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Postage stamp

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Everyday life

   A postage stamp is evidence of pre-paying a fee for postal services.
   Usually a small paper rectangle that is attached to an envelope, the
   postage stamp signifies that the person sending the letter or package
   may have either fully, or perhaps partly, pre-paid for delivery. Using
   postage stamps is the most popular alternative to using a
   prepaid-postage envelope.

   Stamps have been issued in other shapes besides the usual square or
   rectangle, including circular, triangular and pentagonal. Sierra Leone
   and Tonga have issued self-adhesive stamps in the shape of fruit;
   Bhutan has issued a stamp with its national anthem on a playable
   record, etc. Stamps have also been made of materials other than paper,
   commonly embossed foil (sometimes of gold); Switzerland made a stamp
   partly out of lace and one out of wood; the United States produced one
   made of plastic, and the German Democratic Republic once issued a stamp
   made entirely of synthetic chemicals. In the Netherlands a stamp was
   issued made of silver foil.

History

   The world's first stamp was the Penny Black
   Enlarge
   The world's first stamp was the Penny Black

   The adhesive postage stamp and the uniform postage rate were devised in
   Great Britain by James Chalmers around 1834. The same ideas were
   brought forward by Lovrenc Košir, a Slovenian postal clerk at the
   Viennese court in 1835, but did not meet a favorable response. Later,
   the concept of the adhesive postage stamp was published by Rowland
   Hill, in Postal Reform: its Importance and Practibility in 1837. In it
   he argued that it would be better for the sender to pay the cost of
   delivery, rather than the addressee who could refuse the letter if they
   could not or did not want to pay, as sometimes happened at the time. He
   also argued for a uniform rate of one penny per letter, no matter where
   its destination. Accounting costs for the government would thus be cut;
   postage would no longer be charged according to how far a letter had
   travelled, which required each letter to have an individual entry in
   the Royal Mail's accounts. Chalmers' ideas were finally adopted by
   Parliament in August, 1839 and the General Post Office launched the
   Penny Post service the next year in 1840 with two prepaid-postage
   pictorial envelopes or wrappers: one valued at a penny and one valued
   at twopence.

   Three months later the first prepaid-postage stamp, known as the Penny
   Black, was issued with the profile of Queen Victoria printed on it.
   Because the United Kingdom issued the first stamps, the Universal
   Postal Union (U.P.U.) grants it an exemption from its rule that the
   identification of the issuing country must appear on a stamp in Roman
   script for use in international mails. Before joining the U.P.U. many
   countries did not do this (e. g. the " bull's eye" stamps of Brazil);
   there are very few violations of the rule since this time, though one
   example is the U.S. Pilgrim Tercentenary series, on which the country
   designation was inadvertently excluded. Because of this the numerous
   early issues of China and Japan often confound new collectors
   unfamiliar with Oriental scripts. A stamp may also show a face value in
   the issuing country's currency. Some countries have issued stamps with
   a letter of the alphabet or designation such as " First class" for a
   face value. The U.P.U. formerly restricted the use of such stamps to
   domestic mail, but current U.P.U. regulations allow non-denominated
   stamps to be used in international mail as well. Examples of such
   stamps include the British "E" stamp (intended to pay the rate for
   mailing letters to Europe) and the South African "International Letter
   Rate" stamp.

Dispensing

   Since their inception there have been numerous innovative developments
   in how stamps are dispensed and sold. In the United States, the
   introduction of Information Based Indicia (IBI) technology has allowed
   newer ways to sell stamps. IBI is an encrypted 2-dimensional bar code
   that makes counterfeiting harder, makes counterfeiting easier to
   detect, and offer value beyond postage. Unlike traditional postage
   meter indicia, each IBI is unique. The IBI contains security critical
   data elements as well as other information, such as point of origin and
   the sender. The IBI is human and machine readable.

   Prior to IBI being introduced, postage vault devices were used on
   personal computers to allow postage stamps to be printed from one's
   computer. The postage vault device is a tamper resistant postal
   security device to disable postage equipment when tampered with. The
   postage vault can be also identified as the means to store (and keep
   track of) monetary funds 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 postage vault.

