Issues of its own postage stamps began in this country in 1853. Portugal has been a member of the Universal Postal Union since 1875. The first postage stamps in 1853 featured the monarch's head, white and featureless, embossed on a colored background. The most valuable stamps of this period were miniatures numbered 8 and 9 from the Stanley Gibbons catalog from the 1853 issue: purple ones with a face value of 100 flights.