Postal system

A British pillar box.

Internal distribution of Mail (Thai Post).

Mail is part of the postal system which itself is a system wherein written documents typically enclosed in envelopes, and also small packages containing other matter, are delivered to destinations around the world. Anything sent through the postal system is called mail or post.

In principle, a postal service can be private or public. Governments often place restrictions on private postal delivery systems. Since the mid 19th century, national postal systems have generally been established as government monopolies with a fee on the article prepaid, often in the form of adhesive stamps. In general, government monopolies only extend parcel (non-mail) delivery to courier services, which provide express delivery.

Postal systems often have functions other than sending letters. In some countries, the postal system also has some authority over telephone and telegraph systems. In others, postal systems allow for savings accounts and handling applications for passports.

Early postal systems

Japanese Post

Communication by written documents carried by an intermediary from one person or place to another almost certainly dates back nearly to the invention of writing. However, development of formal postal systems occurred much later. The first documented use of an organized courier service for the diffusion of written documents is in Egypt, where Pharaohs used couriers for the diffusion of their decrees in the territory of the State (2400 B.C.E.). This practice almost certainly has roots in the much older practice of oral messaging and may have been built on a pre-existing infrastructure.

Persia (Iran)

The first credible claim for the development of a real postal system comes from Persia (present day Iran) but the point of invention remains in question. The best documented claim (Xenophon) attributes the invention to the Persian King Cyrus the Great (550 B.C.E.), while other writers credit his successor Darius I of Persia (521 B.C.E.). Other sources claim much earlier dates for an Assyrian postal system, with credit given to Hammurabi (1700 B.C.E.) and Sargon II (722 B.C.E.). Mail may not have been the primary mission of this postal service, however. The role of the system as an intelligence gathering apparatus is well documented, and the service was (later) called angariae, a term that in time turned to indicate a tax system. The Hebrew Bible (Esther, VIII) makes mention of this system: Ahasuerus, king of Medes, used couriers for communicating his decisions.

The Persian system worked on stations, where the message carrier would ride to the next post, whereupon he would swap his horse with a fresh one, for maximum performance and delivery speed. Herodotus described the system in this way: "It is said that as many days as there are in the whole journey, so many are the men and horses that stand along the road, each horse and man at the interval of a day’s journey; and these are stayed neither by snow nor rain nor heat nor darkness from accomplishing their appointed course with all speed".

China

File:Chinesemailwoman.jpg

Mail carrier and bike in PRC.

The next credible claimant to the title of first postal system is China. Claims concerning the origins of this mail system also conflict somewhat, but it is clear that an organized postal infrastructure was put in place during the Qin Dynasty (221 B.C.E.–207 B.C.E.) and that was substantially expanded during the subsequent Han Dynasty. The origins of a Chinese mail system may go back to the Zhou Dynasty (1122 B.C.E.–256 B.C.E.), when Confucius (551 B.C.E.–479 B.C.E.) wrote, "news of deeds travels faster than the mail."^{[citation needed]} It may have also built on a pre-existing messaging infrastructure started by the Shang Dynasty. Whatever its origin, the Chinese Postal Service has clear title to the world's oldest continuously operating mail system. Today's Chinese mail system is continuous with one that was probably formalized under the Qin Dynasty.^{[citation needed]}

Rome

The first well documented postal service is that of Rome. Organized at the time of Augustus Caesar (62 B.C.E.–AD 14), it may also be the first true mail service. The service was called cursus publicus and was provided with light carriages called rhedæ with fast horses. Additionally, there was another slower service equipped with two-wheeled carts (birolæ) pulled by oxen. This service was reserved to government correspondence. Another service for citizens was later added.

By the name of the stations in which mail was distributed and messengers' routes crossed, derives the Latin name of mail, posta (originally posata or pausata, "place of rest") because in these stations messengers used to rest during their voyages.^{[citation needed]} The English term "mail" comes from a name in older Romance languages for the bag used by messengers.

Other systems

Another important postal service was created in the Islamic world by the caliph Mu'awiyya; the service was called barid, by the name of the towers built to protect the roads by which couriers travelled.

Well before the Middle Ages and during them, homing pigeons were used for pigeon post, taking advantage of a singular quality of this bird, which when taken far from its nest is able to find his way home due to a particularly developed sense of orientation. Messages were then tied around the legs of the pigeon, which was freed and could reach his original nest.

