Postage stamp
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail). Then the stamp is affixed to the face or address-side of any item of mail—an envelope or other postal cover (e.g., packet, box, mailing cylinder)—which 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. Next the item is 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]
Samuel Forrester, a tax official
Scottish
Charles Whiting, a London stationer
Francis Worrell Stevens, schoolmaster at
Loughton
Ferdinand Egarter of , Austria
Spittal
Curry Gabriel Treffenberg from
Sweden
– 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.[56] Scott has a separate category and listing for United States Airmail Postage. Prior to 1940, the Scott Catalogue did not have a special designation for airmail stamps.[57] The various major stamp catalogs have different numbering systems and may not always list airmail stamps the same way.
Airmail stamp
ATM stamp — stamps dispensed by automates and have their value imprinted only at the time of purchase
stamp – stamps produced and issued in booklet format
Booklet
Carrier's stamp
stamp
Certified mail
Cinderella stamp
– a stamp which is issued for a limited time to commemorate a person or event Anniversaries of birthdays and historical events are among the most common examples.
Commemorative stamp
– 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.[58]
Computer vended postage
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.
– 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.[59] The same design may be used for many years. The use of the same design over an extended period may lead to unintended colour 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.[59] Definitive stamps are often issued in a series of stamps with different denominations.
Definitive stamps
– 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
Late fee stamp
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.
Local post
– a stamp with a very small value, used to make up the difference when postage rates are increased
Make up stamp
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 have a decorative border. See also souvenir sheets
stamp – issued for use by the government or a government agency
Official mail
Occupation stamp – a stamp for use by an occupying army or by the occupying or authorities for use by civilians
army
– postage stamp that remains valid even after the price has risen. It is also known as a permanent or "forever" stamp.
Non-denominated postage
– 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.
Overprint
– 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. They are known as "perfins". The modified stamps are usually purchased by corporations to guard against theft by employees.
Perforated stamps
– allow the user to add their own image
Personalised stamps
stamps – for mail sent using pressurized air tubes, only produced in Italy
Pneumatic post
– stamps which were equally valid for postal and fiscal use
Postage and revenue stamps
postage stamps used as currency rather than as postage
Postage currency
– 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
Postage due
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
– not requiring moisture to stick, self-sticking
Self-adhesive stamp
/ charity stamp – a stamp with an additional charge for charity The use of semi-postal stamps is at the option of the purchaser. Countries including Belgium and Switzerland often use charitable fund-raising design stamps which are desirable for collectors.
Semi-postal
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.
– sent to postmasters and postal administrations so that they are able to identify valid stamps and to avoid forgeries
Specimen 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
Test stamp
- dispensed by machines that print the cost of the postage at the time the stamp is dispensed
Variable value stamps
– a variation on the postal tax stamp to defray the cost of war
War tax 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").
Water-activated stamp
Apart from these, there are also revenue stamps (used to collect taxes or fees on items like documents, tobacco, alcoholic drinks, hunting licenses, and medicines) and telegraph stamps (for sending telegrams), which fall in a separate category from postage stamps.
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
Artistamp
Cancellation (mail)
Errors, freaks, and oddities
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 most expensive philatelic items
List of stamp catalogues
Mail Art
Philatelic fakes and forgeries
Stamp catalog
– Provides updates on new stamp issues from around the world