1894 Hawaii Hawaiian Islands King Kamehameha I Statue Postage Stamp 5 Cents

POSTAGE STAMP

Postage stamps were issued by post offices, postal administrations, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the face or address-side of any item of mail—an envelope or other postal cover (e.g., packet, box, mailing cylinder)—that they wish to send. The item is then processed by the postal system, where a postmark or cancellation mark—in modern usage indicating date and point of origin of mailing—is applied to the stamp and its left and right sides to prevent its reuse. The item is then delivered to its addressee.

Always featuring the name of the issuing nation (with the exception of the United Kingdom), a denomination of its value, and often an illustration of persons, events, institutions, or natural realities that symbolize the nation's traditions and values, every stamp is printed on a piece of usually rectangular, but sometimes triangular or otherwise shaped special custom-made paper whose back is either glazed with an adhesive gum or self-adhesive.

Because governments issue stamps of different denominations in unequal numbers and routinely discontinue some lines and introduce others, and because of their illustrations and association with the social and political realities of the time of their issue, they are often prized for their beauty and historical significance by stamp collectors whose study of their history and of mailing systems is called philately. Because collectors often buy stamps from an issuing agency with no intention to use them for postage, the revenues from such purchases and payments of postage can make them a source of net profit to that agency. On 1 May 1840, the Penny Black, the first adhesive postage stamp, was issued in the United Kingdom. Within three years postage stamps were introduced in Switzerland and Brazil, a little later in the United States, and by 1860, they were in 90 countries around the world.[1] The first postage stamps did not need to show the issuing country, so no country name was included on them. Thus the United Kingdom remains the only country in the world to omit its name on postage stamps; the monarch's image signifies the United Kingdom as the country of origin.[2]

Contents

1 Invention

1.1 William Dockwra 1.2 Lovrenc Košir 1.3 Rowland Hill 1.4 James Chalmers 1.5 Other claimants

2 History

2.1 The nineteenth century 2.2 The twentieth and twenty-first century

3 Design

3.1 Perforations 3.2 Shapes and materials 3.3 Graphic characteristics

4 Types 5 First day covers 6 Souvenir or miniature sheets 7 Stamp collecting 8 Famous stamps 9 See also 10 Notes 11 References 12 External links

Invention

Lovrenc Košir

Rowland Hill

Throughout modern history, numerous methods were used to indicate that postage had been paid on a mailed item, so several different men have received credit for inventing the postage stamp.

William Dockwra

In 1680, William Dockwra, an English merchant in London, and his partner Robert Murray established the London Penny Post, a mail system that delivered letters and small parcels inside the city of London for the sum of one penny. Confirmation of paid postage was indicated by the use of a hand stamp to frank the mailed item. Though this "stamp" was applied to the letter or parcel itself, rather than to a separate piece of paper, it is considered by many historians to be the world's first postage stamp.[3]

Lovrenc Košir

In 1835, the civil servant Lovrenc Košir from Ljubljana in Austria-Hungary (now Slovenia), suggested the use of "artificially affixed postal tax stamps"[4] using "gepresste Papieroblate" ("pressed paper wafers"), but although civil bureaucrats considered the suggestion in detail, it was not adopted.[5][6] The 'Papieroblate' were to produce stamps as paper decals so thin as to prevent their reuse.[7]

Rowland Hill

In 1836, Robert Wallace, a Member of (British) Parliament, gave Sir Rowland Hill numerous books and documents about the postal service, which Hill described as a "half hundred weight of material".[8][9] After a detailed study, on 4 January 1837 Hill submitted a pamphlet entitled Post Office Reform: Its Importance and Practicability, marked "private and confidential", and not released to the general public, to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Thomas Spring Rice.[10] The Chancellor summoned Hill to a meeting at which he suggested improvements and changes to be presented in a supplement, which Hill duly produced and submitted on 28 January 1837.[11]

Summoned to give evidence before the Commission for Post Office Enquiry on 13 February 1837, Hill read from the letter he wrote to the Chancellor that included a statement saying that the notation of paid postage could be created... by using a bit of paper just large enough to bear the stamp, and covered at the back with a glutinous wash..."[12][13] This would eventually become the first unambiguous description of a modern adhesive postage stamp (though the term "postage stamp" originated at later date). Shortly afterward, Hill's revision of the booklet, dated 22 February 1837, containing some 28,000 words, incorporating the supplement given to the Chancellor and statements he made to the commission, was published and made available to the general public. Hansard records that on 15 December 1837, Benjamin Hawes asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer "whether it was the intention of the Government to give effect to the recommendation of the Commissioners of the Post-office, contained in their ninth report relating to the reduction of the rates of postage, and the issuing of penny stamps?"[14]

Hill's ideas for postage stamps and charging paid-postage based on weight soon took hold, and were adopted in many countries throughout the world.[1] With the new policy of charging by weight, using envelopes for mailing documents became the norm. Hill's brother Edwin invented a prototype envelope-making machine that folded paper into envelopes quickly enough to match the pace of the growing demand for postage stamps.[15]

Rowland Hill and the reforms he introduced to the United Kingdom postal system appear on several of its commemorative stamps.[15]

James Chalmers

In the 1881 book The Penny Postage Scheme of 1837, Scotsman Patrick Chalmers claimed that his father, James Chalmers, published an essay in August 1834 describing and advocating a postage stamp, but submitted no evidence of the essay's existence. Nevertheless, until he died in 1891, Patrick Chalmers campaigned to have his father recognized as the inventor of the postage stamp.[16]

The first independent evidence for Chalmers' claim is an essay, dated 8 February 1838 and received by the Post Office on 17 February 1838, in which he proposed adhesive postage stamps to the General Post Office.[17] In this approximately 800-word document concerning methods of indicating that postage had been paid on mail he states:

"Therefore, of Mr Hill's plan of a uniform rate of postage... I conceive that the most simple and economical mode... would be by Slips... in the hope that Mr Hill's plan may soon be carried into operation I would suggest that sheets of Stamped Slips should be prepared... then be rubbed over on the back with a strong solution of gum...".

Chalmers' original document is now in the United Kingdom's National Postal Museum.

Since Chalmers used the same postage denominations that Hill had proposed in February 1837, it is clear that he was aware of Hill's proposals, but whether he obtained a copy of Hill's booklet or simply read about it in one or both of the two detailed accounts (25 March 1837[18] and 20 December 1837[19]) published in The Times is unknown. Neither article mentioned "a bit of paper just large enough to bear the stamp", so Chalmers could not have known that Hill had made such a proposal. This suggests that either Chalmers had previously read Hill's booklet and was merely elaborating Hill's idea, or he had independently developed the idea of the modern postage stamp.

James Chalmers organized petitions "for a low and uniform rate of postage". The first such petition was presented in the House of Commons on 4 December 1837 (from Montrose).[20] Further petitions organised by him were presented on 1 May 1838 (from Dunbar and Cupar), 14 May 1838 (from the county of Forfar), and 12 June 1839. At this same time, other groups organised petitions and presented them to Parliament. All petitions for consumer-oriented, low-cost, volume-based postal rates followed publication of Hill's proposals.

Other claimants

Other claimants include or have included[21]

Dr John Gray of the British Museum

Samuel Forrester, a Scottish tax official Charles Whiting, a London stationer

Samuel Roberts of Llanbrynmair, Wales

Francis Worrell Stevens, schoolmaster at Loughton

Ferdinand Egarter of Spittal, Austria

Curry Gabriel Treffenberg from Sweden

History

The nineteenth century

The Penny Black, the world's first postage stamp.

Postage stamps have facilitated the delivery of mail since the 1840s. Before then, ink and hand-stamps (hence the word 'stamp'), usually made from wood or cork, were often used to frank the mail and confirm the payment of postage. The first adhesive postage stamp, commonly referred to as the Penny Black, was issued in the United Kingdom in 1840. The invention of the stamp was part of an attempt to improve the postal system in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,[22] which, in the early 19th century, was in disarray and rife with corruption.[23] There are varying accounts of the inventor or inventors of the stamp.[24]

Before the introduction of postage stamps, mail in the United Kingdom was paid for by the recipient, a system that was associated with an irresolvable problem: the costs of delivering mail were not recoverable by the postal service when recipients were unable or unwilling to pay for delivered items, and senders had no incentive to restrict the number, size, or weight of items sent, whether or not they would ultimately be paid for.[25] The postage stamp resolved this issue in a simple and elegant manner, with the additional benefit of room for an element of beauty to be introduced. Concurrently with the first stamps, the United Kingdom offered wrappers for mail. Later related inventions include postal stationery such as prepaid-postage envelopes, post cards, lettercards, aerogrammes, postage meters, and, more recently, specialty boxes and envelopes provided free to the customer by the United States Postal Service for priority or express mailing.

The postage stamp afforded convenience for both the mailer and postal officials, more effectively recovered costs for the postal service, and ultimately resulted in a better, faster postal system. With the conveniences stamps offered, their use resulted in greatly increased mailings during the 19th and 20th centuries.[26] Postage stamps during this era were the most popular way of paying for mail; however, by the end of the 20th century were rapidly being eclipsed by the use of metered postage and bulk mailing by businesses.[27][28]

As postage stamps with their engraved imagery began to appear on a widespread basis, historians and collectors began to take notice.[29] The study of postage stamps and their use is referred to as philately. Stamp collecting can be both a hobby and a form of historical study and reference, as government-issued postage stamps and their mailing systems have always been involved with the history of nations.[30][31]

Although a number of people laid claim to the concept of the postage stamp, it is well documented that stamps were first introduced in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland on 1 May 1840 as a part of postal reforms promoted by Sir Rowland Hill.[1] With its introduction, the postage fee was paid by the sender and not the recipient, though it was still possible to send mail without prepaying. From when the first postage stamps were used, postmarks were applied to prevent the stamps being used again.[32][33]

The first stamp, the "Penny black", became available for purchase 1 May 1840, to be valid as of 6 May 1840. Two days later, 8 May 1840, the Two penny blue was introduced. The Penny black was sufficient for a letter less than half an ounce to be sent anywhere within the United Kingdom. Both stamps included an engraving of the young Queen Victoria, without perforations, as the first stamps were separated from their sheets by cutting them with scissors.

