Commemorative 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. Hansard, 15 December 1837". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 15 December 1837. Archived from the original on 18 October 2020 . Retrieved 18 October 2020. 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. [50] [51] Shapes and materials [ edit ]

Main article: Postage stamp separation Rows of perforations in a sheet of 1940 postage stamps The Penny Red, 1854 issue, the first officially perforated postage stamp The first officially perforated United States stamp (1857) XLS file for First-Class Mail International – Country Group 2 | CSV file for First-Class Mail International – Country Group 2 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. 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.

a b c d "The Penny Post revolutionary who transformed how we send letters". BBC. Archived from the original on 2 October 2019 . Retrieved 14 August 2019. At first glance, you might think the Mauritius Post Office stamps are the same as other British stamps from the era. But these are distinct because they are the first British stamps created outside of Great Britain. Swiss Post cannot provide franking with the new prices before 2024 for legal and technical reasons. For WebStamp, the prices are always tied to the currently valid products (e.g. A Mail standard letter up to 100 grams).

XLS file for First-Class Mail International – Country Groups 3-5 | CSV file for First-Class Mail International – Country Groups 3-5 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 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. James Chalmers essay of 1837". Archived from the original on 13 May 2011 . Retrieved 11 November 2009. WebStamps that have already been created may still be used in 2024, provided the shortfall in value is covered by franking with a stamp or at the counter (a branch or a branch with partner). Supplementary stamps worth 5, 10 and 20 centimes are available at www.postshop.ch and in the branches.a b c "Smithsonian National postal Museum: Early Perforation Machines". Archived from the original on 25 July 2010 . Retrieved 14 September 2010. 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. There is also currently no deadline for swapping old stamps, although it’s best to do it sooner rather than later in case an end date does get announced. Most Read Glossary of Terms". American Philatelic Society. 2017. Archived from the original on 7 April 2017 . Retrieved 7 July 2017.

Will the Special Issue stamps that have been announced for later this year still be released as originally planned?

International Letters, Large Letters, Parcels and ‘Printed Paper’ formats for the following products: XLS file for First-Class Mail International – Letters – Country Groups 1-9 | CSV file for First-Class Mail International – Letters – Country Groups 1-9 The worst examples often make incredible collector’s items. That’s the case with the UK 1863 Penny Red Plate 77 stamp, which was found to be too low quality for usage before any were sold. This batch was not perforated correctly in production and was meant to be destroyed. 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. O'Donnell, Kevin; Winger, Larry (1997). Internet for Scientists. CRC Press. p.19. ISBN 90-5702-222-2.

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 2000. Annual world output averages about 10,000 types.XLS file for Priority Mail International – Commercial Plus | CSV file for Priority Mail International – Commercial Plus The validity period is shown accordingly in our online service when you create the postage paid impressions. No expiry date is printed on the postage paid impression or included in the data matrix code. Once the official period of validity of a stamp created with WebStamp has expired, it can still be used without any surcharge. A problem arises in the event of a price increase. Personalized stamps should always show the correct value of a product/postage. Consignments with multiple WebStamp frankingcannot be processed in the letter processing centers as the system reader only records a data matrix code. The expiry date is therefore required to avoid too large a number of personalized stamps being created and stored. Gebruik postzegelcodes PostNL bijna verdrievoudigd". RTL Nieuws (in Dutch). 29 December 2020 . Retrieved 29 August 2023. XLS file for First-Class Mail International – Flats – Country Group 1-9 | CSV file for First-Class Mail International – Flats – Country Group 1-9