Talk:Postage stamp

wood stamp
there was also a stamp made out of thinly sliced wood. google it - Omegatron 19:47, Oct 11, 2004 (UTC)

http://www.swisspost.ch/SiteOnLine/EN/Accueil/1,1727,18202,00.html

--As is there one that is a record (Bhutan), one that is a piece of woven fabric (Switzerland), and many others of various composition of material. Pointless, useless, and not worthy of an oversight of postal history.

Stamp Guidelines
I'm trying to find the guidelines/requirements for the choice of what is depicted on U.S. Postage stamps - I'm having trouble finding the information, but I seem to remember there being a specific set of standards. One was that if a person is used, the person must be dead. --Stamp rule: The only portraits of living persons that may be included in design are reigning monarchs.

help needed
Found the following page Wine post. I wikified it and tried to verify on google, it came back as a match, but could someone of a Philatelic disposition take a look and check it out, maybe put a link to it in the right place so as it becomes less of an orphan? ta Sabine's Sunbird 06:05, 12 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Where are they made?

--Impressive. Fix your grammar first. "This user has begrudgingly began to use citation templates. Try not to crow." BEGUN

image at the top of the page
With the number of PD images that should be around (there are plently of 100 year old stamps) do we really need to use a fair use image?Geni 14:34, 17 January 2006 (UTC) --I have scanned digital record of over 1 million stamps. I would be happy to provide a nicer example as determined by community. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.134.175.231 (talk) 05:07, 9 September 2013 (UTC)

"circular (such as the stamps of New Zealand)"
no. i live in new zealand and the stamps are not circular. Plough | talk to me 11:08, 4 March 2006 (UTC)


 * New Zealand has been issueing round Kiwi stamps from 1988. Of course the rest of their stamps are not circular but round kiwi stamps have been issued. Including those in minisheets.-- PremKudva Talk  09:46, 7 March 2006 (UTC)

Should ephilately be here?
 * Do you want to make an entry? You could make a seperate entry too if you wanted and link it here. Oh please sign your name on talk pages using four tildes (~&#126;); this will automatically produce your name and the date.-- PremKudva Talk  06:06, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

Stamps and Legal Tender
I seem to recall learning in school that stamps are legal tender in their countries of issue and can technically be used the same as coins and notes for payment of debts, especially where payment to government bodies are concerned. I don't know if this is true, but do any of you stamp experts? Are there any law experts here who can verify or falsify this? --InformationalAnarchist Wednesday, July 12, 2006 at 14:54:04 (UTC) (Edited anonymously because I can't remember my identification password)
 * I've never heard this and have seen numerous businesses specifically state stamps are not acceptable as payment. I think I might even have seen the government say this. --Lukobe 17:11, 12 July 2006 (UTC)
 * Let's see:
 * Yes, legal tender
 * http://www.igpc.net/collectors.html
 * No, not legal tender
 * http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_330.html
 * http://www.xent.com/pipermail/fork/Week-of-Mon-20050613/036589.html
 * This is hardly definitive, but I tend to think they are probably not legal tender... --Lukobe 17:16, 12 July 2006 (UTC)

"Types of stamps" section still stubby
We need to do some more work on the section "Types of stamps". I have no idea what many of these strange terms mean. :=) -- 201.78.233.162 23:14, 12 July 2006 (UTC)


 * Most of the type *should* link to articles that go into more depth, but each should have one sentence of explanation. They should probably be separated by "purpose" vs "form", since one could have a commemorative postage due coil stamp for instance. :-) Stan 06:33, 13 July 2006 (UTC) --The vocabulary of philately is woefully under-represented in Wikipedia articles.

External Links Edit
I went through the external links and removed any spam / off topic links and removed the spam banner from the top. I also added a link to the APS and BNAPS Home page.

