United Nations Postal Administration
The United Nations Postal Administration is the
postal agency of the
United Nations. It issues
postage stamps and
postal stationery in
dollar denominations for the United Nations offices in
New York, in
Swiss francs for the offices in
Geneva and in euros for the offices in
Vienna. Postage rates charged are identical to those of the host nation.
Only United Nations stamps in the appropriate currency may be used at a given United Nations office. In practice, however, most UN agencies use meters, and the stamps are most often used by tourists and
collectors.
Encyclopedia
The
United Nations Postal Administration is the
postal agency of the
United Nations. It issues
postage stamps and
postal stationery in
dollar denominations for the United Nations offices in
New York, in
Swiss francs for the offices in
Geneva and in euros for the offices in
Vienna. Postage rates charged are identical to those of the host nation.
Only United Nations stamps in the appropriate currency may be used at a given United Nations office. In practice, however, most UN agencies use meters, and the stamps are most often used by tourists and
collectors. Since the stamps may not be used outside the UN offices, they may be purchased in bulk on the secondary market as discount postage at well below face value.
The idea for the UN to issue stamps originated in 1947 with José Arce the ambassador from
Argentina and president of the
United Nations General Assembly, who was himself a philatelist. The UNPA came into existence by agreement with the U.S. in 1951, soon after the UN moved into its headquarters in
Manhattan. Prior to that, the UN used the facilities of the United States
Post Office Department.
The UNPA issued its first stamps for the New York offices in 1951. There was intense collector interest in the early issues, and a million stamps or more were sold of many of the early commemoratives. The scarcest item from this period, although still quite affordable, is the UN 10th anniversary
souvenir sheet, Scott #38, of which 250,000 were printed.
By 1957, the UNPA's commemoratives regularly sold out, though they might take several months to do so. Faced with this success, officials increased print runs from the usual million stamps to as much as five million. Surprisingly, sales increased tremendously, and sales of each commemorative stamps remained in the 1.5 to 3 million range through the 1970s.
In 1967, the UNPA issued five stamps in
Canadian dollar denominations for use at the United Nations pavilion at
Expo 1967 in
Montreal. They became invalid when Expo closed.
In 1968, the UNPA made an agreement with Swiss postal authorities, and the following year began to issue stamps in franc denominations for use at the Geneva offices. A 1979 agreement with Austria led to similar stamps for Vienna.
There was a resurgence of interest in UN stamps in the 1970s, which may have peaked with the almost immediate sellout of the panes of 20 issued for the UNPA's 25th anniversary--three of the four denominations sold out on the date of issue; the fourth sold out within two and a half months. A similar issue, in 1979, for the
International Year of the Child sold out on the day of issue. The story made the front page of the
New York Times. In 1980, the first of an annual series depicting members' national flags sold nearly 3.5 million of each individual stamp.
Shortly thereafter, interest began to diminish after controversy erupted concerning the UNPA's issuance, in 1981, of stamps for the "Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People". The falloff in stamp sales has been linked to that issuance. The fifteen cent denomination became the first UNPA stamp since 1954 to sell fewer than a million copies when more than a million were printed. By 1983, many more stamps were selling fewer than a million copies, though sales of Vienna stamps remained strong. In 1986, the souvenir sheet for the World Federation of United Nations Organizations became the first issue to sell fewer than a half-million copies where at least that many were printed in UNPA history.
In an effort to increase sales, the UNPA used a combination of smaller printings of stamp issuances, aggressive marketing, and having famous artists create stamp designs. Still, stamp sales have never recovered, and today, print runs are on the order of 400,000 stamps and rarely sell out.
A recent controversy concerns the 2003 purchase by one organization of the UNPA's entire postal archive, including original artwork and artist's proofs. Apparently this was to raise money for the UNPA, and it may have netted the organization about $2.5 million. However, there have been serious allegations that improper procedures approving the sale were followed. Also, resale of items at several times their initial values have apparently occurred, thus raising more questions about the entire matter. As of 2006 the issue remains under internal UN investigation.
The UNPA continues to issue stamps, including "personalized" stamps. It also is responsible for sorting and delivery of mail to the offices under its jurisdiction.
Ordinarily, mail must be taken to the UN offices and franked with the appropriate UN stamps. From time to time, though, by agreement with the
United States Postal Service, the UNPA maintains a temporary office elsewhere, usually at stamp shows or special events.