The first stamps did not need to show the issuing country, so no country name was included on them. The United Kingdom remains the only country to omit its name on postage stamps,[2][34] using the reigning monarch's head as country identification. Following the introduction of the postage stamp in the United Kingdom, prepaid postage considerably increased the number of letters mailed. Before 1839, the number of letters sent in the United Kingdom was typically 76 million. By 1850, this increased five-fold to 350 million, continuing to grow rapidly[26] until the end of the 20th century when newer methods of indicating the payment of postage reduced the use of stamps.

Other countries soon followed the United Kingdom with their own stamps.[1] The Canton of Zürich in Switzerland issued the Zurich 4 and 6 rappen on 1 March 1843. Although the Penny black could be used to send a letter less than half an ounce anywhere within the United Kingdom, the Swiss did not initially adopt that system, instead continuing to calculate mail rates based on distance to be delivered. Brazil issued the Bull's Eye stamp on 1 August 1843. Using the same printer used for the Penny black, Brazil opted for an abstract design instead of the portrait of Emperor Pedro II, so his image would not be disfigured by a postmark.

In 1845, some postmasters in the United States issued their own stamps, but it was not until 1847 that the first official United States stamps were issued: 5 and 10 cent issues depicting Benjamin Franklin and George Washington. A few other countries issued stamps in the late 1840s. The famous Mauritius "Post Office" stamps were issued by Mauritius in September 1847. Many others, such as India, started their use in the 1850s, and by the 1860s most countries issued stamps.

Perforation of postage stamps began in January 1854.[35] The first officially perforated stamps were issued in February 1854. Stamps from Henry Archer's perforation trials were issued in the last few months of 1850; during the 1851 parliamentary session[35] at the House of Commons of the United Kingdom; and finally in 1853/54 after the United Kingdom government paid Archer £4,000 for his machine and the patent.[35]

The Universal Postal Union, established in 1874, prescribed that nations shall only issue postage stamps according to the quantity of real use, and no living persons shall be taken as subjects. The latter rule lost its significance after World War I.[36]

The twentieth and twenty-first century

The US Mail postage stamp of Marshal C. G. E. Mannerheim from 1961

After World War II, it became customary in some countries, especially small Arab nations, to issue postage stamps en masse as it was realized how profitable that was.[36]

During the 21st century, the amount of mail — and the use of postage stamps, accordingly — has reduced in the world because of electronic mail and other technological innovations. Iceland has already announced that it will not issue new stamps anymore because the sales have decreased and there are enough stamps in the stock.[36]

Design

Main article: Postage stamp design

When the first postage stamps were issued in the 1840s, they followed an almost identical standard in shape, size and general subject matter. They were rectangular in shape. They bore the images of Queens, Presidents and other political figures. They also depicted the denomination of the postage-paid, and with the exception of the United Kingdom,[note 1] depicted the name of the country from which issued.[note 2] Nearly all early postage stamps depict images of national leaders only.

Soon after the introduction of the postage stamp, other subjects and designs began to appear. Some designs were welcome, others widely criticized. For example, in 1869, the United States Post Office broke tradition of depicting presidents or other famous historical figures, instead using other subjects including a train, and horse.(See: 1869 Pictorial Issue.) The change was greeted with general disapproval, and sometimes harsh criticism from the American public.[38][39]

Perforations

Main article: Postage stamp separation

Rows of perforations in a sheet of postage stamps.

The Penny Red, 1854 issue. The first officially perforated postage stamp.

The first officially perforated United States stamp (1857).

Perforations are small holes made between individual postage stamps on a sheet of stamps,[40] facilitating separation of a desired number of stamps. The resulting frame-like, rippled edge surrounding the separated stamp defines a characteristic meme for the appearance of a postage stamp.

In the first decade of postage stamps' existence (depending on the country), stamps were issued without perforations. Scissors or other cutting mechanisms were required to separate a desired number of stamps from a full sheet. If cutting tools were not used, individual stamps were torn off. This is evidenced by the ragged edges of surviving examples. Mechanically separating stamps from a sheet proved an inconvenience for postal clerks and businesses, both dealing with large numbers of individual stamps on a daily basis. By 1850, methods such as rouletting wheels were being devised in efforts of making stamp separation more convenient, and less time-consuming.[41]

The United Kingdom was the first country to issue postage stamps with perforations. The first machine specifically designed to perforate sheets of postage stamps was invented in London by Henry Archer, an Irish landowner and railroad man from Dublin, Ireland.[42] The 1850 Penny Red[41][43][44] was the first stamp to be perforated during trial course of Archer's perforating machine. After a period of trial and error and modifications of Archer's invention, new machines based on the principles pioneered by Archer were purchased and in 1854 the United Kingdom postal authorities started continuously issuing perforated postage stamps in the Penny Red and all subsequent designs.

In the United States, the use of postage stamps caught on quickly and became more widespread when on 3 March 1851, the last day of its legislative session, Congress passed the Act of March 3, 1851 (An Act to reduce and modify the Rates of Postage in the United States).[45] Similarly introduced on the last day of the Congressional session four years later, the Act of March 3, 1855 required the prepayment of postage on all mailings. Thereafter, postage stamp use in the United States quickly doubled, and by 1861 had quadrupled.[41]

In 1856, under the direction of Postmaster General James Campbell, Toppan and Carpenter, (commissioned by the United States government to print United States postage stamps through the 1850s) purchased a rotary machine designed to separate stamps, patented in England in 1854 by William and Henry Bemrose, who were printers in Derby, England.[46] The original machine cut slits into the paper rather than punching holes, but the machine was soon modified.[43]

The first stamp issue to be officially perforated, the 3-cent George Washington, was issued by the United States Post Office on 24 February 1857. Between 1857 and 1861, all stamps originally issued between 1851 and 1856 were reissued with perforations. Initial capacity was insufficient to perforate all stamps printed, thus perforated issues used between February and July 1857 are scarce and quite valuable.[47][48]

Shapes and materials

In addition to the most common rectangular shape, stamps have been issued in geometric (circular, triangular and pentagonal) and irregular shapes. The United States issued its first circular stamp in 2000 as a hologram of the Earth.[49][50] Sierra Leone and Tonga have issued stamps in the shapes of fruit. Stamps that are printed on sheets are generally separated by perforations, though, more recently, with the advent of gummed stamps that do not have to be moistened prior to affixing them, designs can incorporate smooth edges (although a purely decorative perforated edge is often present).

Stamps are most commonly made from paper designed specifically for them, and are printed in sheets, rolls, or small booklets. Less commonly, postage stamps are made of materials other than paper, such as embossed foil (sometimes of gold). Switzerland made a stamp that contained a bit of lace and one of wood. The United States produced one of plastic. East Germany issued a stamp of synthetic chemicals. In the Netherlands a stamp was made of silver foil. Bhutan issued one with its national anthem on a playable record.[51]

Graphic characteristics

The subjects found on the face of postage stamps are generally what defines a particular stamp issue to the public and are often a reason why they are saved by collectors or history enthusiasts. Graphical subjects found on postage stamps have ranged from the early portrayals of kings, queens and presidents to later depictions of ships, birds and satellites,[39]famous people,[52] historical events, comics, dinosaurs, hobbies (knitting, stamp collecting), sports, holiday themes, and a wealth of other subjects too numerous to list.

Artists, designers, engravers and administrative officials are involved with the choice of subject matter and the method of printing stamps. Early stamp images were almost always produced from an engraving — a design etched into a steel die, which was then hardened and whose impression was transferred to a printing plate. Using an engraved image was deemed a more secure way of printing stamps as it was nearly impossible to counterfeit a finely detailed image with raised lines for anyone but a master engraver. In the mid-20th century, stamp issues produced by other forms of printing began to emerge, such as lithography, photogravure, intaglio and web offset printing. These later printing methods were less expensive and typically produced images of lesser quality.

Types

A Costa Rica Airmail stamp of 1937.

Stamps of the Philippine Republic, 1898-1899.

The Red Mercury, a rare 1856 newspaper stamp of Austria.

Earth

Airmail stamp – for payment of airmail service. The term "airmail" or an equivalent is usually printed on special airmail stamps. Airmail stamps typically depict images of airplanes and/or famous pilots and were used when airmail was a special type of mail delivery separate from mail delivered by train, ship or automobile. Aside from mail with local destinations, today almost all other mail is transported by aircraft and thus airmail is now the standard method of delivery.[53] Scott has a separate category and listing for United States Airmail Postage. Prior to 1940, Scotts Catalogue did not have a special designation for airmail stamps.[54] The various major stamp catalogs have different numbering systems and may not always list airmail stamps the same way.

ATM stamp — stamps dispensed by automates and get their value imprinted only at the time of purchase.

Booklet stamp – stamps produced and issued in booklet format.

Carrier's stamp.

Certified mail stamp. Cinderella stamp

Coil stamps – tear-off stamps issued individually in a vending machine, or purchased in a roll.

Commemorative stamp – a stamp that is issued for a limited time to commemorate a person or event. Anniversaries of birthdays and historical events are among the most common examples.

Computer vended postage – advanced secure postage that uses information-based indicia (IBI) technology. IBI uses a two-dimensional bar code (Datamatrix or PDF417) to encode the originating address, date of mailing, postage and a digital signature to verify the stamp.[55]

Customised stamp – a stamp on which the image can be chosen by the purchaser by sending in a photograph or by use of the computer. Some are not true stamps but technically meter labels.

