Postage stamp

A postage stamp is made from (usually special) paper with a national designation and denomination on the face and most often with a gum adhesive on the reverse side and is used as evidence of payment of postage. Postage stamps are purchased from a postal administration, or other authorized vendor and are applied to mail and used to pay for mailing services and sometimes to pay for other postal services like insurance and registration. The stamp’s shape is usually that of a small rectangle of varying proportions. The stamp is affixed to an envelope, or other postal cover (i.e., packet, box, mailing cylinder) which is then processed by the postal system where a postmark is usually applied over the stamp and cover which cancels the stamp preventing its reuse. The postmark usually indicates the date and point of origin of the mailing. The mailed item is then delivered to the address indicated on the envelope or cover. Postmarks have been applied over stamps since the first postage stamps came into use.^[1][2]

Postage stamps have been carrying the mails of the world to their destinations since the 1840s. Before this time ink and hand-stamps, (hence the word 'stamp') usually made from wood or cork, were often used to frank the mail and confirm the payment of postage. As postage stamps with their engraved imagery began to show up in the homes and businesses of people everywhere it wasn’t long before they were being noticed by historians and collectors, young and old.^[3]

The first postage stamp, commonly referred to as the Penny Black, issued in the United Kindom in 1840, was the result of the effort to bring reform and convenience to the early 19th century postal system in the UK which was in disarray and rife with corruption at the time. ^[4] Before the introduction of postage stamps, mail in the UK was paid for by the receiver. This led to a variety of problems such as when the receiver was unable or unwilling to pay for the delivered item. There was also the problem of over use and abuse, as senders did not have to pay for postage there was nothing in place to limit the number of items sent by any one individual.^[5] The postage stamp changed all of that by virtue of its own simplicity.

The advent of the postage stamp afforded convenience for both the mailer and postal officials, saved money and ultimately resulted in a faster more improved postal system. With the conveniences stamps offered their use also resulted in greatly increased mailings during the 19th and 20th centuries.^[6] Though there are varying accounts of who or if there was a lone inventor,^[7] the first postage stamp was created in response to much needed reforms and improvements in the postal system of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland then.^[8]

Along with postage stamps there is also postal stationery such as prepaid-postage envelopes, post cards, lettercards, aerogrammes and newspaper wrappers in addition to postage meters.

Postage stamps were once the most popular way of paying for mail, but with the advent of metered mail machines and the time and money saved, metered postage and the rapidly growing industry of meter machines ^[9] along with bulk mailings, have all largely preempted postage stamp use, especially on business and commercial mail.^[10] With affordable long distance telephone communications and other forms of electronic communications stamp use on letters between family and friends has also diminished greatly in the latter 20th and early 21st centuries.

The study of postage stamps and their use is referred to as philately. Stamp collecting can be both a hobby and a form of historical study and reference, as government issued postage stamps and the mail systems overall have always been involved with their nation’s history in various aspects.^[11][12]

Contents 1 The invention of the postage stamp 2 History 3 Postage stamp design 3.1 Perforations 3.2 Shapes of postage stamps 3.3 Graphic characteristics 4 Types of stamps 5 First day covers 6 Souvenir or miniature sheets 7 Stamp collecting 8 Famous stamps 9 See also 10 References 11 External links

[edit] The invention of the postage stamp

Several people laid claims that they invented the postage stamp.

Rowland Hill

The Englishman Sir Rowland Hill first started to take a serious interest in postal reforms in 1835.^[13] In 1836 the Member of Parliament Robert Wallace provided Hill with numerous books and documents, which Hill described as a «half hundred weight of material».^[14] Hill commenced a detailed study of these documents and this led him to the publication, in early 1837, of a pamphlet entitled «Post Office Reform its Importance and Practicability». He submitted a copy of this to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Thomas Spring-Rice, on 4 January 1837.^[15] This first edition was marked «private and confidential» and was not released to the general public. The Chancellor summoned Hill to a meeting during which the Chancellor suggested improvements, asked for reconsiderations and requested a supplement which Hill duly produced and supplied on 28 January 1837.^[16]

Rowland Hill then received a summons to give evidence before the Commission for Post Office Enquiry on 13 February 1837. During his evidence he read from the letter he had written to the Chancellor which included the statement «…by using a bit of paper just large enough to bear the stamp, and covered at the back with a glutinous wash…».^[17][18] This is the first publication of a very clear description of an adhesive postage stamp. It must be remembered that the phrase postage stamp did not yet exist at that time. Shortly afterwards the second edition of Hill’s booklet, dated 22 February 1837, was published and this was made available to the general public. This booklet, containing some 28,000 words, incorporated the supplement he gave to the Chancellor and the statements he made to the Commission.