Mail has been transported by quite a few other methods throughout history, including dogsled, balloon, rocket, mule, pneumatic tubes and even submarine.

Charlemagne extended to the whole territory of his empire the system used by Franks in northern Gaul, and connected this service with the service of missi dominici.

Many religious orders had a private mail service, notably Cistercians' one connected more than 6,000 abbeys, monasteries and churches. The best organisation however was created by Teutonic Knights. The newly instituted universities too had their private services, starting from Bologna (1158).

Popular illiteracy was accommodated through the service of scribes. Illiterates who needed to communicate dictated their messages to a scribe, another profession now quite generally disappeared.

In 1505, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I established a postal system in the Empire, appointing Franz von Thurn und Taxis to run it. The Thurn and Taxis family, then known as Tassis, had operated postal services between Italian city states from 1290 onwards. Following the abolition of the Empire in 1806 the Thurn and Taxis postal system continued as a private organisation, continuing to exist into the postage stamp era before finally being absorbed into the postal system of the new German Empire after 1871.

It was around this time nationalization and centralization of most postal systems took place. Today, the study of mail systems is known as postal history.

Etymology

The word mail comes from the Medieval English word male (spelt that way until the 17th century), which was the term used to describe a traveling bag or pack. The French have a similar word, malle for a trunk or large box. In the 1600s the word mail began to appear as a reference for a bag that contained letters: "bag full of letter" (1654). Over the next hundred years the word mail began to be applied strictly to the letters themselves, and the sack as the mailbag. In the 19th century the British usually referred to mail as being letters that were being sent abroad (i.e. on a ship), and post as letters that were for localized delivery. The term e-mail (short for "electronic mail") first appeared in 1982. The term snail-mail is a retronym that originated in 1983 to distinguish it from the quicker e-mail.

Modern mail

Modern mail is organized by national and privatized services, which are reciprocally interconnected by international regulations, organizations and international agreements. Paper letters and parcels can be sent to almost any country in the world relatively easily and cheaply. The Internet has made the process of sending letter-like messages nearly instantaneous, and in many cases and situations correspondents use electronic mail where previously they would have used letters (though the volume of paper mail continues to increase.

Organization

In the United States, private companies such as FedEx and UPS compete with the federal government's United States Postal Service, particularly in package delivery. Different mailboxes are also provided for local and express service. (The USPS has a monopoly on First Class and Standard Mail delivery.)

Some countries have organized their mail services as public limited liability corporations without a legal monopoly. Nevertheless, mail is economically a natural monopoly, so only few competitors surface, and even they offer a more specialized service.

The world-wide postal system comprising the individual national postal systems of the world's self-governing states is co-ordinated by the Universal Postal Union, which among other things sets international postage rates, defines standards for postage stamps and operates the system of International Reply Coupons.

In most countries a system of codes has been created (they are called ZIP Codes in the United States, postcodes in the United Kingdom and Australia, and postal codes in most other countries), in order to facilitate the automation of operations. This also includes placing additional marks on the address portion of the letter or mailed object, called "bar coding." Bar coding of mail for delivery is usually expressed either by a series of vertical bars, usually called POSTNET coding, or a block of dots as a two-dimensional barcode. The "block of dots" method allows for the encoding of proof of payment of postage, exact routing for delivery, and other features.

A post box in India.

The ordinary mail service was improved in the 20th century with the use of planes for a quicker delivery (air mail). The first scheduled airmail service took place between the London suburbs of Hendon and Windsor on 9 September 1911. Some methods of airmail proved ineffective, however, including the United States Postal Service's experiment with rocket mail.

Receipts services were made available in order to grant the sender a confirmation of effective delivery.

Mail going to naval vessels is known as the Fleet Post Office.

Payment

Worldwide the most common method of prepaying postage is by buying an adhesive postage stamp to be applied to the envelope before mailing; a much less common method is to use a postage-prepaid envelope. Franking is a method of creating postage-prepaid envelopes under licence using a special machine. They are used by companies with large mail programs such as banks and direct mail companies.