James A.O.B. 00:56, 6 February 2007 (UTC)

Improperly stamped mail
What happens if you mail something to Canada and accidentally use a US stamp does it still go or are you just screwed over? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Krakko (talk • contribs) 15:54, February 14, 2007

Your question is not clear. If you are in the US and use a US stamp for something going abroad, but it is unstamped or under-stamped, it will usually be returned to you for the additional postage. However, you want to send something to Canada but from where? If not from the US, it will usually be marked for postage due and the recipient may have to pay depending on the diligence of Canada Post in collecting foreign taxe. Hope that helps you. ww2censor 23:36, 14 February 2007 (UTC)


 * To Canada from Canada... and I can't sign my posts right now because my tilda key is actually not working, Thanks - Krakko


 * The international agreement is that you *must* use the stamps of the country you're sending from, and the destination country accepts the mail, assuming that the from-country has satisfied itself on the amount and type of postage used. Stan 03:07, 15 February 2007 (UTC)
 * Canada Post's current regulation are that unfranked or under-franked mail is returned to the sender for the fee, but if there is no return address it is forwarded to the sender who must pay the full fee plus an administrative charge. Check out this page. Your US stamp used within Canada is effectively unpaid because the US stamp has no value there. BTW you can write your signature in longhand! Cheers ww2censor 04:17, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

--All good and well; however, I suggest you frank a cover with majority stamps from the country of origin and throw in a few foreign ones and see what happens. It's especially interesting if you include stamps of the country of destination. In previous practice, this occurred in North America between the Canadian and US Postal systems. Other countries also allowed "Dual franking" of covers. It all depends on the mood of the postal clerk that moment. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.134.175.231 (talk) 04:51, 9 September 2013 (UTC)

History Section?
Why is there no History section? What are the origins of the postage stamp? Astadt 19:15, 1 May 2007 (UTC)
 * There is now, but it still need some expansion as does the whole article. It is the lead article for the topic so should be comprehensive is all aspects. If you can contribute please do so. The "Dispensing" section needs quite a bit of work to bring it into balance. Cheers ww2censor 20:37, 1 May 2007 (UTC)
 * I know that there is a gentleman from Dundee, UK who invented the adhesive postage stamp. I have a picture of his head stone but can't seem to find him online 86.160.147.136 (talk) 16:10, 31 March 2008 (UTC)
 * Do you mean James Chalmers? Lovrenc Košir is also attributed with inventing the postage stamps, but Rowland Hill is mentioned as the person who introduced stamps. The sources for who actually inverted postage stamp seems somewhat of a problem and no one source seems to reliably verify who was the first person. Hope that helps. Cheers ww2censor (talk) 16:25, 31 March 2008 (UTC)

No country name on GB stamps
Does anyone have more, referenced information on UK not needing to print country of origin to add to the history section? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.6.14.171 (talk) 15:53, August 9, 2007
 * It is not a matter of not needing to print the name of the country on the stamp and the edit you made stating that the name was not required because they were the first country is misleading at best. You should read Penny Black to see that there was no name because of a design decision to base the stamp design on a portrait of Queen Victoria and that decision to not include the name continues to this day, though there have apparently been some stamps that have dropping the monarch's head from GB stamps. I don't have any good sources to point you to. It was just a design decision that no one objected to and was well established when the UPU was founded in 1874. ww2censor 21:52, 9 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Of course, there's not much reason to go to the expense of including a country name if you're the only country issuing stamps, so no great surprise that it didn't occur to anybody in 1840. I'm pretty sure there's now a UPU regulation that requires every country to include its name in Latin letters, GB being allowed as the sole exception in recognition of its pioneering role, but a quick scan of my library doesn't turn an explicit reference to it, and the UPU website is mystifying. I probably read it in Linn's at some point... Stan 23:31, 9 August 2007 (UTC)
 * As Stan says I think there was no reason for them to add the country at that time but I too was certain it is now a recognised omission. I can't find any info either! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.6.14.171 (talk) (18:25, August 11, 2007)


 * Regardless, it's still an interesting and little-known fact that the UK is the only country that does not put its name on its stamps, and is a worthy addition to the article. I've attended to that now.  --  JackofOz 02:19, 26 September 2007 (UTC)
 * This is not little known. It is one of the fundamental rules of serious philately: a stamp bearing no indication of country of origin is likely UK.  Why would the inventor imagine the necessity of indication of country of origin?  This string deserves to be deleted or redirected to a topic of early indication/lack-there-of for originating country of postage stamp.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.134.175.231 (talk) 04:53, 9 September 2013 (UTC)

I would like to add site on the postage stamps external links.
Hi, good day!

