The 55f stamp was withdrawn for sale when the woman depicted in the stamp filed a lawsuit in the French Polynesian capitol of Papeete. She claimed it was an invasion of her right to privacy and she won after it was discovered the French Polynesian Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications had not secured a letter of permission to use her photo. Sale of the stamp was stopped on 11 July 1989, but the stamps printed were not recalled.
Eventually about half of the entire stock of 25,000 copies of the stamp was sold, principally at the Philexfrance show in Paris, before the stamp was withdrawn from sale. That number is in addition to a considerable but unspecified portion of the 100,000 copies produced for domestic and philatelic consumption in French Polynesia and sold during the four months prior to the court order.
Today, the stamp commands a premium price.
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