Hansard records that on 15 December 1837 Mr Benjamin Hawes asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer «whether it was the intention of the Government to give effect to the recommendation of the Commissioners of the Post-office, contained in their ninth report relating to the reduction of the rates of postage, and the issuing of penny stamps?»^[19]

Hill’s ideas for postage stamps and charging postage based upon weight soon took hold and were soon adopted in many other countries throughout the world. With this new policy of charging by weight, envelopes for mailing soon became normal for the first time. In the spirit of postal reform and in the effort to improve mail efficiency Hill’s brother, Edwin Hill, invented a prototype envelope folding machine which was able to produce envelopes at a rate that kept pace with the growing demand of postage stamps.^[20]

Rowland Hill and the postal reforms he introduced to the UK postal system are commemorated on several postage issues of the United Kingdom.^[20]

James Chalmers

The first documentary evidence for the Scotsman James Chalmers’ claim is the essay and proposal he submitted for adhesive postage stamps, to the General Post Office, dated 8 February 1838 and received by the Post Office on 17 February 1838.^[21] In this document, of some 800 words, about methods of franking letters he states «Therefore, if Mr Hill’s plan of a uniform rate of postage … I conceive that the most simple and economical mode … would be by Slips … in the hope that Mr Hill’s plan may soon be carried into operation I would suggest that sheets of Stamped Slips should be prepared … then be rubbed over on the back with a strong solution of gum …». The original of this document is now in the National Postal Museum. The weights and postage amounts on these essays are those that were proposed by Hill in February 1837.

It is clear that James Chalmers was aware of Rowland Hill’s proposals, but it is not clear whether he had obtained a copy of Hill’s booklet or if he had read about it in the Times. The Times had, on two occasions, on 25 March 1837^[22] and on 20 December 1837^[23] reported in great detail Hill’s proposals. In neither report was there any mention of «a bit of paper just large enough to bear the stamp». So if Chalmers had only read the Times he would have been completely unaware that Hill had already made the proposal for «a bit of paper…».

James Chalmers organized petitions «for a low and uniform rate of postage». The first such petition was presented in the House of Commons on 4 December 1837 (from Montrose).^[24] Further petitions organised by him were presented on 1 May 1838 (from Dunbar and Cupar), 14 May 1838 (from the county of Forfar) and 12 June 1839. Many other people were concurrently organizing petitions and presenting them to Parliament. All these petitions were presented after Hill’s proposals had been published.

The claim that James Chalmers was the inventor of the postage stamp first surfaced in 1881 when the book «The Penny Postage Scheme of 1837», written by his son, Patrick Chalmers, was published.^[25] In this book the son claims that James Chalmers first produced an essay for a stamp in August 1834 but no evidence for this is provided in the book. Patrick Chalmers continued to campaign until he died in 1891, to have his father recognised as the inventor.

Lovrenc Košir

In 1835 the Austrian of Slovenian nationality Lovrenc Košir suggested the introduction of «artificially affixed postal tax stamps».^[26] His suggestion was looked at in detail and rejected.

Other claimants

Other claimants include or have included^[27]

• Dr John Gray of the British Museum
• Samuel Forrester, a Scottish tax official
• Charles Whiting, a London stationer
• Samuel Roberts of Llanbrynmair, Wales
• Francis Worrell Stevens, schoolmaster at Loughton
• Ferdinand Egarter of Spittal, Austria
• Curry Gabriel Treffenberg from Sweden

[edit] History

Although a number of people laid a claim to the concept of the postage stamp, postage stamps were first introduced in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland on 1 May 1840, as part of postal reforms promoted by Sir 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^[28][29] (the monarch’s head is used as identification).