I would like to add this site (www.2-clicks-stamps. com (blacklisted)) on the list of external links on postage stamps article. This site talks everything about stamps. And i believe its necessary to include this because of its contents which will help stamps collector (novice and professionals) educate themselves. And since its a directory site, they will find it very useful and appropriate as external link.--Melvinthegreat 08:53, 15 August 2007 (UTC)


 * A directory of stamp collector's site (www.2-clicks-stamps. com (blacklisted)) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.107.63.48 (talk) (21:57, August 16, 2007)


 * You have already been told why you cannot add this site to any external links on Wikipedia articles. Read the posts on your talk page. Thank youww2censor 02:45, 17 August 2007 (UTC)


 * This site is more accurate(and updated regularly) than the first external link which is "Joseph Luft's Philatelic Resources on the Web (While this is one of the largest philatelic links web sites it has not been updated since January 2003, many links are broken.)" They have the same function and purpose.124.107.63.48 06:52, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

--Delete this worthless information. It is a waste of electricity in a server farm somewhere.

Stamps used to seal legal documents ?
Does anyone know of the history of using stamps as a seal for legal documents ? I think it was because they cost money, and could then make a contract binding, since even a written contract is not binding until something of value has been exchanged (called a 'consideration'). I've just come across it at the start of 'Monty Python's Flying Circus' Series 3 Episode 3 (1972) - 'The Money Programme', but there ought to be a more definitive reference than that ! --195.137.93.171 (talk) 03:42, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

KEYWORD SEARCH IN GOOGLE: POSTAL FISCAL REVENUE USAGE

Lovrenc Košir
Dr. Velimir Sokol, one of the founders of the Croatian state's PTT museum in Zagreb, is a postal historian who has examined the question of Lovrenc Košir's role in inventing the postage stamp. Driven by historical facts, he concluded that the introduction of stamps into postal communications belongs absolutely to the Englishman, Rowland Hill. In 1979, under the decision of the Philatelists' Union of Slovenia, Lovrenc Košir is no longer accorded that recognition.

Sokol's articles on Košir: "Has Lovrenc Košir proved to be the maker of the postage stamp concept?" (1962) and "The fortunes and misfortunes of Lovrenc Košir" (1979) are said to resemble good crime novels. Sokol's other monographs include "450 years of post in Zagreb, 1529-1979" (1979); "Hundred years of telephony in Croatia, 1881-1981" (1981); "Professional couriers in the Dubrovnik Republic" (1968), and "Place and role of postal history in historical science" (1974).

It appears that Košir's role in the history of postage stamps is highly controversial. The sentences in our article lack supporting documentation and if that is not forthcoming, they should be removed.Fconaway (talk) 05:05, 16 February 2008 (UTC)


 * Ken Lawrence's "Before the Penny Black", part 7, discusses all this. I think we have enough material to split off into a subarticle on the invention of the postage stamp, mentioning all the claimants. The main article should stick to the basics, and Košir is not part of that. Stan (talk) 13:01, 16 February 2008 (UTC)
 * I whacked the para. Stan (talk) 13:12, 16 February 2008 (UTC)

List of martial arts on stamps
As to the reason given for reverting "no personal website links" - I did not link to a "personal web site" as claimed. Firstly, the site belongs to the United States Judo Association. More importantly, Wikipedia defines a "Personal web page" to be "World Wide Web pages created by an individual to contain content of a personal nature."

