A
souvenir sheet or
miniature sheet is a small group of
postage stampA postage stamp is adhesive paper evidence of a fee paid for postal services. Usually a small rectangle attached to an envelope, the stamp signifies the person sending it has fully or partly paid for delivery...
s still attached to the
sheetPaper is thin material mainly used for writing upon, printing upon or for packaging. It is produced by pressing together moist fibers, typically cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets....
on which they were printed. They may be either regular issues that just happen to be printed in small groups (typical of many early stamps), or special issues often commemorating some event, such as a national anniversary, philatelic exhibition, or government program. The number of stamps ranges from one to about 25; larger sheets of stamps are simply called "sheets" with no qualifier.
The stamps on the sheet may be
perforatedFor postage stamps, separation is the means by which individual stamps are made easily detachable from each other.Methods of separation include:# perforation - cutting rows and columns of small holes...
in the usual way, or imperforate.
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A
souvenir sheet or
miniature sheet is a small group of
postage stampA postage stamp is adhesive paper evidence of a fee paid for postal services. Usually a small rectangle attached to an envelope, the stamp signifies the person sending it has fully or partly paid for delivery...
s still attached to the
sheetPaper is thin material mainly used for writing upon, printing upon or for packaging. It is produced by pressing together moist fibers, typically cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets....
on which they were printed. They may be either regular issues that just happen to be printed in small groups (typical of many early stamps), or special issues often commemorating some event, such as a national anniversary, philatelic exhibition, or government program. The number of stamps ranges from one to about 25; larger sheets of stamps are simply called "sheets" with no qualifier.
The stamps on the sheet may be
perforatedFor postage stamps, separation is the means by which individual stamps are made easily detachable from each other.Methods of separation include:# perforation - cutting rows and columns of small holes...
in the usual way, or imperforate. The margins or selvage of the sheet may have additional printing, ranging from a simple statement of the occasion being commemorated, up to a full picture of which the stamp(s) are just a small part.
Both the stamps and the entire sheet are valid for mailing, although they are almost always sold above face value and kept in mint collection by
collectorsStamp collecting is the collecting of postage stamps and related objects, such as covers . It is one of the world's most popular hobbies, with estimates of the number of collectors ranging up to 20 million in the United States alone. - Collecting :Collecting is not the same as philately, which is...
; a handful of usages may be found as
philatelic coverA philatelic cover is a cover sent through the mails for the purpose of creating a collectible item. While some collectors specialize in philatelic covers, especially first day covers and cacheted covers, others regard them as artificial objects that are not reflective of real-world usage, and will...
s.
LuxembourgLuxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a small, landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany...
apparently issued the first souvenir sheet in 1923, a single 10-franc stamp, not otherwise available, inset in a larger blank sheet. The purpose was to honor the birth of
Princess ElisabethPrincess Elisabeth, Duchess of Hohenberg , is a Luxembourgian princess, a daughter of Grand Duchess Charlotte and Prince Felix of Bourbon-Parma...
. However, somewhat similar issues by that country go back to the royal coronation of 1906. The
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
issued its first one in 1926, and produced a series in the 1930s, and has issued others over the years. Since 1955 the
United NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and the achieving of world peace...
has occasionally produced them.
While some of the earliest souvenir sheets are valuable (for instance the US White Plains sheet of 1926 is worth hundreds of dollars), modern ones are typically produced in considerable quantities, and have no special value.