Definitive stamps – stamps for everyday postage and are usually produced to meet current postal rates. They often have less appealing designs than commemoratives, though there are notable exceptions.[56] The same design may be used for many years. The use of the same design over an extended period may lead to unintended color varieties. This may make them just as interesting to philatelists as are commemoratives. A good example would be the US 1903 regular issues, their designs being very picturesque and ornamental.[56] Definitive stamps are often issued in a series of stamps with different denominations.

Express mail stamp / special delivery stamp.

Late fee stamp – issued to show payment of a fee to allow inclusion of a letter or package in the outgoing dispatch although it has been turned in after the cut-off time.

Local post stamps – used on mail in a local post; a postal service that operates only within a limited geographical area, typically a city or a single transportation route. Some local posts have been operated by governments, while others, known as private local posts, have been operated by for-profit companies.

Make up stamp - a stamp with a very small value, used to make up the difference when postage rates are increased.

Military stamp – stamp for a country's armed forces, usually using a special postal system. Minisheet – a commemorative issue smaller than a regular full sheet of stamps, but with more than one stamp. Minisheets often contain a number of different stamps, and often having a decorative border. See also souvenir sheets.

Newspaper stamp – used to pay the cost of mailing newspapers and other periodicals.

Official mail stamp – issued for use by the government or a government agency.

Occupation stamp – a stamp for use by an occupying army or by the occupying army or authorities for use by civilians

Non-denominated postage – postage stamp that remains valid even after the price has risen. Also known as a permanent or "forever" stamp.

Overprint - A regularly issued stamp, such as a commemorative or a definitive issue, that has been changed after issuance by "printing over" some part of the stamp. Denominations can be changed in this manner.

Perforated stamps – while this term usually refers to perforations around a stamp to divide a sheet into individual stamps, it can also be used for stamps perforated across the middle with letters or a pattern or monogram, which are known as "perfins". These modified stamps are usually purchased by corporations to guard against theft by employees.

Personalised stamps – allow the user to add his or her own image.

Pneumatic post stamps – for mail sent using pressurized air tubes, only produced in Italy.

Postage and revenue stamps – stamps which were equally valid for postal and fiscal use

Postage currency postage stamps used as currency rather than as postage

Postage due – a stamp showing that the full postage has not been paid, and indicating the amount owed. The United States Post Office Department has issued "parcel post postage due" stamps.

Postal tax – a stamp indicating that a tax above the postage rate required for sending letters has been paid. This is often mandatory on mail issued on a particular day or for a few days. Poster stamp

Self-adhesive stamp – not requiring moisture to stick. Self-sticking.

Semi-postal / charity stamp – a stamp with an additional charge for charity. The use of semi-postal stamps is at the option of the purchaser. Countries such as Belgium and Switzerland that often use charitable fund-raising design stamps that are desirable for collectors. Souvenir sheet – a commemorative issue in large format valid for postage often containing a perforated or imperforate stamp as part of its design. See also minisheet.

Specimen stamp – sent to postmasters and postal administrations so that they are able to identify valid stamps and to avoid forgeries.

Test stamp – a label not valid for postage, used by postal authorities to test sorting and cancelling machines or machines that can detect a stamp on an envelope. May also be known as dummy or training stamps.

Variable value stamps - dispensed by machines that print the cost of the postage at the time the stamp is dispensed.

War tax stamp – A variation on the postal tax stamp to defray the cost of war.

Water-activated stamp – for many years, water-activated stamps were the only type available, so this term entered into use with the advent of self-adhesive stamps. The adhesive or gum on a water-activated stamp must be moistened (usually by licking, thus the stamps are also known as "lick and stick").

Apart from these, there are also Revenue (used to collect taxes or fees on items such as documents, tobacco, alcoholic drinks, hunting licenses and medicines) and Telegraph stamps (for sending telegrams), which fall in a separate category from postage stamps.

First day covers

Main article: First day of issue

A philatelic First Day Cover from Abu Dhabi.

Postage stamps are first issued on a specific date, often referred to as the First day of issue. A first day cover usually consists of an envelope, a postage stamp and a postmark with the date of the stamp's first day of issue thereon.[57] Starting in the mid-20th century some countries began assigning the first day of issue to a place associated with the subject of the stamp design, such as a specific town or city.[58] There are two basic types of First Day Covers (FDCs) noted by collectors. The first and often most desirable type among advanced collectors is a cover sent through the mail in the course of everyday usage, without the intention of the envelope and stamp ever being retrieved and collected. The second type of FDC is often referred to as "Philatelic", that is, an envelope and stamp sent by someone with the intention of retrieving and collecting the mailed item at a later time and place. The envelope used for this type of FDC often bears a printed design or cachet of its own in correspondence with the stamp's subject and is usually printed well in advance of the first day of issue date. The latter type of FDC is usually far more common, and is usually inexpensive and relatively easy to acquire. Covers that were sent without any secondary purpose are considered non-philatelic and often are much more challenging to find and collect.[57][58]

Souvenir or miniature sheets

Main article: Miniature sheet

A 1987 Faroe Islands miniature sheet, in which the stamps form a part of a larger image.

Postage stamps are sometimes issued in souvenir sheets or miniature sheets containing one or a small number of stamps. Souvenir sheets typically include additional artwork or information printed on the selvage, the border surrounding the stamps. Sometimes the stamps make up a greater picture. Some countries, and some issues, are produced as individual stamps as well as sheets.

Stamp collecting

Main article: Stamp collecting

Le Philatéliste by François Barraud (1929).

Stamp collecting is a hobby. Collecting is not the same as philately, which is defined as the study of stamps. The creation of a valuable or comprehensive collection, however, may require some philatelic knowledge.

Stamp collectors are an important source of revenue for some small countries that create limited runs of elaborate stamps designed mainly to be bought by stamp collectors. The stamps produced by these countries may far exceed their postal needs. Hundreds of countries, each producing scores of different stamps each year, resulted in 400,000 different types of stamps in existence by the year 2000. Annual world output averages about 10,000 types.

Some countries authorize the production of postage stamps that have no postal use,[note 3] but are intended instead solely for collectors. Other countries issue large numbers of low denomination stamps that are bundled together in starter packs for new collectors. Official reprints are often printed by companies who have purchased or contracted for those rights and such reprints see no postal use.[59][60] All of these stamps are often found "canceled to order", meaning they are postmarked without ever having passed through the postal system. Most national post offices produce stamps that would not be produced if there were no collectors, some to a far more prolific degree than others.

Sales of stamps to collectors who do not use them for mailing can result in large profits. Examples of excessive issues have been the stamps produced by Nicholas F. Seebeck and stamps produced for the component states of the United Arab Emirates. Seebeck operated in the 1890s as an agent of Hamilton Bank Note Company. He approached Latin American countries with an offer to produce their entire postage stamp needs for free. In return. he would have exclusive rights to market stamps to collectors. Each year a new issue would be produced, but would expire at the end of the year. This assured Seebeck of a continuing supply of remainders.[59][60] In the 1960s, printers such as the Barody Stamp Company contracted to produce stamps for the separate Emirates and other countries. The sparse population of the desert states made it wholly unlikely that many of these stamps would ever be used for mailing purposes, and earned them the name of the "sand dune" countries.[citation needed]

Famous stamps

For a more comprehensive list, see List of notable postage stamps.

The Basel Dove stamp.

Basel Dove British Guiana 1c magenta Hawaiian Missionaries Inverted Head 4 Annas Inverted Jenny Mauritius "Post Office" Penny Black Red Revenue "Small One Dollar" Scinde Dawk Treskilling Yellow Uganda Cowries

See also

Artistamp Cancellation (mail) List of entities that have issued postage stamps (A–E) List of entities that have issued postage stamps (F–L) List of entities that have issued postage stamps (M–Z) List of stamp catalogues Mail Art Philatelic fakes and forgeries Stamp catalog

Notes

^ When the Universal Postal Union began requiring the name of the country on stamps used in the international mails, the United Kingdom, as traditionally being the first country to issue stamps for postage, never put the country name on their stamps.[37]

^ Stamps not intended for international mail, such as postage due stamps, do not need to have the country's name.

^ See, for example, the low value Afghanistan issues of 1964.

References

^ a b c d "The Penny Post revolutionary who transformed how we send letters". BBC. Retrieved 14 August 2019.

^ a b Garfield, Simon (January 2009). The Error World: An Affair with Stamps. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 118. ISBN 978-0-15-101396-8.

^ "William Dockwra and the Penny Post Service". Canadian Museum of Civilization. Retrieved 8 November 2010.

^ "New Issues: Technical Details: Lovrenc Košir" Stanley Gibbons, archived on 10 May 2011 by Internet Archive

^ Lovrenc Košir stampdomain.com 2012. Retrieved 1 March 2012. Archived here.

^ "Meet the new Rowland Hill" in Gibbons Stamp Monthly, April 1949, p. 85

^ A History of Victorian Postage By Gerard Cheshire, 2017, ISBN 1445664380, [1]

^ The Life of Sir Rowland Hill, p.246

^ Hill, Rowland & Hill, George Birkbeck, The Life of Sir Rowland Hill and the History of the Penny Post, Thomas De La Rue, 1880, p.242

^ Muir, Douglas N, Postal Reform & the Penny Black, National Postal Museum, 1990, p.42

^ The Life of Sir Rowland Hill, p.264

^ The Life of Sir Rowland Hill, p.269

^ The Ninth Report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the Management of the Post-office Department, 1837, p.32

^ Hansard, 15 December 1837

^ a b The British Postal Museum & Archive, Rowland Hill's Postal Reforms

^ Chalmers, Patrick, The Penny Postage Scheme of 1837, Effingham Wilson, 1881

^ "James Chalmers essay of 1837". Archived from the original on 13 May 2011. Retrieved 11 November 2009.