Stamps were not officially perforated until January 1854,^[30] except in the parliamentary session of 1851,^[30] when stamps perforated by Mr. Archer were issued at the House of Commons. In 1853, the Government paid Mr. Archer £4,000 for the patent.^[30]

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 United Kingdom, 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 United States 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 postage stamp in the UK the number of letters increased dramatically as the use of the postage stamp exploded. Before 1839 the number of letters sent was 76 million. By 1850 this had increased fivefold to 350 million and grew rapidly on.^[6]

[edit] Postage stamp design

When the first postage stamps premiered in the 1840s they followed an almost identical standard in their shape, size and general subject matter; that is, they were small and rectangular in shape, they bore the images of Queens, Presidents and the like, depicted the denomination of the postage and, with the exception of UK stamps, depicted the name of the country that issued the postage stamp. Originally nearly all postage stamps depicted the images of national leaders only, but it wasn’t very long before other subjects and design formats began to appear. Sometimes the new designs were welcomed while other times changes were largely criticized. For example, in 1869 when the U.S. Post Office broke from its short lived tradition of depicting presidents on the face of postage and instead chose various scenes which included subjects such as a train or horse, the change was greeted with general disapproval and often harsh criticism from the American public then.^[31][32]

[edit] Perforations

Perforations in sheets of stamps consist of rows and columns of small holes made in between the individual postage stamps which allow for the easier and convenient separation of individual stamps from the sheet. The frame-like arrangement of perforations that surround the image of a postage stamp have become what gives a postage stamp its overall characteristic appearance.

When postage stamp use premiered in the 1840s they were first issued without perforations for approximately ten years (depending on country in question). During this time individual stamps had to be cut from their sheets, usually with scissors. There also exists examples where the sheets were simply folded and individual stamps were torn off, evidenced by their ragged edges. This proved to be quite an inconvenience for postal clerks and businesses who had to deal with large numbers of individual stamps on a daily basis. In other incidences various innovative devices, such as rouletting wheels, were devised and employed in the private sector, all in an effort to make stamp separation more quick and convenient.^[33]

With the necessity of being able to conveniently separate stamps from their sheets at the post office by 1850 various methods were being devised to perforate large quantities of stamp sheets.

The United Kingdom was the first country to issue postage stamps with perforations simply because they were using stamps on their mailings several years before other countries and was therefore the first to experience the need for perforations in stamps. The first device used to officially perforate postage stamps was invented in London by Henry Archer, an Irish landowner and railroad man from Dublin, Ireland.^[34] After a period of trial and error and modifications the U.K. postal authorities put the invention of Mr. Archer to use and in 1854 issued the first officially perforated postage stamps.^[35] The first stamp issues to receive perforations were experimental and applied to the Penny Red issued in 1850. By 1854 the Penny Red was being issued with standard official perforations.^[33][36]

The United States government and the Post Office were quick to follow the lead of the U.K. for several reasons. In the U.S. the use of postage stamps was already popular and became more so when on March 3, 1851 Congress passed the Act of March 3, 1851, titled An Act to reduce and modify the Rates of Postage in the United States.^[37] Again on March 3, in 1855, the Act of March 3, 1855 was introduced, requiring the prepayment of postage on all mailings, and as such, postage stamp use in the U.S. doubled and by 1861 had quadrupled. ^[33] The U.S. Postal authorities foresaw the need of perforations in sheets of postage stamps and in 1856, under the direction of Postmaster General James Campbell, Toppan and Carpenter, (commissioned by the U.S. government to print U.S. postage stamps through the 1850’s) purchased a modified version of Archer’s perforating machine, patented in England in 1854, by William and Henry Bemrose, printers in Derby, England at that time.^[38] The original machine cut slits into the paper but the machine was later modified so it would punch holes in the sheets of stamps instead.^[35] The first stamp issues to be officially perforated were issued by the U.S. Post Office on February 24, 1857, the 3-cent George Washington issue. Eventually all issues of 1851—1856 were reissued with perforations from 1857—1861. Initial capacity was insufficient to perforate all stamps printed, thus perforated issues used between February and July 1857 are scarce and quite valuable.^[39][40]

[edit] Shapes of postage stamps

Stamps have been issued in shapes besides rectangles, including circular, triangular and pentagonal shapes. Sierra Leone and Tonga issued stamps in the shapes of fruit; Bhutan issued one with its national anthem on a playable record. Stamps are made from paper generally designed for the stamp and are printed in sheets, usually 50 or 100 to a sheet. The stamps are separated by perforations that are applied to the sheet allowing for easier separation of the individual stamps. Some postage stamps have also 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. These issues, however, are unusual and are seldom issued. In the beginning of postage stamp production, the stamp images were almost always produced from engravings. Later on, depending on the country of issue, stamps were produced by a variety of other printing techniques such as lithography, photogravure, intaglio and web offset printing.

