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Postage stamp
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A 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. Postage stamps are the most popular way of paying for retail mail; alternatives include prepaid-postage envelopes and postage meters.
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Encyclopedia
A 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. Postage stamps are the most popular way of paying for retail mail; alternatives include prepaid-postage envelopes and postage meters. The study of postage stamps is philately. Stamp collecting is the hobby of collecting stamps.
History
Although James Chalmers and Lovrenc Košir lay claim to the concept of the postage stamp, postage stamps were first introduced in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in May 1, 1840 as part of postal reforms promoted by Rowland Hill. With its introduction the postage fee was to be paid by the sender and not the recipient, though sending mail prepaid was not a requirement. The first stamp, the Penny Black, put on sale on 1 May, was valid from 6 May, 1840; two days later came the Two pence blue. Both show an engraving of the young Queen Victoria and were a success though refinements like perforations were instituted later. At the time, there was no reason to include the United Kingdom's name on the stamp, and the UK remains the only country not to identify itself by name on the stamps (the monarch's head is used as identification).
Stamps were not officially perforated until January 1854, except in the parliamentary session of 1851, when stamps perforated by Mr. Archer were issued at the House of Commons. In 1853, the Government paid Mr. Archer Ł4,000 for the patent.
Other countries followed with their own stamps: the Canton of Zürich in Switzerland issued the Zurich 4 and 6 rappen on 1 March, 1843. Although the Penny Black could send a letter less than half an ounce anywhere within the UK, the Swiss continued to calculate mail rates on distance. Brazil issued the Bull's Eye stamps on 1 August, 1843. Using the same printer as for the Penny Black, Brazil opted for an abstract design instead of a portrait of Emperor Pedro II so that his image would be not be disfigured by the postmark. In 1845 some postmasters in the U.S. issued their own stamps, but the first official stamps came in 1847, with 5 and 10 cent stamps depicting Benjamin Franklin and George Washington. A few other countries issued stamps in the late 1840s. Many more, such as India, started in the 1850s and by the 1860s most countries had stamps.
Following the introduction of the stamp in the UK the number of letters increased from 82 million in 1839 to 170 million in 1841. Today 21 billion items are delivered by post every year in the UK.
Postage stamp design
Stamps have been issued in shapes besides rectangle, including circular, triangular and pentagonal. Sierra Leone and Tonga issued stamps in the shapes of fruit; Bhutan issued one with its national anthem on a playable record. Stamps have been made of embossed foil (sometimes of gold); Switzerland made a stamp partly of lace and one of wood; the United States produced one of plastic, and the German Democratic Republic issued a stamp of synthetic chemicals. In the Netherlands a stamp was made of silver foil.
Types of stamps
* Airmail – for payment of airmail service. While "airmail" or equivalent is usually printed on the stamp, Scott, the dominant US cataloguing firm, has recognised US airmail stamps showing the silhouette of an aircraft. The other three major catalogs do not give special status to airmail stamps.
- ATM stamps are dispensed by machine whose sheets are paper currency sized and of similar thickness.
- carrier's stamp
- certified mail stamp
- coil stamps – tear-off stamps issued individually in a vending machine, or purchased in a roll
- commemorative stamp – a limited run of stamps to commemorate an event
- 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.
- 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 for everyday postage. They often have less appealing designs than commemoratives. The same design may be used for many years. The use of the same design over an extended period may lead to unintended varieties. This may make them more interesting to philatelists than commemoratives. Definitive stamps are often the same size for 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 for-profit companies.
- military stamp – stamps for a country's armed forces, usually using a special postal system
- 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.
- 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 – allow user to add his own picture
- postage due – a stamp showing that the full postage has not been paid, and indicating the amount to pay. Collectors and philatelists debate whether these should be called stamps, some saying that as they do not pre-pay postage they should be called labels.) The United States Post Office Department 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.
- self-adhesive stamp – stamps 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 use charitable fund-raising a lot design stamps more desirable for collectors.
- 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.
