"the ""slanted numeral"" series. Subsequent stamps were in a similar format until the first pictorial stamps were issued in 1866 depicting Emperor Dom Pedro II In 1866 the emperor was represented on all issues until 1884, first with a black beard. For many years stamps from Brazil had Brasil Correio displayed on them. However today the trend is to just have the country name and year, e.g. Brasil 2000. Postage stamps and postal history of Brazil Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world. It was a colony of Portugal from 1500 until 1815. Brazil was the second country"
"of Emperor Pedro II, so his image would not be disfigured by a postmark. In 1845 some postmasters in the United States issued their own stamps, but it was not until 1847 that the first official U.S. stamps were issued: 5 and 10 cent issues depicting Benjamin Franklin and George Washington. A few other countries issued stamps in the late 1840s. The famous Mauritius ""Post Office"" stamps were issued by Mauritius in September 1847. Many others, such as India, started their use in the 1850s, and by the 1860s most countries issued stamps. Perforation of postage stamps began in January"
"63 domestic post offices in the entire empire, and service was sporadic and slow. On January 1, 1863, the Ottoman Empire issued its first adhesive postage stamps. It was the second independent country in Asia to issue adhesive stamps, preceded only by Russia in 1858, and two British colonies, Scinde District of India in 1852, India itself in 1854 and Ceylon in 1857. The Ottoman Empire's stamps came less than two years after its neighbor and former territory, Greece (independent 1832), issued its first stamps. The design consists of the tughra, the emblem of sovereignty, for the then current ruler"
"Two penny blue The Two Penny Blue or The Two Pence Blue was the world's second official postage stamp, produced in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and issued after the Penny Black. Initial printing took place from 1 May 1840, and in all 6,460,000 were printed from two plates until 29 August. Officially the stamps were valid for postage from 6 May but were only available from 8 May. It was first sold to the public at the London Inland revenue office on 6 May 1840. Except for its denomination, the design is exactly the same as"
"and arranged irregularly. The first two stamps (that began circulating on 1 July 1853) had a facial cost of 5 and 25 réis. The following day, issues of 100 réis, and on 22 July 1853, 50 réis were available. Portugal was the 45th nation to adopt the use of postage stamp. In the Azores, then known as the ""Ilhas Adjacentes"" (""Adjacent Islands""), stamps were cancelled with circular postmark between 1853 and 1869 (referred to as the First Reform) that included numerals corresponding to the localities: Between 1869 and 1878 oval postmarks began to be used (the Second Postal Reform), with"
"to be sent anywhere within Britain; the Two Penny Blue's weight limit was a full ounce. Two penny blue The Two Penny Blue or The Two Pence Blue was the world's second official postage stamp, produced in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and issued after the Penny Black. Initial printing took place from 1 May 1840, and in all 6,460,000 were printed from two plates until 29 August. Officially the stamps were valid for postage from 6 May but were only available from 8 May. It was first sold to the public at the London Inland revenue"
"the postage has been paid by the sender, as was the case for letters using these stamps. Aside from the economic advantage derived from simplifying communications, the stamps and the symbol they used were a political statement against the Ottoman Empire that still exercised suzerainty over the principality. The Ottomans themselves would not issue a stamp until 1863. Indeed, they are the first stamps from Southeast Europe, with Greece issuing its first in 1861, Serbia in 1866 and Bulgaria in 1879. Earlier attempts to introduce a national coin or seal had been denied by Turkey, but the stamp, Moldavia's first"
"the use of stamps. Other countries soon followed the UK 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 be used to send a letter less than half an ounce anywhere within the UK, the Swiss did not initially adopt that system, instead continuing to calculate mail rates based on distance to be delivered. Brazil issued the Bull’s Eye stamp on 1 August 1843. Using the same printer used for the Penny black, Brazil opted for an abstract design instead of the portrait"
"1950. Definitives included a technology and development theme in 1955, a series all showing the map of India in 1957, denominated in naye paisa (decimal currency), and a series with a broad variety of images in 1965. The old inscription of ""INDIA POSTAGE"" was replaced in 1962 with ""भारत INDIA"", though three stamps issued between December 1962/January 1963 carried the earlier inscription. India has printed stamps and postal stationery for other countries, mostly neighbours. Countries which have had stamps printed in India include Burma (before independence), Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Portugal, and Ethiopia. The Department of Posts, operating as India Post,"