[edit] Graphic characteristics

The subjects found on the face of postage stamps is generally what defines a particular stamp issue to the public and is often one of the reasons why they are saved by collectors or history enthusiasts. Graphical subjects found on postage stamps have varied greatly over the years, ranging from the early portrayals of kings, queens and presidents to depictions of ships, birds and satellites of later issues,^[32] while other stamps have commemorated famous people^[41] and/or historical events. Various artists, designers, engravers and other officials are involved with the choice of subject matter and the method of printing involved. In the beginning almost all stamp issues were produced from engravings — 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 unless you were a master engraver with the resources to print and produce such items. In the middle 20th century stamp issues produced by other forms of printing began to emerge, such as stamps produced from the offset and photogravure printing processes.

[edit] Types of stamps

• Airmail stamp — for payment of airmail service. While «airmail» or equivalent is usually printed on the stamp, Scott has a separate category and listing for U.S. Airmail Postage. Airmail stamps typically depict images of airplanes and/or famous pilots and were used when airmail was a special type of mail delivery separate from mail delivered by train, ship or automobile. Apart from mail with local destinations, today almost all other mail is transported by aircraft and is considered a standard way of delivery rather than a distinguished or separate method of delivery.^[42] Prior to 1940, Scotts Catalogue did not have a special designation for airmail stamps.^[43] the various major stamp catalogs have different numbering systems and may not always list airmail stamps the same way.^[44]

• Booklet stamp — stamps produced and issued in booklet format.
• 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 stamp that is issued for a limited time to commemorate a person and/or event. Anniversaries of birthdays and historical events are among the most common examples.

• 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.^[45]
• 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 — stamps for everyday postage and are usually produced to meet current postal rates. They often have less appealing designs than commemoratives, though there are stark exceptions.^[46] The same design may be used for many years. The use of the same design over an extended period may lead to unintended color varieties. This may make them just as interesting to philatelists as commemoratives. A good example would be the US 1903 regular issues, their designs being very picturesque and ornamental.^[46] Definitive stamps are often issued in a series of stamps with 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.
• Newspaper stamp — stamps used to pay the cost of mailing newspapers and other periodicals.
• 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 stamps — allow the user to add his own picture.
• Pneumatic post stamps — for mail sent using pressurized air tubes, only produced in Italy.
• Postage due — a stamp showing that the full postage has not been paid, and indicating the amount to pay. 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.

• Revenue stamps — stamp used to collect taxes or fees on items such as documents, tobacco, alcoholic drinks, hunting licenses and medicines.
• 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.
• Telegraph stamp — stamps for the payment of sending telegrams.
• Specimen stamp — postage stamp sent to postmasters and postal administrations so that they are able to identify valid stamps and to avoid forgeries.
• 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.
• Variable value stamps are stamps dispensed by machine where the value is printed at the time the stamp is dispensed.
• 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»).

[edit] First day covers

Postage stamps are first issued on a specific date, often referred to as the First day of issue. A first day cover usually consists of an envelope, a postage stamp and a postmark with the date of the stamp’s first day of issue thereon.^[47] Starting in the mid 20th century some countries like the USA began assigning the first day of issue to a specific town or city, usually a place associated with the subject of the stamp design.^[48] There are two basic types of First Day Covers (FDC’s) noted by collectors. The first and often most desirable among advanced collectors are covers sent through the mail in the course of everyday usage without the intention of the envelope and stamp ever being retrieved and collected. The second type of FDC is often referred to as Philatelic, an envelope and stamp sent by someone with the intention of retrieving and collecting the mailed item at a later time and place. The envelope used for this type of FDC often bears a printed design or cachet of its own in correspondence with the stamp’s subject and is usually printed well in advance of the first day of issue date. The latter type of FDC is usually far more common, are usually inexpensive and relatively easy to acquire. Covers that were sent without any secondary purpose are considered non-philatelic and often are much more challenging to find and collect.'^[47][48]

[edit] Souvenir or miniature sheets

Postage stamps are sometimes issued in souvenir sheets or miniature sheets 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.