In 1998, the U.S. Postal Service authorised the first tests of a secure system of sending digital franks via the Internet to be printed out on a PC printer, obviating the necessity to license a dedicated franking machine and allowing companies with smaller mail programs to make use of the option; this was later expanded to test the use of personalised postage. The service provided by the U.S. Postal Service in 2003 allows the franks to be printed out on special adhesive-backed labels. In 2004 the Royal Mail in the United Kingdom introduced its SmartStamp Internet-based system, allowing printing on ordinary adhesive labels or envelopes. Similar systems are being considered by postal administrations around the world.

Postal truck in Brazil

When the pre-paid envelope or package is accepted into the mail by an agent of the postal service, the agent usually indicates by means of a cancellation that it is no longer valid for pre-payment of postage. The exceptions are when the agent forgets or neglects to cancel the mailpiece, for stamps that are pre-cancelled and thus do not require cancellation and for, in most cases, metered mail. (The "personalised stamps" authorised by the USPS and manufactured by Zazzle and other companies are in fact a form of meter label and thus do not need to be cancelled.)

Rules and etiquette

Documents cannot be read by anyone other than the receiver. However, exceptions do exist, such as postcards, which can be read by the postman for the purpose of identifying the sender and receiver. For mail contained within an envelope, there are legal provisions in some jurisdictions allowing the recording identities. (The privacy of correspondence is guaranteed by the Mexican Constitution, and is alluded to in the European Convention of Human Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. According on the laws in the relevant jurisdiction, correspondence may be openly or covertly opened or the contents determined via some other method, by the police or other authorities in some cases relating to their relevance to an alleged or suspected criminal conspiracy, although black chambers (largely in the past, though there is apparently some continuance of their use today) opened and open letters extralegally).

Control of private citizens' mail is called censorship and concerns social, political, and legal aspects of civil rights. Even though often illegal, there have been cases over the centuries of governments illegally opening and copying or photographing the contents of private mail. While in most cases this censorship is exceptional, in the military, censorship of mail is routine and almost universally applied, particularly with respect to soldiers near a battlefront.

The use of mail is subject to common rules and a particular etiquette.^{[citation needed]} Modern alternatives such as the telegraph, telephone, and e-mail have reduced the attractiveness of paper mail for many applications. Sometimes the above modern alternatives can be easier to use because, unlike paper mail, there is no concern about an unfamiliar person (perhaps of questionable intentions, or causing a disruption or intrusion into one's privacy) showing up at one's house due to one's address becoming more widely known as it may be the return address on the outside of an envelope. Modern alternatives can be better than paper mail because vandalism can occur with mailboxes (although it can also be argued that paper mail does not allow for computer viruses). Also, dangerous hazards exist for mail carriers, though some are the resident's fault (such as dog bites) and some are not (wild turkeys living in the neighborhood). Due to hazards or inconveniences postal carriers may refuse, officially or otherwise, to deliver mail to a particular address (for instance, if snow buildup obstructs the clear path to the door or mailbox). Postal mail is, however, still widely in use for business (due to the particular legal standing of signatures in some situations and in many jurisdictions, etiquette, or transmission of things that cannot be done by computer, as a particular texture, or, obviously, items in packages) and for some personal communication. For example, wedding invitations in Western countries are customarily sent by mail.

Rise of electronic correspondence

Since the advent of e-mail, which is almost always faster (barring some extreme technical glitch, computer virus or the like), the postal system has come to be referred to in Internet slang by the retronym "snail mail." Occasionally, the term "white mail" or "the PaperNet" has also been used as a neutral term for postal mail.

In modern times, mainly in the 20th century, mail has found an evolution in vehicles using newer technologies to deliver the documents, especially through the telephone network; these new vehicles include telegram, telex, facsimile (fax), e-mail, and short message service (SMS). There have been methods which have combined mail and some of these newer methods, such as INTELPOST, which combined facsimile transmission with overnight delivery. These vehicles commonly use a mechanical or electro-mechanical standardised writing (typing), that on the one hand makes for more efficient communication, while on the other hand makes impossible characteristics and practices that traditionally were in conventional mail, such as calligraphy.