   In March 2001, the United States Postal Service authorized Neopost
   Online and Northrop Grumman Corporation to test an innovative
   purchasing stamp system. This self-service stamp vending system allows
   the consumer to peruse through a variety of denominations and
   quantities, select the desired purchase and swipe his/her credit card
   to submit a purchase order. The stamp vending system then authorizes
   the purchase order, prints the stamp sheet(s) and finally dispenses
   them to the consumer. The ability to peruse, request, authorize, print,
   and dispense a stamp purchase using the Internet makes these the
   world's first browser-based stamps. This is the first instance were IBI
   was first utilized on adhesive labels. The product from this
   self-service stamp vending system is aptly named by collectors as
   Neopost web-enabled stamps. These stamps were available from March 2001
   through August 2003 and were denominated (fixed value) stamps.

   In 2002 the United States Postal Service authorized Stamps.com to issue
   NetStamps. The NetStamps utilizes IBI technology and can be printed
   from personal computers with postal vaults.

   In 2004 the United States Postal Service introduced the Automated
   Postal Centers (APC). These kiosk provided non-denominated (1 cents to
   $99.99) stamps. The intent of the APC is to reduce labor required to
   service consumers at the postal counters.

   Recently, personal pictures have been paired with IBI technology to
   provide a personalized stamp for the consumer. These stamps are
   customed made and require a period of time (days) to produce.

   The push towards using IBI technology aids the United States Postal
   Service in finding new venues to sell stamps. It also reduces the
   burden of maintaining the mechanical machines to sell stamps. The
   United States Postal Service still relies on cosigning stamps to
   retailers and banks (via automatic teller machines (ATMs). They must be
   the same size and thickness as currency in order to be dispensed by the
   ATM.

Types of stamps

   1897 Newfoundland postage stamp, the first in the world to feature
   mining
   Enlarge
   1897 Newfoundland postage stamp, the first in the world to feature
   mining
     * Airmail - for payment of airmail service. While the word or words
       "airmail" or equivalent is usually printed on the stamp, Scott (the
       dominant U.S. cataloguing firm) has recognised as airmail stamps
       some U.S. stamps issued in denominations good for then-current
       international airmail rates, and showing the silhouette of an
       airplane. The other three major catalogs do not give any special
       status to airmail stamps.
     * ATM, stamps dispensed by automatic teller machines ( ATMs)
     * carrier's stamp
     * certified mail stamp
     * coil of stamps, tear-off stamps issued individually in a vending
       machine, or purchased in a roll of 100
     * commemorative stamp - a limited run of stamp designed to
       commemorate a particular event
     * computer vended postage - advance secure postage that uses
       Information Based Indicia (IBI) technology. IBI is an encrypted
       2-dimentional bar code that provides the means to verify the
       stamp's authenticity and also provides other information that can
       be used to track and trace the mail piece.
     * customised stamp - a stamp the picture or image in which can in
       some way be chosen by the purchaser, either by sending in a
       photograph or by use of the computer. Some of these are not truly
       stamps but are technically meter labels.
     * definitive - stamps issued mainly for the everyday payment of
       postage. They often have less appealing designs than
       commemoratives. The same design may be used for many years.
       Definitive stamps are often the same basic size. The use of the
       same design over an extended period of time often leads to many
       unintended varieties. This makes them far more interesting to
       philatelists than commemoratives.
     * 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
     * military stamp - stamps issued specifically for the use of members
       of a country's armed forces, usually using a special postal system
     * official mail stamp - issued for use solely by the government or a
       government agency or bureau
     * occupation stamp - a stamp issued for use by either an occupying
       army or by the occupying army or authorities for use by the
       civilian population
     * perforated stamps - while this term is often used to refer to the
       perforations around the edge of a stamp (used to divide the sheet
       into individual stamps) it is also a technical term for stamps
       which have been additionally perforated across the middle leaving a
       distinctive pattern or monogram. These modified stamps are usually
       purchased by large corporations to guard against theft by their
       employees.
     * personalised - allow user to add his own personalised picture or
       photograph
     * postage due - a stamp applied showing that the full amount of
       required postage has not been paid, and indicating the amount of
       shortage and penalties the recipient will have 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 regular
       postage rate) required for sending letters has been paid. This
       stamp is often mandatory on all mail issued on a particular day or
       for a few days only.
     * self-adhesive stamp - stamps not requiring licking or moisture to
       be applied to the back to stick. Self-sticking.
     * semi-postal / charity stamp - a stamp issued with an additional
       charge above the amount needed to pay postage, where the extra
       charge is used for charitable purposes such as the Red Cross. The
       usage of semi-postal stamps is entirely at the option of the
       purchaser. Countries (such as Belgium and Switzerland) that make
       extensive use of this form of charitable fund-raising design such
       stamps in a way that makes them more desirable for collectors.
     * test stamp - a label not valid for postage, used by postal
       authorities on sample mail to test various sorting and cancelling
       machines or machines that can detect the absence or presence of a
       stamp on an envelope. May also be known as "dummy" or "training"
       stamps.
     * war tax stamp - A variation on the postal tax stamp intended to
       defray the costs of war.
     * water-activated stamp - for many years "water-activated" stamps
       were the only kind so this term only entered into use with the
       advent of self-adhesive stamps. The adhesive or gum on the back of
       the stamp must be moistened (usually it is done by licking, thus
       the stamps are also known as "lick and stick") to affix it to the
       envelope or package.

