postage stamp

a stamp issued by postal authorities to indicate that postage has been paid for a piece of mail. The designs on postage stamps are specially engraved or drawn for the stamps or are reproductions of photographs and the like. Stamps are printed by relief, intaglio or planographic methods, including offset and metal lithography. The paper on which stamps are often printed contains watermarks. Most stamps include the name of the government and postal administration, an indication of face value, and inscriptions of a commemorative, propagandistic, or explanatory nature; sometimes the names of the artists and printer are also given.

Postage stamps usually have projections and depressions along the edges, which are caused by the perforation of the sheets. Stamps are often issued in series, with individual specimens differing in face value, size, shape, subject, or simply color. They are often issued in sheets consisting of one or more usually identical stamps with pictures or inscriptions in the selvage. Sometimes they are issued in sheets having two or more different stamps, which often make up a series. When mail is handled by postal authorities, postal markings are placed on the stamps to prevent the stamps’ reuse. Stamps with postal markings are said to be cancelled.

Postage stamps are not only the most popular items collected by hobbyists but also distinctive documents recounting historical events. Historical events are reflected not only in the subjects of the stamp but also in the various overprints, which testify to changes in governmental affiliation or system. Overprints may also signify a change in face value or currency.

The first postage stamps appeared in Great Britain and its colonies in 1840 and were issued without perforations until 1854. Stamps were subsequently introduced in Brazil (1843), the Swiss cantons of Zürich and Geneva (1843), the United States (1847), France (1849), and other countries. In the classical period (1840–75), stamps depicted mainly statesmen and coats of arms —designs now usually confined to regular issues—or had designs with emblems and numbers, similar to coins and medals. Beginning in 1871, commemorative stamps were issued in honor of various events, important dates, or anniversary celebrations of eminent personalities.

Designs on postage stamps are becoming more complex and the stamps are becoming more varied in shape: in addition to the traditional rectangular shape, stamps are often issued in triangular, rhombic, and other shapes. There is an ever-increasing distinction between regular issues and special issues for collectors. Many countries issue stamps in quantities exceeding postal demand and exclusively for collectors, with the stamps’ face values differing from the face values of ordinary postal issues. The mid-20th century has witnessed an increase in the number of multicolored series devoted to sports, space exploration, works of art, and local flora and fauna.

Artists who create postage stamps are increasingly searching for original ideas to reflect the trends of contemporary graphics and transform the stamp into a distinctive graphic miniature or “poster”. National schools are emerging in Belgium (J. van Noten), Bulgaria (S. Kunchev), Hungary (S. Légrady), the German Democratic Republic (E. Gruner), Italy (C. Mancioli, C. Mezzana), Laos (Sh. Prisayan), Rumania (I. Dumitrana), Tunisia (Kh. al-Mekki), Finland (S. Hammersten-Janson), Czechoslovakia (M. Svabinský, J. Ŝvengsbir), and Yugoslavia (I. Milenković). Stamps are sometimes printed on foil or cloth and occasionally with a stereoscopic effect. In a number of cases, stamps are printed on fluorescent paper or with graphite and phosphorous strips in order to facilitate automatic mail sorting. All stamps are listed in special stamp catalogs, the best known of which are published annually: Scott’s (USA, since 1867), Stanley Gibbons (Great Britain, since 1863), Yvert (France, since 1900), Zumstein (Switzerland, since 1909), Michel (West Germany, since 1910), and Lipsia (East Germany, since 1950).

In Russia, postage stamps were introduced in 1858. The first Soviet stamp was issued in 1918. Eminent designers of Soviet postage stamps include R. Zarinŝ, I. I. Dubasov (who designed the first stamp with a portrait of V. I. Lenin in 1924), and V. V. Zav’ialov. Between 1918 and the 1970’s the USSR has issued more than 4,000 stamps on a tremendous variety of themes, including the accomplishments of the Great October Socialist Revolution; achievements of industry, agriculture, science, and culture; and various anniversary celebrations. The Catalog of Postage Stamps of the USSR, 1918–1969 was published in Moscow in 1970 and is supplemented yearly. The history and design of postage stamps are treated in the annual publication Soviet Collector (since 1963) and the monthly magazine Filateliia SSSR (Philately in the USSR; since 1966).