Postage Stamp:
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A postage stamp is adhesive paper evidence of a fee paid for postal services. Usually a small rectangle attached to an envelope, the stamp signifies the person sending it has fully or partly paid for delivery. Postage stamps are the most popular way of paying for retail mail; alternatives include postal stationery such as prepaid-postage envelopes, post cards, lettercards, aerogrammes and newspaper wrappers in addition to printed postal impressions and postage meters. The study of postage stamps is called philately. Stamp collecting is a hobby.

Types of Stamps:

• Airmail – for payment of airmail service. While "airmail" or equivalent is usually printed on the stamp, Scott has recognised US airmail stamps showing the silhouette of an aircraft. Other major catalogs do not give special status to airmail stamps.
• ATM stamps are dispensed by machine whose sheets are paper currency sized and of similar thickness.[16]
• 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 limited run of stamps to commemorate an event
• 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. [17]
• 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 for everyday postage. They often have less appealing designs than commemoratives. The same design may be used for many years. The use of the same design over an extended period may lead to unintended varieties. This may make them more interesting to philatelists than commemoratives. Definitive stamps are often the same size for 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
• 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 – allow user to add his own picture
• Postage due – a stamp showing that the full postage has not been paid, and indicating the amount 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.[citation needed]) 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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").