This epoch is undoubtedly mainly dominated by mechanical writing, with a general use of no more of half a dozen standard typographic fonts from standard keyboards. However, the increased use of typewritten or computer-printed letters for personal communication and the advent of e-mail, has sparked renewed interest in calligraphy, as a letter has become more of a "special event." Long before e-mail and computer-printed letters, however, decorated envelopes, rubber stamps and artistamps formed part of the medium of mail art.

In the 2000s with the advent of eBay and other online auction sites and online stores, postal services in industrialized nations have seen a major shift to item shipping. This has been seen as a relief to the system due to the lowered level of paper mail due to the accessibility of e-mail.

Collecting

Postage stamps are also object of a particular form of collecting, and in some cases, when demand greatly exceeds supply, their commercial value on this specific market may become enormously greater than face value, even after use. For some postal services the sale of stamps to collectors who will never use them is a significant source of revenue for example postage stamps from Tokelau, South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands, Tristan da Cunha, Niuafo´ou and many others. Stamp collecting is commonly known as philately, although strictly the latter term refers to the study of stamps.

Another form of collecting regards postcards, a document written on a single robust sheet of paper, usually decorated with photographic pictures or artistic drawings on one of the sides, and short messages on a small part of the other side, that also contained the space for the address. In strict philatelic usage, the postcard is to be distinguished from the postal card, which has a pre-printed postage on the card. The fact that this communication is visible by other than the receiver often causes the messages to be written in jargon.

Letters are often studied as an example of literature, and also in biography in the case of a famous person. A portion of the New Testament of the Bible is composed of the Apostle Paul's epistles to Christian congregations in various parts of the Roman Empire. See below for a list of famous letters.

A style of writing, called epistolary, tells a fictional story in the form of the correspondence between two or more characters.

A make-shift mail method after stranding on a deserted island is a message in a bottle.

Deregulation

Several countries, including Sweden (1 January 1993), New Zealand (1998 and 2003) and Argentina have opened up the postal services market to new entrants. In the case of New Zealand Post Limited, this included (from 2003) its right to be the sole New Zealand postal administration member of the Universal Postal Union, thus the ending of its monopoly on stamps bearing the name New Zealand.

Types of mail

Woman putting letter in a mailbox, United States, 1909

Letters

Letter-sized mail comprises the bulk of the contents sent through most postal services. These are usually documents printed on A4 (210×297 mm), Letter-sized (8.5×11 inches), or smaller paper and placed in envelopes.

While many things are sent through the mail, interpersonal letters are often thought of first in reference to postal systems. Handwritten correspondence, while once a major means of communications between distant people, is now used less frequently due to the advent of more immediate means of communication, such as the telephone or e-mail. Traditional letters, however, are often considered to harken back to a "simpler time" and are still used when someone wishes to be deliberate and thoughtful about his or her communication.

Bills and invoices are often sent through the mail, like regular billing correspondence from utility companies and other service providers. These letters often contain a self-addressed, envelope that allows the receiver to remit payment back to the company easily. While still very common, many people now opt to use online bill payment services, which eliminate the need to receive bills through the mail.

Bulk mail is mail that is prepared for bulk mailing, often by presorting, and processing at reduced rates. It is often used in direct marketing and other commercial solicitations sent by advertisers, although it has other uses as well. The senders of these messages sometimes purchase lists of addresses (which are sometimes targeted towards certain demographics) and then send letters advertising their product or service to all recipients. Other times, commercial solicitations are sent by local companies advertising local products, like a restaurant delivery service advertising to their delivery area or a retail store sending their weekly advertising circular to a general area. Bulk mail is also often sent to companies' existing subscriber bases, advertising new products or services.

There are a number of other things almost without any exception sent exclusively as letters through postal services, like wedding invitations and bank statements.

Repositionable Notes

The United States Postal Service has recently permitted "repositionable notes" (for example, 3M's Post-it notes) to be attached to the outside of envelopes.[2]

Postal cards and postcards

Postal cards and postcards are small message cards which are sent by mail unenveloped; the distinction often, though not invariably and reliably, drawn between them is that "postal cards" are issued by the postal authority or entity with the "postal indica" (or "stamp") preprinted on them, while postcards are privately issued and require affixing an adhesive stamp (though there have been some cases of a postal authority's issuing non-stamped postcards). Postcards are often printed today to promote tourism, with pictures of resorts, tourist attractions or humorous messages on the front and allowing for a short message from the sender to be written on the back. The postage required for postcards is generally less than postage required for standard letters.