^ The Times, 25 March 1837

^ The Times, 20 December 1837

^ Hansard 4 Dec 1837

^ Mackay, James, The Guinness Book of Stamps Facts & Feats, pp.73-74, Guinness Superlatives Limited, 1982, ISBN 0-85112-241-8

^ British Postal Museum, The Penny Post and After

^ National Postal Museum: World’s First Postage Stamps

^ Before the Penny Black, by Ken Lawrence, 1995

^ Cost of Stamps

^ a b "The British Postal Museum". Archived from the original on 13 May 2011. Retrieved 30 July 2010.

^ Pitney-Bowes Postage Meter Company Excerpt: (Entering the final decade of the century, PB saw its sales surpass the US$3 billion mark for the first time in company history, topping off at US$3.2 billion in fiscal 1990.

^ United States Postal Service

^ The Life and Times of a Stamp Collector

^ Smithsonian National Postal Museum

^ Postal Service Act

^ Photo of two covers bearing the First US Postage stamps showing cancellations

^ Smithsonian National Postal Museum

^ O'Donnell, Kevin; Winger, Larry (1997). Internet for Scientists. CRC Press. p. 19. ISBN 90-5702-222-2.

^ a b c Why has a Postage Stamp a Perforated Edge? — A.M. Encyclopedia — Volume Two — page 1415

^ a b c Appelberg, Carl (4 January 2020). "Snart är frimärkets saga all" [The story of postage stamp coming to an end]. Hufvudstadsbladet (in Swedish). Helsingfors. p. 33.

^ Miller, Rick (2003) "Refresher Course: Symbols can be useful in identifying stamps" Linn's Stamp News 10 March 2003, archived here by Internet Archive on 28 December 2010

^ The U.S. Philatelic Classics Society

^ a b Kenmore Collectors Catalogue, 2010

^ "Glossary of Terms". American Philatelic Society. 2017. Retrieved 7 July 2017.

^ a b c Smithsonian National postal Museum: Early Perforation Machines

^ "Ffestiniog Railway Co". Archived from the original on 21 April 2007. Retrieved 14 September 2010.

^ a b Linn’s Stamp News, Refresher Course, Janet Klug

^ Stanley Gibbons Ltd, Specialised Stamp Catalogue Volume 1: Queen Victoria (8th ed. 1985) p. 207

^ National Postal Museum, Charles Toppan & Co.,

^ The National Archives

^ Kenmore Collector's Catalog, 2010, #906.

^ Hobbizine

^ "Holography: Into the Future". National Postal Museum. Retrieved 22 January 2011.

^ "First round United States postage stamp on the way, and that's not all..." Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Associated Press. 14 June 2000. Retrieved 22 January 2011.

^ "Bhutan - Talking Stamps and Other World Firsts!". Sandafayre (Holdings) Ltd. Retrieved 19 May 2013.

^ Thomas Mallon Archived 20 October 2007 at Archive.today "Stamp: Sober Superheroes", American Heritage, November/December 2006

^ "United States Postal Service / Airmail". Archived from the original on 23 June 2011. Retrieved 31 July 2010.

^ Linn's Stamp News, Refresher Course

^ USPS.com

^ a b Scotts US Catalogue, 1903 Issue

^ a b American First Day Cover Society

^ a b Scotts United States Stamp Catalogue, First Day of Issue Index.

^ a b The Stamp Collecting Blog, Seebeck reprints

^ a b National Postal Museum — Excerpt: Etheridge would have the remainders and reprint rights for the philatelic market. Etheridge sold these rights to Nicholas Seebeck, whose Hamilton Bank Note Company issued Ecuador’s 1892, 1894, and 1895 stamps....

Stamp Collecting News — Provides updates on new stamp issues from around the world History of postage stamps and collecting of stamps First Postage Stamps A Brief History Of Stamps

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Mail and postal systems

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Mail carrier Postal worker Postmaster Postmaster General

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Intelligent Mail barcode Mail Isolation Control and Tracking Multiline Optical Character Reader Mail cover Mail sorting PLANET POSTNET

Institutionsand systems

Postal entities Postal museums Postal services Postal systems by country Trade unions

Courier

Philately

most expensive philatelic items

Stamp collecting

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A–E F–L M–Z

See also

Africa

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Postage stamps and postal history of Africa

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Postage stamps and postal history of the Americas

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Postage stamps and postal history of Europe

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Philately portal

Philately

Study of stamps and postal history and other related items

The Penny Red was used in the UK for many years (1841-1879), and comes in hundreds of variations which are subject to detailed study by philatelists.

Zeppelin mail from Gibraltar to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil via Berlin on the Christmas flight (12th South American flight) of 1934

Philately (/fɪˈlætəliː/; fi-LAT-ə-lee) is the study of postage stamps and postal history. It also refers to the collection, appreciation and research activities on stamps and other philatelic products. Philately involves more than just stamp collecting or the study of postage; it is possible to be a philatelist without owning any stamps.[1] For instance, the stamps being studied may be very rare or reside only in museums.

Contents

1 Etymology

2 History

2.1 Nineteenth century 2.2 Twentieth century 2.3 Twenty-first century

3 Types 4 Diversification 5 Tools 6 Organizations 7 See also 8 References 9 Further reading 10 External links

Etymology

The word "philately" is the English transliteration of the French "philatélie", coined by Georges Herpin in 1864.[2] Herpin stated that stamps had been collected and studied for the previous six or seven years and a better name was required for the new hobby than timbromanie (roughly "stamp quest"), which was disliked.[3] The alternative terms "timbromania", "timbrophily" and "timbrology" gradually fell out of use as philately gained acceptance during the 1860s.[3] He took the Greek root word φιλ(ο)- phil(o)-, meaning "an attraction or affinity for something", and ἀτέλεια ateleia, meaning "exempt from duties and taxes" to form "philatelie".[4]

History

Nineteenth century

As a collection field, philately appeared after the introduction of the postage stamps in 1840,[5][6] but did not gain large attraction until the mid-1850s. Some authors[6] believe that the first philatelist appeared on the day of the release of the world's first postage stamp, dated to 6 May 1840, when the Liverson, Denby and Lavie London law office sent a letter to Scotland franked with ten uncut Penny Blacks, stamped with the postmark "LS.6MY6. 1840." In 1992 at an auction in Zurich, this envelope was sold for 690 thousand francs.[7]

Already in 1846, cases of collecting stamps in large numbers were known in England. However, without reason for collection, stamps at this time were used for pasting wallpaper. The first philatelist is considered to be a postmaster going by Mansen, who lived in Paris, and in 1855 had sold his collection, which contained almost all the postage stamps issued by that time. The stamp merchant and second-hand book dealer Edard de Laplante bought it, recognizing the definitive collector's worth of the postage stamp.[8] Due to the boom in popularity and news of this transaction, stamp merchants like Laplante began to emerge.

Towards the end of the 19th century stamp collecting reached hundreds of thousands of people of all classes. Even some states had collections of postage stamps, for example, England, Germany, France, Bavaria, and Bulgaria). In countries who held national collections, museums were built to dedicate that nation's history with philately, and the first such appeared in Germany, France, and Bulgaria. Allegedly, the first of these museums housed the collection of the British Museum, curated by MP Tapling and bequeathed to the Museum in 1891. The Museum für Kommunikation Berlin also had an extensive collection of stamps. The largest collection of the time belonged to Baron Philipp von Ferrary in Paris.[6]

As the number of postage stamp issues increased every year, collection became progressively difficult. Therefore, from the early 1880s, "collector experts" appeared, specializing their collection to only one part of the world, a group of nations, or even only one.[9]

Twentieth century

Philately as one of the most popular types of collecting continued to develop in the 20th century. Along with the "Scott", "Stanley Gibbons", and "Yvert et Tellier" catalogs, the "Zumstein" (first published in Switzerland, 1909), and the "Michel" (first published in Germany, 1910) catalogs began publication.

In 1934, the idea to celebrate an annual Postage Stamp Day was suggested by Hans von Rudolphi, a German philatelist.[10] The idea was adopted rapidly in Germany, and gained later adoption in other countries. Stamp Day is a memorial day established by the postal administration of a country and annually celebrated, which is designed to attract public attention to, popularize the use of, and expand the reach of postal correspondence, and contribute to the development of philately.[6] In 1968, Cuba dedicated a postage stamp for Stamp Day with an image of G. Sciltian's "El filatelista".[11]

In 1926, the Fédération Internationale de Philatélie (FIP) was founded, where international philatelic exhibitions have been regularly organized since 1929.[6] The first World Philatelic Exhibition in Prague was held between August and September 1962;[12] in 1976, the FIP brought together national societies from 57 countries, which held over 100 exhibitions, and in 1987, over 60 countries entered the FIP.[6]

Since the middle of the 20th century, philately has become the most widespread field of amateur collecting, which was facilitated by:[9]

significantly expanded postal exchanges between countries, many countries' post offices issuing:

commemorative emissions, multicolor series of stamps devoted to history, the most important events of our time, art, fauna, flora, sports, etc. .; individual stamps, sheets (a sheet with one or more printed stamps and inscription on the margins) and items intended specifically for philatelists;

widespread sale of collection signs of postage (including commissioned ones), albums, stockbooks and other items of philately; publication of stamp catalogs; national and international exhibitions organized by philatelic societies, domestic and international exchanges, philately propaganda through specialized magazines and other periodicals.[13]

Philately magazines, at this time, were published as far east as Poland, and as far west as North America. In Canada, Canadian Stamp News was established in 1976 as an off-shoot to Canadian Coin News, which was launched about a decade earlier.

Philately was largely advanced by the USSR and nations within its sphere of influence, and the United States, France, the UK, and Austria. The British Library Philatelic Collections and the postal museums in Stockholm, Paris, and Bern had unique national philately collections at that time, and among the famous private collections are those of the Royal Philatelic Collection, F. Ferrari (Austria),[6] M. Burrus (Switzerland), A. Lichtenstein, A. Hind, J. Boker (USA), and H. Kanai (Japan).