The page I linked to is not of a personal nature. It is a list of martial arts stamps that is no different in nature from the following lists on that page (except that it is an external link rather than an internal link): --David Broadfoot (talk) 07:09, 17 February 2008 (UTC)
 * List of ships on stamps
 * List of people on stamps
 * List of birds on stamps
 * List of bonsai on stamps
 * List of fish on stamps


 * Then why does it look like a personal webpage of Ronald Allan Charles? The contact information is only to him not for the United States Judo Association and there seems to be no official status to the page. Most society webpages have some sort of identifier on them and I don't see any such identity on the page you linked to. ww2censor (talk) 17:53, 17 February 2008 (UTC)


 * Yes, that's true, but you only commented on a small part of my note, ignoring all that came after the words "More importantly". Wikipedia doesn't say you shouldn't link to sites that are owned or run by a "person" (i.e. linked sites are not required to be managed by corporations/governments/associations/etc) - it only asks that you avoid linking to "personal web pages", which it defines.
 * Also, the whole issue of not being allowed to link to "personal web pages" (item #12 on the External_links) is invalid here, because (a) such links are not banned, they are merely "Links normally to be avoided"; and, more importantly, (b) the list is overridden by the lead sentence "Except for a link to a page that is the subject of the article" - that page is solely about the subject of this article, so the list is not relevant. --David Broadfoot (talk) 10:48, 18 February 2008 (UTC)

--This belongs in a category discussion for "TOPICAL STAMPS"

To do list
This article needs significant expansion.
 * We need to expand the section on stamp design.
 * We need images of stamps showing various aspects - perforated/unperforated, se-tenent etc.
 * We need a glossary of terms connected with philately and including the terms connected with parts of a stamp.
 * We need images of stamps printed by different printing processes right from line engraving to we offset.



AshLin (talk) 16:59, 7 April 2009 (UTC) --So you basically want to build about 1000 articles? This is inane garbage. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.134.175.231 (talk) 04:57, 9 September 2013 (UTC)

workmen's compensation law
I have a full sheet of "Workmen's compensation law" postage stamps how much are they worth? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bronco67 (talk • contribs) 21:50, 27 May 2009 (UTC)
 * Go to your local library and look up a stamp catalog or bring them to a stamp dealer and ask him. We don't offer this type of advise here. ww2censor (talk) 01:53, 28 May 2009 (UTC)

Philatelic Abuse
"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.

Some collectors have taken to philatelic investment. Rare stamps are among the most portable of tangible investments, and are easy to store."

What? This sentence makes no sense to the casual reader. What exactly is the abuse, and how does that abuse contribute to the reputation of the UAE states as sand dune countries? These things need to be explained in greater detail. What exactly was Seebeck's abuse? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.59.105.71 (talk) 16:00, 25 July 2009 (UTC)

--No references, no material evidence, opinion, and flippant racial/bigotted remarks? Worthy of deletion in my estimation. The point of manipulating supllies of stamps for gain is interesting, but very poorly expressed. Grammatical travesty - just like the rest of this article. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.134.175.231 (talk) 04:59, 9 September 2013 (UTC)

Definition
I see that Gwillhickers has twice removed a definition of what the postage stamp is. Being an encyclopedia, we define the topic at the start of the introduction. Per WP:MOSBEGIN the opening paragraph should "define the topic" and the first sentence of the introduction is supposed to: "answer two questions for the nonspecialist reader: "What (or who) is the subject?" and "Why is this subject notable?". However, now we tell readers what the postage stamp does or what it is made of, where we buy it but never define it. ww2censor (talk) 20:21, 30 July 2010 (UTC)
 * I agree, the lede now assumes one already knows what a stamp is, and yet at what point there is probably a significant number of WP readers that have never seen or even heard of such a thing before. Also the main article links go at the top of a section, not the bottom. Stan (talk) 13:03, 31 July 2010 (UTC)
 * I also protest against re-writing the article as if it's a personal essay. Let me remind Gwillhickers the Wikipedia guidelines regarding the style and composition of a Wikipedia article:

What Wikipedia is not: Personal essays that state your particular feelings about a topic (rather than the consensus of experts). Although Wikipedia is supposed to compile human knowledge, it is not a vehicle to make personal opinions become part of such knowledge. In the unusual situation where the opinions of an individual are important enough to discuss, it is preferable to let other people write about them. Personal essays on topics relating to Wikipedia are welcome in your user namespace or on the Meta-wiki. There is a Wikipedia fork at Wikinfo that encourages personal opinions in articles. Manual of Style (lead section): The lead section (also known as the introduction or the lead) of a Wikipedia article is the section before the table of contents and first heading. The lead serves both as an introduction to the article and as a summary of the important aspects of the subject of the article.

The lead should be able to stand alone as a concise overview of the article. It should define the topic, establish context, explain why the subject is interesting or notable, and summarize the most important points—including any notable controversies. The emphasis given to material in the lead should roughly reflect its importance to the topic, according to reliable, published sources, and the notability of the article's subject should usually be established in the first sentence.

While consideration should be given to creating interest in reading more of the article, the lead nonetheless should not "tease" the reader by hinting at—but not explaining—important facts that will appear later in the article. The lead should contain no more than four paragraphs, should be carefully sourced as appropriate, and should be written in a clear, accessible style to invite a reading of the full article.

...


 * If its subject is amenable to definition, then the first sentence should give a concise definition: where possible, one that puts the article in context for the nonspecialist.
 * ...and so on and so forth. Please read the rules and re-write the article in the full accordance with them. We don't write essays here, this is an encyclopedia, first of all. Otherwise, let's return the article to the 05:38, 19 July 2010 version. --Michael Romanov (talk) 03:18, 20 August 2010 (UTC)


 * I already politely gave Gwillhickers advise here (above) and elsewhere but he seems to ignore advise, policy and guideline that he does not agree with, plowing on in his own way. Obviously he is a knowledgeable editor but style-wise does not appear to understand what an encyclopaedia actually is and should provide. The lede is now completely non-appropriate though some of the prose might be usable in a history section about the invention so long as proper sources are provided. I recently added several citation tags and while he added some sources, I disagree with several of them because they are obviously synthesis which is contrary to policy, because my Scott catalogues do not support the statements he claims. He has used blogs as references and even uses references that are mirrors, or copies, of Wikipedia articles, such as this one none of which are reliable sources. The postage stamp design section is overly long considering there is a separate article, and as usual with most articles he touches, there are too many images for the quantity of prose, per MOS:IMAGES and WP:IG ... and so on and so forth. I agree with a revert or perhaps a collaborative rewrite that follows our guidelines and policy. Some other articles written entirely by this editor, or with numerous edits, have similar problems and they should probably be discussed elsewhere, such as the philately project talk page. ww2censor (talk) 04:06, 20 August 2010 (UTC)
 * I support the ideas of rewrite and start of a WikiProject Philately discussion concerning the problems with both the articles/edits and image uploads contributed by this editor. The latter (i.e. the files on Commons) continue to be miscategorized, mislicensed and/or misdescribed even after several polite reminders. --Michael Romanov (talk) 04:24, 20 August 2010 (UTC)

Regretfully, the definition and lead are not yet in shape. An entity (as an encyclopedic entry) must not be defined as what it "is made from" in the first line. This is a good example of how a Wikipedia article could be inappropriately edited, alas. --Michael Romanov (talk) 20:10, 10 November 2010 (UTC)

Harrison and Sons
If even this particular printer played an important role in the postage stamp history, there is no need to include it in the section 'See also'. There are several other printers that are notable for their contribution in the postage stamp history of a certain country or overall. Why not to add all of them in 'See also'? I would suggest, instead, writing a separate section or an article reviewing notable stamp printers. --Michael Romanov (talk) 13:01, 20 August 2010 (UTC)