First day covers

   On the first day of issue a set of stamps can be purchased attached to
   an envelope which had been post-marked with a special commemorative
   post mark, or a normal post mark. These enveloped usually bear a
   commemorative picture of the subject the stamp is created for.

Souvenir or miniature sheets

   Postage stamps are sometimes issued in souvenir sheets or miniature
   sheet containing just one or a small number of stamps. Souvenir sheets
   typically include additional artwork or information printed on the
   selvage (border surrounding the stamps). Sometimes the stamps make up
   part of a greater picture. For example, a picture of the Royal Family
   with the stamps bearing the faces. Additionally a set of stamps which
   may be identical to that on the sheet are sometimes part of the issue.

Cinderellas

   Stamps should be distinguished from cinderellas, stamp-like labels that
   resemble, but are not, postage stamps. Cinderellas might be
   commemorative labels, such as those issued in Buffalo, New York to
   support the Trans-Mississippi Exposition in 1901 (one of these has now
   been converted into an actual postage stamp), or may be postage stamps
   for imaginary countries or micronations.

Collecting

   Stamp collecting is a popular hobby, and stamps are often produced as
   collectibles. Some countries are known for producing stamps intended
   for collectors rather than postal use. This practice produces a
   significant portion of the countries' government revenues. This has
   been condoned by the collecting community for places such as
   Liechtenstein and Pitcairn Islands that have followed relatively
   conservative stamp issuing policies. Abuses of this policy, 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 an agent of Hamilton Bank
   Note Company when he approached several Latin American countries with
   an offer to produce their entire postage stamp needs for free. In
   return he would have the exclusive rights to market the remainders of
   the stamps to collectors. Each year a new issue of stamps was produced
   whose postal validity would expire at the end of the year; this assured
   Seebeck of a continuing supply of remainders. In the 1960s certain
   stamp printers such as the Barody Stamp Company arranged contracts to
   produce quantities of stamps for the separate Emirates and other
   countries. These abuses combined with the sparse population of the
   desert states earned them the reputation of being known as the "sand
   dune" countries.

   The combination of hundreds of countries, each producing scores of
   different stamps each year has resulted in a total of some 400,000
   different types in existence as of 2000. In recent years, the annual
   world output has averaged about 10,000 types each year.

Famous stamps

     * Penny Black
     * Post Office Mauritius
     * Treskilling Yellow
     * Inverted Jenny
     * Inverted Head 4 Annas of India
     * British Guiana 1c magenta
     * Perot provisional
     * Hawaiian Missionaries
     * Basel Dove
     * Uganda Cowries
     * Scinde Dawk
     * Gronchi Rosa very rare Italian stamp

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   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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