In the mid-1970s, national philately organizations and associations existed in most countries, and 150-200 million people were involved in philately during meetings established.[14][5]

Twenty-first century

From 28 August to 1 September 2004, the World Stamp Championship was held for the first time in the history of world philately in Singapore.[15]

Types

Traditional philately is the study of the technical aspects of stamp production and stamp identification, including:[9]

The stamp design process The paper used (wove, laid and including watermarks) The method of printing (engraving, typography) The gum

The method of separation (perforation, rouletting) Any overprints on the stamp Any security markings, underprints or perforated initials ("perfins") The study of philatelic fakes and forgeries

Diversification

Expanding range of activity:[16]

Thematic philately, also known as topical philately, is the study of what is depicted on individual stamps. There are hundreds of popular subjects, such as birds, and ships, poets, presidents, monarchs, maps, aircraft, spacecraft, sports, and insects on stamps. Stamps depicted on stamps also constitute a topical area of collecting. Interesting aspects of topical philately include design mistakes and alterations; for instance, the recent editing out of cigarettes from the pictures used for United States stamps, and the stories of how particular images came to be used.

Postal history studies the postal systems and how they operate and, or, the study of postage stamps and covers and associated material illustrating historical episodes of postal systems both before and after the introduction of the adhesive stamps. It includes the study of postmarks, post offices, postal authorities, postal rates and regulations and the process by which letters are moved from sender to recipient, including routes and choice of conveyance. A classic example is the Pony Express, which was the fastest way to send letters across the United States during the few months that it operated. Covers that can be proven to have been sent by the Pony Express are highly prized by collectors.

Aerophilately is the branch of postal history that specializes in the study of airmail. Philatelists have observed the development of mail transport by air from its beginning, and all aspects of airmail services have been extensively studied and documented by specialists.

Astrophilately is the branch of postal history that specializes in the study of stamps and postmarked envelopes that are connected to outer space.

Postal stationery includes stamped envelopes, postal cards, letter sheets, aérogrammes (airletter sheets) and wrappers, most of which have an embossed or imprinted stamp or indicia indicating the prepayment of postage.

Erinnophilia is the study of objects that look like stamps, but are not postal stamps. Examples include Easter Seals, Christmas Seals, propaganda labels, and so forth.

Philatelic literature documents the results of the philatelic study and includes thousands of books and periodicals.

Revenue philately is the study of stamps used to collect taxes or fees on such things as legal documents, court fees, receipts, tobacco, alcoholic drinks, drugs and medicines, playing cards, hunting licenses and newspapers.

Maximaphily is the study of Maximum Cards. Maximum Cards can be defined as a picture postcard with a postage stamp on the same theme and cancellation, with a maximum concordance between all three.

Letterlocking includes “the process of folding and securing of letter substrates to become their own envelopes” or to create a form of “tamper-evident locking mechanism.”[17][18]

Tools

Philately uses several tools, including stamp tongs (a specialized form of tweezers) to safely handle the stamps, a strong magnifying glass and a perforation gauge (odontometer) to measure the perforation gauge of the stamp.

The identification of watermarks is equally important and may be done with the naked eye by turning the stamp over or holding it up to the light. If this fails then watermark fluid may be used, which "wets" the stamp to reveal the mark.

Other common tools include stamp catalogs, stamp stock books and stamp hinges.

Organizations

A large stamp show (philatelic exhibition) at which collectors and dealers meet

Philatelic organizations sprang up soon after people started collecting and studying stamps. They include local, national and international clubs and societies where collectors come together to share the various aspects of their hobby.

The world's oldest philatelic society is the Royal Philatelic Society London, which was founded on 10 April 1869, as the Philatelic Society. In North America, the major national societies include the American Philatelic Society; the Royal Philatelic Society of Canada; and the Mexico-Elmhurst Philatelic Society, International.

Local clubs and societies have been established in many cities of the world. The International Philatelic Federation was formed in 1926 which is originally based in Zurich, Switzerland but is now known to be the world federation for philately.[19]

See also

List of notable postage stamps List of philatelic topics List of philatelists List of philatelic awards Postal history Stamp collecting

Numismatics - the study and collection of coinage and currency

References

^ Carlton, R. Scott. The International Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Philately, Iola WI: Krause Publications, 1997, p.196. ISBN 0-87341-448-9.

^ Herpin, Georges. "Bapteme" in Le Collectionneur de Timbres-Postes, Vol.I, 15 November 1864, p.20.

^ a b Williams, L.N. & M. Fundamentals of Philately. State College: The American Philatelic Society, 1971, p.20.

^ Sutton, R.J. & K.W. Anthony. The Stamp Collector's Encyclopaedia. 6th edition. London: Stanley Paul, 1966, p.232.

^ a b Vladinets, N. I. (1988). Great Philatelic Dictionary (in Russian). Radio and communications. p. 280. ISBN 5-256-00175-2. Retrieved 17 January 2020.

^ a b c d e f g Ilyushin, A.S. (1988). Encyclopedia of Cyril and Methodius (in Russian). Moscow: The company "Cyril and Methodius". Retrieved 17 January 2020.

^ Novosylov V. А. (3 November 2008). "The birth of a postage stamp". Acquaintance with philately:The world of philately. Smolensk: The world of st@mps; Union of philatelists of Russia. Archived from the original on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2020.

^ Philatelic calendar for 1973. — М: Connection, 1972. — 16—22 July.

^ a b c "Philately | hobby". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 6 October 2020.

^ Biography Hans von Rudolphi «Tag der Briefmarke.org».(in German) "Archived". Archived from the original on 25 September 2008. Retrieved 14 April 2008.

^ "G. Sciltian "El filatelista"". Colnect.com. Retrieved 17 January 2020.

^ Bernhard K. Forum of philatelists of the globe // Soviet collector. — М: Connection publisher, 1963. — P. 42—48.

^ Williams, Leon Norman; Williams, Maurice (1958). Fundamentals of Philately. American Philatelic Society.

^ Sundararaj, John (15 August 2015). Philately: The Art of Stamp Collection. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 978-1-5170-1465-0.

^ Strygin A. [1] Pictures from the exhibition. The first world stamp championship] // Independent newspaper. — 2004. — № 206 (3319). — 24 September.

^ Brennan, Sheila (15 June 2018). Stamping American Memory: Collectors, Citizens, and the Post. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 978-0-472-13086-3.

^ Dambrogio, Jana; Ghassaei, Amanda; Staraza Smith, Daniel; Jackson, Holly; Demaine, Martin L. (2 March 2021). "Unlocking history through automated virtual unfolding of sealed documents imaged by X-ray microtomography". Nature Communications. Retrieved 2 March 2021.

^ Castellanos, Sara (2 March 2021). "A Letter Sealed for Centuries Has Been Read—Without Even Opening It". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2 March 2021.

^ "Philately: hobby". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 3 November 2020.

Further reading

Sefi, A.J. An Introduction to Advanced Philately, with special reference to typical methods of stamp production. London: Rowley & Rowley, 1926. (2nd edition 1932) (Electronic facsimile edition Royal Philatelic Society London 2010.) Sutton, R.J. & K.W. Anthony. The Stamp Collector's Encyclopaedia. 6th edition. London: Stanley Paul, 1966.

Williams, L.N. & M. Fundamentals of Philately. State College: The American Philatelic Society, 1971.

External links

Look up philately in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Can Plastic Films Damage My Stamps? Translated from an article by Ib Krarup Rasmussen published in Dansk Filatelistisk Tidsskrift Number 4, 2008. Stamps and Plastics – the Good and the Bad by Roger Rhoads, 2009. 1948 Olympic Stamp - UK Parliament Living Heritage

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Philatelic fakes and forgeries

Fraudulently manufactured imitation postage stamps

This article includes a list of general references, but it remains largely unverified because it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (May 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

"Brighton forgeries" of the stamps of Jammu and Kashmir produced by Harold Treherne.

In general, philatelic fakes and forgeries are labels that look like postage stamps but have been produced to deceive or defraud. Learning to identify these can be a challenging branch of philately.

To a large extent the definitions below are consistent with those given in the introduction to various recent editions of the Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue. "We use the term "forgery" to indicate stamps produced to defraud collectors (properly known as forgeries) and to defraud stamp-issuing governments (properly known as counterfeits). "Fake" is used to indicate the alteration of a genuine stamp to make it appear as something else. Fakes might refer to cancellations, overprints, added or clipped perforations, stamp design alterations, etc." [1] While difficult to do today, one famous case is the Stock Exchange forgery of the late 19th century.