[edit] Stamp collecting

Stamp collecting is a popular hobby. Collecting is not the same as philately, which is the study of stamps. It is not necessary to closely study stamps in order to enjoy collecting them. Many casual collectors enjoy accumulating stamps without worrying about the tiny details. The creation of a large or comprehensive collection, however, may require some philatelic knowledge.

Stamp collectors are an important source of revenue for some small countries who 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. 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.

Collectors need to be aware that they are vulnerable to exploitation by countries and/or individuals who authorize the production of postage stamps intended primarily for collectors rather than for postal use.^[49][50] These stamps are often «canceled to order» meaning they are postmarked without ever having passed through the postal system. Most national post offices produce stamps that would not be produced if there were no collectors but some are more prolific than others. It is up to individual collectors whether this concerns them.

Good examples of excessive issues have been the stamps produced by 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.^[49][50] 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 name of the «sand dune» countries. Recently, at the time of the millennium, the United Kingdom issued 96 different stamps over about 24 months, all for pre-existing values with the same four rates for each set.

In the United States there is concern among some collectors that the United States Postal Service has become a promotional agent for the media and entertainment industry, as it has frequently issued entire sets of stamps featuring movie stars and cartoon characters like 'Mickey' Mouse' and 'Bart Simpson'.^[51] Over the decades the annual average number of new postage stamp issued by the U.S.P.S. has significantly increased.^[52]

[edit] Famous stamps

• Basel Dove
• British Guiana 1c magenta
• Hawaiian Missionaries
• Inverted Head 4 Annas
• Inverted Jenny
• Mauritius "Post Office"
• Penny Black
• Scinde Dawk
• Treskilling Yellow
• Uganda Cowries

[edit] See also

• List of entities that have issued postage stamps
• Philatelic fakes and forgeries
• Philately
• Stamp catalog
• Stamp collecting

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v • d • e Postage stamps and postal history of Europe Albania · Allenstein · Andorra · Armenia · Austria · Azerbaijan · Azores · Belarus · Belgium · Bosnia · Bulgaria · Crete · Croatia · Cyprus · Czech Republic · Czechoslovakia · Dalmatia · Denmark · Eastern Rumelia · Estonia · Faroe Islands · Fiume · Finland · France · French Colonies · Georgia · Germany · German colonies · Gibraltar · Great Britain · GB regions · Greece · Heligoland · Hungary · Iceland · Ireland · Italy · Karelia · Kastellórizo · Latvia · Liechtenstein · Lithuania · Luxembourg · Macedonia · Madeira · Malta · Moldova · Monaco · Montenegro · Netherlands · Northern Epirus · Norway · Poland · Portugal · Romania · Russia · Saar · San Marino · Serbia · Spain · Slovakia · Slovenia · Sweden · Switzerland  · Transnistria · Turkey · Tuscany · Ukraine · Vatican · West Ukrainian National Republic · Yugoslavia Austrian Post Abroad Austrian P.O. in Crete · Austrian P.O. in Liechtenstein · Austrian P.O. in Ottoman British Post Abroad List of British post offices abroad · British military post offices in Africa · British P.O. in China · British P.O. in Morocco · Bushire occupation · Batum occupation French Post Abroad French P.O. Abroad · French P.O. in China · French P.O. in Crete · French P.O. in Egypt · French P.O. in Ottoman · French P.O. in Zanzibar German post offices abroad China • Morocco • Ottoman Empire • Zanzibar Russian post offices abroad Russian post offices abroad · Russian P.O. in China · Russian P.O. in Crete · Russian P.O. in Ottoman German States Baden · Bergedorf · Hamburg · Lübeck · Mecklenburg · North German Confederation See also: Africa · Americas · Asia  · Oceania · Portal · WikiProject

v • d • e Postage stamps and postal history of Oceania & Antarctica Aitutaki · Australia · Australian Antarctic · British Antarctic · Caroline Islands · Christmas Island · Cocos (Keeling) Islands · French Polynesia · French Southern and Antarctic Territories · Gilbert and Ellice Islands · Guam · New Guinea · New Hebrides · New South Wales · New Zealand · Norfolk Island · Papua New Guinea · Pitcairn Islands · Ross Dependency · Tonga · Vanuatu · Western New Guinea See also: Africa · Americas  · Asia · Europe · Portal · WikiProject

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[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Stamps

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