Postcards are also used by magazines for new subscriptions. Inside many magazines are postage-paid subscription cards that a reader can fill out and mail back to the publishing company to be billed for a subscription to the magazine. In this fashion, magazines also use postcards for other purposes, including reader surveys, contests or information requests.

Postcards are sometimes sent by charities to their members with a message to be signed and sent to a politician (e.g. to promote fair trade or third world debt cancellation).

This antique "letter-box" style U.S. mailbox is both on display and in use at the Smithsonian Institution Building.

Other

Larger envelopes are also sent through the mail. These are often made of sturdier material than standard envelopes and are often used by businesses to transport documents that are not to be folded or damaged, such as legal documents and contracts. Due to their size, larger envelopes are sometimes charged additional postage.

Packages are often sent through some postal services, usually requiring additional postage than an average letter or postcard. Many postal services have limits on what can and cannot be sent inside packages, usually placing limits or bans on perishable, hazardous or flammable materials. Additionally, because of terrorism concerns, the U.S. Postal Service subjects their packages to various security tests, often scanning or x-raying packages for materials that might be found in mail bombs.

Magazine subscriptions are also sent through postal services. Many magazines are simply placed in the mail normally (but in the U.S., they are printed with a special bar code that acts as pre-paid postage - see POSTNET) but many are now shipped in shrinkwrap to protect the loose contents of the magazine.

Famous letters

• Rainer Maria Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet
• Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham Jail
• The Pauline epistles
• Samantha Smith's letter to Yuri Andropov
• Virginia O'Hanlon's letter to the New York Sun, replied to in a famous editorial
• The Zinoviev Letter, which affected the outcome of the United Kingdom general election, 1924
• The Canuck Letter, which affected the outcome of the 1972 U.S. Democratic primary elections

List of national postal services

European Union Countries

A German old-style-replica Postbriefkasten in use in Dresden

Oxford main post office, England

Country	Company
Austria
Belgium	De post
Bulgaria	Bulgarian Posts
Czech Republic	Česká pošta
Denmark	Post Danmark
Finland	Suomen Posti
Germany	Deutsche Post
Hungary	Magyar Posta
Ireland	An Post
Italy	Poste Italiane
Netherlands	TNT N.V.
Poland	Poczta Polska
Romania	Poşta Română
Spain	Correos
Sweden	Posten (Sweden)
United Kingdom	Royal Mail

Other Countries

• Australia Post (Australia)
• Canada Post (Canada)
• China Post, 中国邮政 (People's Republic of China)
• Correos de Costa Rica SA (Costa Rica)
• Correios (Brazil)
• Hongkong Post (Hong Kong)
• Indian Postal Service (India)
• Indonesian Post - Pos Indonesia (Indonesia)
• I.R.I Post (Iran)
• Íslandspóstur (Iceland)
• Israel Post, דואר ישראל (Israel) (Formerly Israeli Postal Authority, רשות הדואר)
• Japan Post (Japan)
• Jersey Post, (Jersey)
• New Zealand Post (New Zealand)
• PhilPost-Philippine Postal Corporation (Philippines)
• Posten (Norway) (Norway)
• Pošta Srbije (Serbia)
• Postverk Føroya (Faroe Islands)
• PTT (Turkey)
• Russian Post (Russian: Почта России) (Russian Federation)
• Servicio Postal Mexicano (Mexico)
• Serpost (Servicios Postales del Perú) (Perú)
• Swiss Post (Switzerland)
• Taiwan Post, 臺灣郵政, formerly Chunghwa Post (Republic of China)
• United States Postal Service (USA)

Postage Stamps

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. Postage stamps are the most popular way of paying for retail mail; alternatives include prepaid-postage envelopes and Postage meters.

The Penny Black, the world's first postage stamp

Postage stamps were first introduced in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in May 1840 as part of the postal reforms promoted by Rowland Hill. With its introduction the postage fee was now to be paid by the sender and not the recipient as heretofore, though sending mail prepaid was not a requirement. The first postage stamp, the Penny Black, first issued on the 1st of May for use from May 6, and two days later, the Two pence blue, with an engraving of the young Queen Victoria, were an immediate success though refinements, like perforations were instituted with later issues.