Questions are often raised about when a stamp is legitimately produced for postage. Matthew Karanian has proposed the following guideline:

Stamps are legitimate if they are recognized internationally in practice, even if they are not recognized expressly, as by a treaty or international agreement. This is the same principle of international law that applies to the recognition of nation-states. A nation becomes a nation-state when the international community begins treating it as such. For Karabagh which is not a member of the UPU but which does get its mail delivered, this demonstrate that the stamps it issues are neither propaganda labels nor part of a money-making scam.[2]

Contents

1 History of philatelic fakes and forgeries

2 Classification

2.1 Postal forgeries or counterfeits

2.1.1 Protective measures

2.2 Philatelic forgeries

2.2.1 Fakes 2.2.2 Expertising stamps as protection

2.3 Government and propaganda forgeries

2.3.1 World War I

2.3.2 World War II

2.3.2.1 German forgeries for the United Kingdom 2.3.2.2 United States forgeries for Germany 2.3.2.3 Soviet forgeries for Germany 2.3.2.4 British forgeries

2.3.3 Cold war: West Berlin for the GDR

2.4 Other types

2.4.1 Official reprints 2.4.2 Remainders 2.4.3 Bogus stamps 2.4.4 Fantasies 2.4.5 Local stamps 2.4.6 Cinderellas

3 Methods

3.1 Entire forgeries 3.2 Forged overprints 3.3 Reperforating 3.4 Repairs 3.5 Colour changes 3.6 False postmarks 3.7 Cancelled-to-order (CTO)

4 See also

5 References

5.1 Citations 5.2 Sources

6 External links

History of philatelic fakes and forgeries

The first postage stamp was issued in Great Britain in 1840, and by the early 1860s or earlier the first postage stamp forgery [3] - in the sense of a stamp created to fool philatelists into thinking that it is a genuine one - appeared on the market. By 1863 forgeries were so common that the book Forged Stamps: How to Detect Them was published[4] and by 1864, forgeries were being produced of both common and scarce stamps from a wide range of issuing countries such as Austria, British Guiana, Finland, India and Spain.[5]

Jean de Sperati is among the master forgers in the history of philately. The Vancouver Island forgery refers to a stamp that was originally issued in 1865.[6] To produce his forgery, de Sperati bleached a real, cheaper stamp of the same vintage. He then used a process called photolithography to make an almost perfect copy of the stamp. In his lifetime, Jean de Sperati forged over 500 stamps. He sometimes signed his work in pencil on the back. His forged stamps are now often worth more than the originals.[7]

Classification

Stamp-like objects, not all of which are really fakes and forgeries, are described below for the sake of developing a better understanding of such claims.

Postal forgeries or counterfeits

Those who produce counterfeits appeal to a very different market from philatelists. They depend on their stamps being produced in large quantities in order to be able to recover their outlay. The person who would use them must feel that he can purchase them for a price that is significantly lower than what he would pay at a legitimate post office, or is perhaps duped into thinking they are genuine. This makes the most common current stamp used for everyday mailing a prime target for counterfeiting activity.

The earliest commercial forgeries are all postal, and the Penny Black was the first stamp to be copied in 1840, its first year.[8] Partial forgery consists of changing colors or changing the face values of stamps to imitate a higher value stamp. Other tricks consisted of methods to make the cancellation disappear (chemically erasing, placing a second stamp on it if it just hits a corner). The Spanish Post Office had to change its stamps almost annually between 1850 to 1879 to stay ahead of the forgers.[8]

Notable postal forgeries include:[8]

France: 20c (1870), 15c (1886), sower 25c (1923) Germany: 10pf (1902), 10pf (1909) Great Britain: 1s (1872), 4d World Cup Winners (1966)

Australia: 2d Sydney Harbour Bridge (1932) USA: 2c Washington (1894), 13c Liberty Bell (1980)

As a curiosity postal authorities have published their own forgeries, thus the British Post Office forged its own 1d stamps in 1856 to see if its features were fraud-proof.[citation needed]

Protective measures

Postal services developed, early on, measures to protect the integrity of their stamps. Some of these steps are similar to those used to protect against forged currency. Major steps include:

Watermarks Special paper

Delicate engraving Printing methods Special ink for postmarks Insertion of silk threads Secret marks either visible or invisible to the microscope Re-issue of stamps

It may not be possible to distinguish between a philatelic and postal forgery if the stamps are unused, merely by looking at them; the techniques utilized in producing them are identical. However, if the stamps bear cancellations, they may be more readily distinguished. If a stamp has a forged cancellation, it necessarily is a philatelic forgery since it was obviously made for sale to collectors, not to be used to send a letter.[9] If the cancellation is genuine, it is likely, but not necessarily, a postal forgery, since sometimes forgers have used genuine cancellation devices to "cancel" forged stamps.[10] A helpful distinction may be to have one of these stamps on an envelope that actually went through the mail, but that too requires caution. Counterfeits that reach the philatelic community are fairly scarce, and that alone makes them more valuable.

Philatelic forgeries

Soon after their introduction, stamps became philatelic objects, and stamp forgery to the detriment of the collector became a problem. The first book about the topic was written by Jean-Baptiste Moens from Belgium De la falsifications des timbres-poste in 1862. Shortly thereafter Pemberton published Forged Stamps: How to detect them and Robert Brisco Earée Album Weeds. Stamps produced by famous forgers have become collectibles, as well.

Unlike counterfeits these are very common in collections. Many that were produced in the earliest days of stamp collecting in the 19th century are still plentiful. At that time many considered it quite acceptable to fill a space in an album with a facsimile when the genuine stamp was unavailable. Later, especially in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, massive numbers of stamps were forged for the packet trade, including very common as well as rare stamps, so that the fact that a stamp is common is no guarantee that it is not a philatelic forgery.

Fakes

Fakes begin with a genuine stamp, which is altered in some way to make it more valuable to stamp collectors. When catalogues show different varieties with significantly different values this can be great motivation to alter the cheap example into something that can be sold for great profit. Sometimes only minor changes can affect the apparent valuation of a stamp.

Knowledge is an important tool in helping to detect fakes and forgeries. A person who is able to identify some of the most obvious forgeries can save a lot of money in expertising fees, though the information may not yet be enough to establish that a stamp is genuine. Earee's Album Weeds, and Serrane's Vade Mecum are only two books in the vast literature about stamp forgeries.

Expertising stamps as protection

As an expert can falsify stamps often quite easily, it is advisable particularly when dealing with stamps of value to have them examined and expertised. Such experts are highly specialized and generally focused on a selected philatelic area. Falsified stamps may be marked as such, while a genuine stamp of value should receive a certificate of authenticity by a reputable authority.

In recent years, homemade forgeries can easily reach the market through the internet.[11]

Government and propaganda forgeries

Political and propaganda forgery is produced by countries in conflict to hurt the opponent. Stamps may be issued to deprive the enemy of revenue, to distribute propaganda material, to cause confusion, and to depict propaganda messages. Propaganda stamps are very collectable and have been philatelically forged: a forgery of a forgery. Many propaganda stamps would have been difficult to circulate in the postal system because they would have been immediately removed, thus used propaganda stamps are unusual (but easily falsified).

World War I

War mail forgery Ludwig III. (left). On the right the original

Propaganda forgery Deutsch-Ostafrika

Probes of the British „Germania“-forgery, connected to 10 and 15 pfennigs

"Germania"-forgery, 15 Pf. in correct colour

During the First World War, German postage stamps were forged by Great Britain. Virtually all counterfeit stamps are forgeries for espionage.

The values of 5, 10 and 15 pfennigs of the then Bavarian postage stamp issue with the portrait of Ludwig III fell victim to war mail forgeries. However, only unused pieces are known. Imperforated proofs were also discovered among these forgeries. The war fakes differ in drawing and paper from the original stamps.

The second German postage stamp issue was forged by Great Britain on behalf of the Dutch Propaganda Office. It was used to frank leaflets and brochures in German language. Affected are the postage stamp values of 10 and 15 pfennigs of the Germania edition of the German Reich. The drawing deviates from the originals, as does the watermark, which is too thin, and the chalky white paper. Unlike the previous war mail forgeries, there are also pieces with real postmarks from both forged stamps.

There is also known a type of propaganda forgery, which was produced between 1914 and 1918. Forgeries of German East Africa stamps were produced, which showed the imprint "G. E. A. BRITISH OCCUPATION" and a new value in Cents. The five forged issues were about twice the size of the original stamps, presumably to show the overprint in larger letters. The stamps were apparently intended to put the massive German resistance in the colony of Deutsch-Ostafrika into perspective and to propagate an early occupation of the whole area.[12]

On December 12, 1914, two Germania stamps were reproduced in the French newspaper "Le Matin". A red 10 pfennig stamp bore the imprint "Schweiz 10 Centimes", a blue 20 pfennig stamp the imprint "Schweiz 25 Centimes". The article stated that there are more Germania stamps with various other values. This was obviously intended to give the impression that neutral Switzerland was on the verge of being occupied by Germany. The German embassy in Bern felt compelled to deny the article and accuse the newspaper of having fallen for a forgery, which, according to subsequent evidence, was without doubt the case.[13]

Shortly before the end of World War I, war mail forgeries of the values of 5, 10 and 25 Hellers of the then current postage stamp issue of Austria were produced in England. The stamps show the Austrian imperial crown and Emperor Karl. The fake postage stamps were printed on slightly more yellowish paper than the originals. Furthermore, the stamp images of the forgeries are slightly higher (¼ - ½ mm). Used war mail forgeries have not yet been found; however, there are mint pieces of all three values as well as proofs of the 10-Hellers value in small sheet format in three different colours with the date September 25, 1918. [12]

World War II

German forgeries for the United Kingdom

Propaganda stamp with the head of King George VI. Version with red overprint: "Liquidation of Empire/BAHAMA-Is". Additionally with false cancellation: "LONDON AAAO/-6JUN/44/SPECIAL-STAMP".

All known German falsifications are propaganda forgeries.[14] Forgeries of the Silver Jubilee issue of 1935 were falsified at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp by order of Heinrich Himmler during the war. The modifications included the insertion of Jewish and communist emblems, placement of Joseph Stalin's head in place of King George's, the inscription that was faulty ("This war is a Jewsh war" [sic]) and the years altered to 1939-1944. A similar falsification concerned the coronation issue from 1937 in which Stalin's head appears in the place of the Queen's, the star of David is present, as well as an inscription concerning the Tehran conference. A third forgery is different and affects the 1937 series with the head of King George VI. The alterations are very subtle affecting emblems. Six values of the series were falsified. In the short film "Adolph Burger's Historical Artifacts" Sachsenhausen survivor Burger shows examples of some of these stamps that he helped produce. He also describes this in greater detail in his book The Devil's Workshop.

United States forgeries for Germany

American propaganda stamp

The first stamps to be forged were the common 6 and 12 pfennig Hitler head stamps. The forgeries were printed in Rome by the Office of Strategic Services in 1944. These stamps were applied to letters containing propaganda, marked with false postmarks (Wien 8, Wien 40, Hannover 1), and distributed by drops from airplanes as Operation Cornflakes.

