sentences:  Stamp collecting existed in Malta soon after the Halfpenny Yellow was first issued in the 1860s.The hobby was popular on the islands during the British colonial period, and philatelic organisations such as the Malta Philatelic Society Zeitun existed in the 1930s and 1940s.There are a number of such organisations today, including the Malta Philatelic Society which was set up in 1966, the Gozo Philatelic Society which was set up in 1999 and the Żejtun Philatelic Group () which was set up in 2002.