Other countries followed suit by introducing their own postage stamps; the Canton of Zürich in Switzerland issued the Zurich 4 and 6 rappen; although the Penny Black could be used to send any letter weighing less than 15 grammes within the United Kingdom, the Swiss postage still calculated mail rates based on the distance travelled. Brazil issued the Bull's Eyes stamps in the 1843, using the same printer as that used for the Penny Black The Brazilian government opted for an abstract design instead of an image of emperor Pedro II in order that his image would be not disfigured by the postmark. In 1845 some postmasters in the USA issued their own stamps, but the first officially issued stamps came in 1847, with the 5 and 10 cent stamps depicting Benjamin Franklin and George Washington. A few other countries issued stamps in the late 1840s, but many more, such as India, started in the 1850s and by the 1860s most countries of the world had issued postage stamps.

Following the introduction of the postage stamp in the United Kingdom the number of letters mailed increased from 82 million in 1839 to 170 million in 1841. Today an average of 21 billion items are delivered by post every year in the UK alone.

Postage stamp design

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.

Types of stamps

1897 Newfoundland postage stamp, the first in the world to feature mining

File:Subhadra.jpg

An Indian stamp in the memory of great Indian poetess Subhadra Kumari Chauhan.

• 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) whose sheets are paper currency sized and of similar thickness.
• carrier's stamp
• certified mail stamp
• coil stamps - tear-off stamps issued individually in a vending machine, or purchased in a roll that often comprise 100 stamps
• commemorative stamp - a limited run of stamp designed to commemorate a particular event
• computer vended postage - advanced secure postage that uses Information-Based Indicia (IBI) technology. IBI uses a 2-dimensional bar code (either Datamatrix or PDF417) to encode the Originating Address, Date of Mailing, Postage Amount, and a Digital signature to verify the stamp's authenticity.[3]
• 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
• 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 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 can be 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 that have additionally been perforated across the middle with letters or a distinctive pattern or monogram known as perfins. 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.

Dispensing

Since their inception there have been numerous innovative developments in how stamps are dispensed and sold. Usually, they can be purchased over the counter or from vending machines at post-offices or selected retail outlets, as "books" or loose stamps. They are traditionally made as a perforated sheet which is gummed on the reverse, so that the purchaser may tear off each stamp, moisten it (frequently by licking), and apply it to the envelope, but self-adhesive stamps are now commonplace.

IBI "stamps"

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 more difficult and easier to detect, offering 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 where IBI was 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 ($0.01 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 custom 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 co-signing 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.

Similarly, Royal Mail in the United Kingdom has recently launched a "Print-your-own-postage" service allowing the general public to purchase IBI-style codes online, and print them onto address stickers or directly onto envelopes, in lieu of using First Class postage stamps. This was much remarked-upon in the press as the first time a consumer "stamp" has not featured an image of the reigning monarch. It joins the existing "SmartStamp" subscription service, which performed the same function but which was aimed at business customers.

First day covers

On the first day of issue a set of stamps can be purchased attached to an envelope that has been postmarked with a special commemorative postmark. Known as a "First Day Cover," it can also be assembled from the component parts by stamp collectors, who are the most frequent users. These envelopes usually bear a commemorative cachet of the subject for which the stamp was created.

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. Some countries, and some issues, are produced as individual stamps as well as in the sheet format.

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
• Cottonreels
• 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 error

External links

• Potts, Albert, "US19,578 19578 (PDF) (First U.S. street mailbox patent)." US patent office. 1858
• GRC Database Information: links to worldwide postal services websites

• The British Postal Museum & Archive

• Royal Engineers Museum British Army Postal Services History

• StampNews.com - Provides updates on new stamp issues and stamp collecting from around the world
• open webmail project the opensource webmail project

• Global Postal Penfriends - Provides a platform for people to utilise the postal systems around the world for penpalling the old fashioned way.
• Letterwise.com - Converts electronic messages to postal mail, enabling those with Internet access to reach those who do not

• 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.)
• Stamp Collecting News — Provides updates on new stamp issues from around the world
• Philatelic Dictionary
• U.S. Postal rates through the years
• History of postage stamps and collecting of stamps
• American Philatelic Society
• British North American Philatelic Society

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