The US modified the 12 pfennig Hitler head stamp by the insertion of a death head and the inscription Futsches Reich ("ruined Reich") replaces Deutsches Reich. Similarly, the Hitler block from 1937 was altered to show a death head, graves, and gallows; the inscription is Deutsches Reich 1944. Postcards were also forged.

Soviet forgeries for Germany

Soviet forgeries were limited to postcards with propaganda messages that had imprinted stamps.

British forgeries

Great Britain produced forgeries for Germany, France, Italy, Poland (Generalgouvernement), and French Morocco during World War II.

Regarding Germany, the first forgery was the 12 pfennig Hindenburg head stamp, later followed by the 3, 4, 6, and 8 pfennig values, to distribute propaganda material in Germany. Other stamps such as the Hitler heads and some field post stamps may not have reached circulation.

A major effort was the production of propaganda stamps. The Hitler head stamp was modified to depict Heinrich Himmler.

Himmler-Forgery (Type I top, Type II bottom)

Probes of the Himmler-Forgery Type II in black and violet

Cancelled Himmler stamps forged by PWE on a postcard.

The Himmler stamp was designed by the British secret service with the intention of driving a wedge between the leadership of the Nazi regime. With the idea that Himmler was planning a coup d'état and wanted to make himself a new leader or president of Germany, an allegedly prepared stamp issue with his portrait was considered suitable to bring this idea into the minds of the NS leadership in the first place. The stamp was distributed by British agents, especially in neutral Switzerland. It was hoped that stamp collectors became aware of this stamp and that a major press campaign would subsequently take place about it. It turned out, however, that this forgery did not attract a lot of attention, neither in Switzerland nor in the rest of Europe. In the end, the British agents were forced to take the Himmler stamp directly to stamp dealers to make it public. However, even this measure did not lead to the desired success and the action turned out to be a complete failure, as practically nobody believed in the alleged Himmler overthrow. What was curious, however, was that a member of the US secret service OSS in Bern, of all people, ascribed extraordinary significance to this stamp. On June, 10 1944, US agent Allan Dulles prepared a detailed report for his superior in Washington in which he described the mysterious stamp. As the US side amazingly had not been informed about the counterfeiting operation by the British secret service, the US secret service started superfluous investigations and thus tied up personnel, which finally turned the whole operation into an embarrassing mishap.[15] The Jewish concentration camp inmate Adolf Burger, who had participated in Operation Bernhard, commented after the war that Heinrich Himmler was very indignant about this British forgery with his portrait. This apparently prompted him to repay with the same coin and also to commission mocking propaganda stamps on the British side.[16]

There are two distinctly different versions of the Himmler stamp, one with wide lines, a second type with narrow lines; there are imperforated proofs of the second type in both violet and black, and of the first type in violet. No genuine cancellations have yet been found; all known specimens are clearly forgeries to the collectors' detriment. However, some postcards and envelopes were made by the British secret service PWE, which were prepared with attached Himmler stamps and faked German cancellations. These were intended for neutral countries such as Switzerland, Sweden or probably also Portugal to be distributed there by agents. Some of these postal items have been preserved.[17]

Another propaganda forgery concerns the 1943 Hitler putsch stamp that shows General Witzleben (a participant in the July 20, 1944 Hitler assassination attempt) and is inscribed Gehängt am 8. August 1944 ("Hanged on...") Other forgeries were based on the welfare stamps from 1938, and the 1944 Hitler putsch stamp.

Regarding France, Britain produced forgeries of the Iris series and of stamps depicting Marshal Philippe Pétain.

Emanuel-forgery

Propaganda forgery of Michel Nr. 625 (Italy) (top), the original stamp is at the bottom

Propaganda forgery of Michel Nr. 626 (Italy) (top), the original stamp is at the bottom

Propaganda forgeries were also produced for Italy, which was allied with Germany in the Second World War. Thus the design of Michel No. 625 (Italy) was changed by disfiguring the heads of Hitler respectively Mussolini in a caricature-like manner, so that the impression was created to contrast an "aggressive and grim" looking Hitler with a "baffled and intimidated" looking Mussolini. The Italian text was changed from (translated) "Two peoples, one war" to "Two peoples, one Führer", with the word Führer written in German. Also, in the right-hand "Italian part", the cutting and stabbing weapons were depicted heavily worn or damaged. In the left "German part" the sword hilt received the small caricature of a head or face. More subtle was the characterization of German dominance over Italy in the propaganda forgery Michel No. 626 (Italy), 50 Centesimi. The stamp, which was originally issued in a violet shade, was printed in green. The text was changed from "Poste Italiane" to "Two Peoples/One War". Both forgeries were probably produced in autumn 1943. The British Political Warfare Executive (PWE) also produced two propaganda booklets in Italian on which the Italian stamps are depicted. On one of the booklets Michel No. 626 (Italy) is shown, but in blue coloring instead of a violet tone. Probably already at the beginning of 1943 the PWE also produced a war forgery of the Italian stamp with the image of King Victor Emanuel III. It is assumed that this was intended to be used to frank the propaganda booklets "Neapolitan letters" from 1943. Both perforated and imperforated specimens of this stamp exist. The forgery differed from the original mainly by the perforation (14 ¾ : 14) instead of 14.[18]

Stamps were produced in Great Britain for the Generalgouvernement and used by the Polish underground army to distribute propaganda material. The Hitler head stamp of the Generalgouvernement was modified to depict Hans Frank on the 20 groszy value. These stamps circulated in the postal system.

French-controlled Morocco received stamps forged by the British authorities that had overprints of Deutsche Reichspost in Marokko to create confusion and suggest an imminent German occupation. Few examples are known.

Inserted letter «A» on a 1 penny stamp

The propaganda forgeries of two stamps of the Channel Island Jersey may be regarded as a curiosity. Jersey, like the other Channel Islands, was occupied by the German Wehrmacht from 1940 to 1945. The British designer and engraver N.V.L. Rybot was commissioned by the German administration to design and print Jersey stamps. Apparently to his personal satisfaction, he engraved the very small and inconspicuous letters "AABB" and "AAAA" in the four corners of the ½ as well as of the 1 penny stamps. After the war, Rybot explained that he had inserted the secret letters in order to strengthen the fighting spirit of the British, who were informed about the forgery. According to his statement, the letters "AABB" were to represent an abbreviation for the words "Adolphe Atrox" and "Bloody Benito", Latin for "Cruel Adolf" and English for "Bloody Benito" respectively. Furthermore, the letters "AAAA" had the abbreviated meaning "Ad Avernum, Adolphe Atrox", Latin for "To hell, cruel Adolf".[19]

Cold war: West Berlin for the GDR

Between 1948 and 1954 a group founded by Werner Hildebrandt produced anti-communist propaganda including stamps that were used in the postal system of East Germany (GDR). The first stamps to be modified were the 12 and 24 pfennig values of the series depicting the President of the GDR Wilhelm Pieck. The propaganda versions showed a noose and the inscription Undeutsche Undemokratische Diktatur ("un-German un-democratic dictatorship"). Other changes were made to the stamps of the Five Year Plan. The group also modified production instructions to factories that caused economic damage.

Other types

Official reprints

Official reprints of stamps that are no longer valid for postage are usually produced by governments to meet a philatelic demand. Scott numbers 3 and 4 of the United States were produced for this purpose. This also happened with several early sets of the People's Republic of China.

Remainders

Remainders are surplus stocks of legitimate postage stamps that are put on the philatelic market after ceasing to be valid for postal purposes. Among these are the later stamps of Nova Scotia, before it became a province of Canada, and the German inflationary period stamps. One effect of distributing large quantities of remaindered stamps to the public is that used stamps can be much more valuable than mint ones.

Bogus stamps

Bogus stamps are fictitious stamps which purport to be produced by an entity that exists and might have produced them, but did not. A bogus stamp is not a forgery because it is not based on any genuine stamp.[20] It does not even resemble anything that the entity did produce, and only rarely are any of these labels ever shipped to the place that is shown as issuing them. The term also refers to a genuine stamp which bears the sham addition of an unauthorized surcharge or overprint.[20]

They are generally issued to deceive collectors. Among these are the "issues" for South Moluccas when Henry Stolow printed the Maluku Selatan stamps, and for the uninhabited Scottish island of Staffa. The 1923 famine relief stamps of Azerbaijan were bogus, but these too were also subsequently forged.[21]

Fantasies

Fantasies are stamps claimed to be issued by places that do not even exist. One of the most famous of these were "King" Charles-Marie David de Mayréna's stamps for Sedang.[22] The stamps of New Atlantis required the construction of a bamboo raft that would be floated in the Atlantic as the country.[23]

Hitler-fantasy: a genuine stamp on top and a fake stamp at the bottom

In exceptional cases, even fantasies can be highly traded in collector circles. Fantasy stamps from 1978, which were produced in Great Britain, represent an exceptional case. In that year the British author Len Deighton published a book entitled SS-GB. The story is about a Britain that was occupied by Nazi Germany during the Second World War. In this context, a stamp with Hitler's head and the inscription "Postage Revenue", as found on all British stamps, appeared on the front page of the book. As a clever marketing strategy for the introduction of the book, a booklet of stamps was produced, which contained the alleged Hitler stamps with three different values and in three different colours of six stamps each. However, the British Post Office was not at all amused and confiscated all the booklets it could get its hands on as rapidly as possible. The remaining booklets quickly became a rarity sought after by collectors. At an auction in England, for example, a booklet was sold for 300 British pounds. In Germany, in 1998, one of them realized the proud price of 1250 DM. So it was not long before counterfeiters came up with the idea of forging even these booklets with fantasy stamps themselves. These imitations also brought in several hundred dollars on the US market.[24]

Local stamps

Local stamps are usually intended to serve a local purpose, and are not necessarily fraudulent. Thus we have in relation to the Great Britain: "... there were two local entities that 'performed much in the way of postal service ... Herm and Lundy.' Those two, it would seem, are considered thoroughly legitimate." [25] These islands did not have official post offices, and a private service needed to be established to transport mail to the mainland.