- 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 kind so this term entered into use with the advent of self-adhesive stamps. The adhesive or gum on the stamp must be moistened (usually by licking, thus the stamps are also known as "lick and stick").
Dispensing
There have been numerous developments in how stamps are dispensed and sold. Usually, they can be purchased over the counter or from machines, as books or loose stamps. They are traditionally made as a perforated sheet gummed on the reverse, but self-adhesive stamps are commonplace.
IBI stamps
In the United States, Information Based Indicia (IBI) allowed newer ways to sell stamps. IBI is an encrypted two-dimensional bar code that makes counterfeiting more difficult and easier to detect. Each IBI is unique. The IBI contains security data elements as point of origin and the sender. The IBI is human and machine-readable.
Prior to IBI, postage vault devices were used to print stamps by computer. The postage vault device is a tamper-resistant security device to disable postage equipment when tampered with. The postage vault can store and keep track of money in the postage vault. You can think of this as prepaying for the right to print postage from your personal computer. The Internet is used to reset or replenish funds in the vault.
In March 2001, the United States Postal Service authorized Neopost Online and Northrop Grumman Corporation to test a self-service stamp vending system that allows the consumer to select a purchase and swipe a credit card to order. The system authorizes the order, prints the stamp sheet and dispenses them. The ability to request, authorize, print and dispense a stamp using the Internet makes these the world's first browser-based stamps. This is the first instance where IBI was utilized on adhesive labels. The product from this self-service system is named Neopost web-enabled stamps. The stamps were available from March 2001 through August 2003 in fixed values.
In 2002 the USPS authorized Stamps.com to issue NetStamps. NetStamps utilizes IBI technology and can be printed from personal computers with postal vaults. In 2004 USPS introduced automated postal centers (APC). These kiosks provided non-denominated ($0.01 to $99.99) stamps. The intent is to reduce labor at postal counters. Personal pictures paired with IBI technology provide a personalized stamp. These require a number of days to produce.
The push towards IBI aids the USPS in finding venues to sell stamps. It reduces maintenance of machines to sell stamps. The USPS still relies on consigning stamps to retailers and banks via automatic teller machines (ATMs). They must be the same size and thickness as currency to be dispensed by the ATM.
Royal Mail in the United Kingdom has launched a print-your-own-postage service to purchase IBI-style codes online, and print them on address stickers or envelopes, in lieu of first-class stamps. This was the first time a stamp had not featured an image of the monarch. It joins the "" subscription service, which performs the same function for businesses.
First day covers
On the first day of issue a set of stamps can be purchased attached to an envelope with a commemorative postmark. Known as a First Day Cover, it can also be assembled from the component parts by stamp collectors, who are the most frequent users. These envelopes usually bear a commemorative cachet of the subject for which the stamp was created.
Souvenir or miniature sheets
Postage stamps are sometimes issued in souvenir sheets or miniature sheet 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.
Collecting
See also Philately
Stamp collecting is a popular hobby. Some countries produce stamps intended primarily for collectors rather than for postal use. This contributes to the countries' revenues. This practice is condoned by collectors for places such as Liechtenstein and Pitcairn Islands that have conservative stamp policies. Abuses, however, are generally condemned. Among the most notable abusers have been Nicholas F. Seebeck and the component states of the United Arab Emirates. Seebeck operated in the 1890s as agent of Hamilton Bank Note Company and approached Latin American countries with an offer to produce their entire postage stamp needs free. In return he would have exclusive rights to market stamps to collectors. Each year a new issue was produced but it expired at the end of the year; this assured Seebeck of a continuing supply of remainders. In the 1960s printers such as the Barody Stamp Company contracted to produce stamps for the separate Emirates and other countries. These abuses combined with the sparse population of the desert states earned them the reputation of "sand dune" countries.
The hundreds of countries, each producing scores of different stamps each year, resulted in 400,000 types of stamp by 2000. Annual world output averages about 10,000 types.
Famous stamps
See also
Themed lists
External links
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- (While this is one of the largest philatelic links web sites it has not been updated since January 2003, many links are broken.)
- — Provides updates on new stamp issues from around the world
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