 * A section discussing the most important stamp printer worldwide would seem like a good idea. A small number of companies were responsible for most of the early stamps worldwide, Perkins Bacon, De La Rue, House of Questa, Waterlow and Sons, Bureau of Engraving and Printing, American Bank Note Company and Joh. Enschedé come to mind though I am sure there are many more important ones. ww2censor (talk) 14:28, 20 August 2010 (UTC)

External links-2
Most of them do not relate directly to the subject, after visiting those websites of museums, societies and dealers. So, I am going to delete them. --Michael Romanov (talk) 22:01, 14 September 2010 (UTC)

A couple of points on the history section
1. The article says, perfectly correctly: 'the UK remains the only country not to identify itself by name on postal stamps'. The key word here from a historical point of view is remains. In the early days of postage stamps, Brazilian stamps (at least) did not indicate the country (or state) of issue, either, and there were surely others, too. A list of these countries would be interesting.

2.'Before the introduction of postage stamps, mail in the UK was paid for by the recipient ...' I recollect seeing pre-Penny Black covers posted in the UK marked prepaid. Was it really the case, as the article implies, that payment by recipient/addressee was the only option? Norvo (talk) 22:31, 20 May 2013 (UTC)


 * If you have a reliable source for other countries that were not identified by their name, we could add it. Generally most mail was paid by the recipient though mail could be prepaid and was sometimes marked as such but usually this was done by the color of the postal markings. ww2censor (talk) 09:19, 22 May 2013 (UTC)

stamp model
Hi, the various stamp wiki pages mention many types of stamps but the relation between these types is not always clear. I have modelled the relations in Meet-Alex, a data definition and modelling environment with a nice visualization. Would it be helpful to add this link to the types section of postage stamp (and maybe other places)? https://www.meet-alex.org/index.php/collections/24?visualShow=yes Regards, Mark — Preceding unsigned comment added by Markhendrickx (talk • contribs) 15:25, 19 August 2017 (UTC)

Lead section condensed
I removed historical content from the lead section (intro), and placed it in History within an invisible comment. This content needs to be uncommented and merged into History. Turbo pencil (talk) 18:55, 5 June 2018 (UTC)
 * As a new editor you may not yet be familiar with what the WP:LEDE entails, which should essentially be a stand alone precise of the whole article, so there will be repeated statements that are in the main prose. So removing prose is not a good idea; if it is missing from the main article then you should repeat it though maybe in somewhat different style. ww2censor (talk) 21:23, 5 June 2018 (UTC)
 * In this case the lead section was too long and required cleanup; I didn't remove it because it was duplicated material. Turbo pencil (talk) 21:39, 5 June 2018 (UTC)
 * Sounds good though I have not reviewed it very closely but at a quick glance I don't see any mention of the invention in the lede which takes up quite some space in the article. I'm away for a few days so may look at it when I return. ww2censor (talk) 00:23, 6 June 2018 (UTC)

UK name exception redux
There seems to be some confusion about whether there is actually a special exception for the UK, so I went to look at current UPU regs,  and in Article 6, we have

"Postage stamps comprise: the name of the member country or territory of issue, in roman letters [1], or, if the UPU International Bureau is so requested by the member country or territory of issue, the abbreviation or initials officially representing the member country or territory of issue, in accordance with the conditions laid down in the Regulations; [...] [1]    An exception shall be granted to the United Kingdom, the country which invented the postage stamp."

So it seems pretty clearly spelled out as a special exception (and no mention of a sovereign's head). Stan (talk) 06:16, 27 October 2020 (UTC)

Digital Postage Stamp
Ireland officially launched the world's first (according to some news websites) digital stamp for use within Ireland with plans for use in international mail in the future. Should there not be a section on this? Source: An Post Website 78.19.178.41 (talk) 18:37, 10 November 2022 (UTC)

Stamp
I need a stamp picture 2402:8100:303D:84C2:10C8:34C8:3048:C401 (talk) 16:40, 14 June 2023 (UTC)
 * Can you be more specific? Or just search the commons under the country name here c:Category:Postage stamps by country. ww2censor (talk) 21:12, 14 June 2023 (UTC)