Cinderellas

Main article: Cinderella stamp

Cinderellas is a broad term for just about anything that looks like a postage stamp but isn't. While the term includes bogus stamps and fantasies, it also includes many fund raising labels, Christmas seals, and other stickers that were produced for legitimate purposes.

Methods

Entire forgeries

This is the most obvious way of producing forgeries. The forger starts from scratch, and engraves a completely new plate. It is virtually impossible to produce a new engraving that will be identical to the original. Thus, in the earliest set of Hong Kong stamps the forgeries can be distinguished by counting the number of shading lines in the background. Some early Japanese forgeries are distinguished by remembering that the chrysanthemum crest in the stamp should always have 16 petals.

Modern electronic techniques would appear to make things easier for the forger, but understanding how different printing methods work can be very helpful in discovering these forgeries. Recently[when?] Peter Winter from Germany used modern technology to produce convincing reproductions which were then unscrupulously sold as genuine.[citation needed]

Forged overprints

Forged overprints on 1913 New Zealand stamps.

Forged overprint on 1899 Puerto Principe, Cuba, provisional stamp alongside a genuine surcharge. While the relative spacings of the three elements of the surcharge are roughly the same as on the genuine stamp, note, however, the differences in the crossbar on the "t" and the cap of the "5", together with the crispness of the lettering.

One would imagine that overprints should be easier for a forger to falsify. It is just a simple matter of applying a few letters to a stamp with black ink. Paying attention to detail can reward a philatelic sleuth. The stamps of Bangkok from the 1880s were produced by overprinting each stamp a single letter "B" on stamps of the Straits Settlements. Some of these overprints are bogus because they are on underlying stamps that were never known to have been issued with that overprint. Forgeries can be discovered by examining the relative heights of the two loops of the B.[26]

Another example, from New Zealand, is four stamps overprinted for an industrial exhibition held in Auckland in 1913. The accompanying image shows genuine overprints, and forged overprints from an internet auction. A New Zealand dealer prices a set of postally used stamps with genuine overprints at NZD 1600, while the same four stamps, postally used without the overprint, are priced at NZD 8.[27] This indicates the potentially lucrative payoff for forgers.

In another example the 1948 Gandhi stamps of India were overprinted with the single word "SERVICE" to produce a stamp for official government use. The key to knowing the difference between the two is based on recognizing the difference between a typographed and a lithographed overprint. The former will leave an impression in the paper which can be detected by looking at the back of the stamp.

Reperforating

For many years, sheets of stamps were generally cut into four quarters (panes) before being perforated. This produced many stamps that were perforated on only three sides. On a pane of 100, for example, 18 stamps appeared with a single straight edge, the single (corner) stamp lacked perforations on two sides, and only 81 stamps were perforated on all four sides. (A pane of 50 commemorative-sized stamps typically contained only 36 fully perforated copies.) Because stamps with a straight edge are less desirable to collectors—and fetch lower prices—than fully perforated examples, unscrupulous dealers have “reperforated” many older straight-edged stamps: that is, they have carefully cut false perforations into the flat side, so that the copy can be sold for the same price as a normally perforated version. In other cases a valuable and a common variety of a stamp may differ only by the presence or size of the perforations. Thus new perforations are cut into the stamp, or perforations are cut off to make a common stamp appear like a rare imperforate or rare coil issue.

Repairs

In some cases the value of a damaged stamp can be enhanced by repairing the damage.

Colour changes

The colour of a stamp can be changed by exposing the stamp to various chemicals, or by leaving it out in bright sunlight. Carefully applied chemicals can also be used to remove specific colours to produce "rare" missing colour varieties.

False postmarks

A postal card canceled on "8 April 1885". This was thought to be a genuine (and quite valuable) used card until a noted collector of Puerto Rican postal stationery noticed that he had other cards postmarked Mayagüez and addressed to the same recipient who lived in Mayagüez, who he knew to be a representative of the Senf brothers, stamp dealers in Leipzig, Germany. The other cards were dated 8 April 1887 (for the 1887 card), and 8 April 1893 (for the 1893 card). This led him to the conclusion that the recipient addressed them to himself and had a sympathetic or complicit postal clerk fraudulently back date the year to match the card's date of origin. He probably then sent the uncirculated, but postmarked, cards to the Senf brothers who sold them to collectors.[28]

There are many instances of stamps that have been produced in large quantities, but where comparatively very small numbers have done postage service. Huge quantities of mint stamps can be left over after a bout of inflation, a political overthrow or loss of a war. In some cases a genuine stamp can have a fake cancellation applied to make it appear to be a rare, and valuable postally used example. A notable example is the 90¢ U. S. stamp of 1860, withdrawn within a year, on which a genuine cancellation raises the Scott Catalogue value from US $3000 to $11,000. Scott's listing includes the caveat: "All used examples … must be accompanied by certificates of authenticity issued by recognized expertizing committees."[29]

It is also important to know that not all cancellations are postal. Some countries have inscribed their stamps "Postage and Revenue". Some very high face values on such stamps could not reasonably have been used for postage, thus making any kind of proper postal usage exceedingly rare. More commonly these high face values were for fiscal usages to indicate the payment of taxes on real estate or corporate shares. While such cancellations are not fakes, they can easily be misrepresented to the unwary as the more valuable postal cancellations. Rainer Blüm was sentenced recently in a high-profile German legal case for forgery of postmarks to increase the value of stamps.

List of Countries Issuing Postage Stamps:

Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Côte d'Ivoire Cabo Verde Cambodia Cameroon Canada Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Congo ( Congo-Brazzaville ) Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czechia ( Czech Republic ) Democratic Republic of the Congo Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Eswatini ( Swaziland ) Ethiopia Fiji Finland France Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Grenada Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Holy See Honduras Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique Myanmar ( Burma ) Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria North Korea North Macedonia Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Palestine State Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Qatar Romania Russia Rwanda Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Korea South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Sweden Switzerland Syria Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States of America Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela Vietnam Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe

POSTAGE STAMP CURRENCY UNITS

Abkhazian apsar ₽ Afghan afghani pul ؋ Albanian lek qundarkë Alderney pound penny £ Algerian dinar santeem د.ج Angolan kwanza cêntimo Kz Argentine peso centavo Armenian dram luma ֏ Artsakh dram luma ֏ Aruban florin ƒ Australian dollar cent Austrian Azerbaijani manat qəpik ₼ Bahamian dollar cent Bahraini dinar fils .د.ب Bangladeshi taka poisha ৳ Barbadian dollar Belarusian ruble Belize dollar Bermudian dollar Bhutanese ngultrum paisa ₹ Bolivian boliviano Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark fening Botswana pula thebe Brazilian real R$ British pound Brunei dollar sen Bulgarian lev лв. stotinka Burmese kyat Burundian franc centime Cambodian riel sen ៛ Canadian dollar Cape Verdean escudo Central African CFA franc CFP franc Chilean peso Chinese yuan jiao ¥ or 元 Colombian peso Comorian franc Congolese franc Cook Islands dollar Costa Rican colón ₡ Croatian kuna lipa Cuban peso Czech koruna Haléř Kč Danish krone Øre Djiboutian franc Dominican peso Eastern Caribbean dollar cent Egyptian pound piastre Eritrean nakfa Nfk Ethiopian birr Euro cent € Fijian dollar Gambian dalasi butut Georgian lari tetri ₾ Ghanaian cedi pesewa Guatemalan quetzal Guinean franc Guyanese dollar Haitian gourde Honduran lempira Hong Kong dollar Hungarian forint Icelandic króna Indian rupee paisa ₹ Indonesian rupiah sen Iranian rial ﷼ Iraqi dinar fils ع.د Israeli shekel agora ₪ Jamaican dollar Japanese yen ¥ 円 Jordanian dinar د.ا Kazakhstani tenge ₸ Kenyan shilling Kiribati dollar Kuwaiti dinar د.ك Kyrgyzstani som tyiyn Lao kip att ₭ Lebanese pound pistre Lesotho loti sente Liberian dollar Libyan dinar dirham Macanese pataca Macedonian denar deni ден Malagasy ariary Malawian kwacha Malaysian ringgit sen Maldivian rufiyaa laari Manx pound Mauritanian ouguiya Mauritian rupee Mexican peso Moldovan leu Mongolian tögrög Moroccan dirham Mozambican metical Namibian dollar Netherlands Antillean guilder ƒ New Taiwan dollar New Zealand dollar Nicaraguan córdoba Nigerian naira kobo Norwegian krone Omani rial Pakistani rupee Panamanian balboa Papua New Guinean kina Paraguayan guaraní Peruvian sol Philippine peso Polish złoty Qatari riyal Romanian leu Russian ruble kopek ₽ Rwandan franc Saint Helena pound Samoan tālā Saudi riyal Serbian dinar Seychellois rupee Sierra Leonean leone Singapore dollar Solomon Islands dollar Somali shilling Somaliland shilling South African rand South Korean won jeon ₩ South Sudanese pound Sri Lankan rupee Sudanese pound Surinamese dollar Swazi lilangeni Swedish krona Swiss franc rappen Syrian pound São Tomé and Príncipe dobra Tajikistani somoni Tanzanian shilling Thai baht Tongan paʻanga Transnistrian ruble Trinidad and Tobago dollar Tunisian dinar Turkish lira Turkmenistan manat Tuvaluan dollar Ugandan shilling Ukrainian hryvnia United Arab Emirates dirham United States dollar Uruguayan peso Uzbekistani soʻm Vanuatu vatu Venezuelan bolívar soberano Vietnamese đồng West African CFA franc Yemeni rial Zambian kwacha Zimbabwian RTGS dollar ₧ or Ptas

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