on the east coast of Central America, south of Mexico, from 1783 to 1964, then a self-governing colony, renamed Belize in June 1973, until September 1981, when it gained full independence as Belize. British postage stamps were introduced in 1858, with obliteration “A06” used at Belize. This continued until the colony took over the operation of its own posts on 1 April 1860, and thereafter, until 1865, mail was stampless, handstamps being used to indicate payment of postage. Today’s stamp is from the first series of stamps issued in 1865. It shows Queen Victoria and has a face value of one penny.