"stamp forgeries, warned, ""Forged overprints pullulate; all the more reason why one should avoid involvement"". A number of philatelists have published studies of the forgeries of Turkey. Postage stamps and postal history of Turkey The postal history of Turkey and its predecessor state, the Ottoman Empire, dates to the 18th century when foreign countries maintained courier services through their consular offices in the Empire. Although delayed in the development of its own postal service, in 1863 the Ottoman Empire became the second independent country in Asia (after Russia) to issue adhesive postage stamps, and in 1875, it became a founding"
"early ones were produced by surcharging other stamps with overprints; at first in 1917, Italy used express stamps; regular stamps were used by Austria in 1918, Sweden used official stamps in 1920. Some other examples are the use of fiscal stamps, telegraph stamps, postage due stamps, and parcel stamps by other countries. Airmail stamps have been issued for extra services, such as registered airmail, express airmail, airmail fieldpost, and even with welfare surcharges. In the 1920s and 1930s, when many countries issued airmail stamps to publicise their new airmail routes, a new branch of stamp collecting started. This led to"
"of new permanent value stamps. Semi-postal stamps are usually denominated with two values, with a ""+"" between, the first indicating the actual rate, and the second the additional amount to be given to a charity. In a very few cases a country has had a dual currency, and the stamps may depict a value in both currencies. The second required element, at least for stamps intended to be used on international mail, is the name of the country. The first postage stamps, those of the United Kingdom, had no name. In 1874 the Universal Postal Union exempted Great Britain from"
"by officials of the East India Company. Stamps for official use were prepared and carefully accounted for, to combat abuses by officials. In 1854 Spain had printed special stamps for official communications, but in 1866 India was the first country to adopt the expedient of overprinting ""Service"" on postage stamps and ""Service Postage"" on revenue stamps. This innovation was later widely adopted by other countries. Shortages developed, so stamps also had to be improvised. Some ""Service Postage"" overprinted rarities resulted from abrupt changes in postal regulations. New designs for the four-anna and six-anna-eight-pie stamps were issued in 1866. Nevertheless, there"
"country, they are usually quite simple in design, mostly consisting of a large numeral, and an inscription saying ""postage due"", ""porto"", etc.; often there is no country name. As with definitive stamps, a variety of values are needed to make up specific amounts. A number of countries have discontinued postage due stamps. Britain, which first issued theirs in 1914 (and continued the same design until 1970), ended their use in 2000. The United States terminated them in 1986, although Postage meter labels were used after that date. While, technically, there is no reason for postage dues to reach private hands"
"stamp collecting began at the same time that stamps were first issued, and by 1860 thousands of collectors and stamp dealers were appearing around the world as this new study and hobby spread across Europe, European colonies, the United States and other parts of the world. The first postage stamp, the Penny Black, was issued by Britain in May 1840 and pictured a young Queen Victoria. It was produced without perforations (imperforate) and consequently had to be cut from the sheet with scissors in order to be used. While unused examples of the Penny Black are quite scarce, used examples"
"postal envelope. The first use was by Sierra Leone in 1964, and the United States tried it later on a 1974 Christmas stamp; this was judged a failure and was not reintroduced until 1989 when it gradually became widespread. In the 1990s, the U.S. Post Office began transitioning from water-based stamps into the use of self-adhesive stamps. By 1995, only 20 percent of the thirty-five billion stamps the Post Office produced every year were self-adhesive, yet by 2013 almost all U. S. stamps issued had become self-adhesive. A 1965 British study of the transmission of bacteria and viruses on gummed"
"Postage stamps and postal history of the Netherlands This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of the Netherlands. The postal region of the Netherlands is located in North-West Europe and comprises the whole territory of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Europe and until 2010 the full territory of the country the Netherlands. Four other postal regions exist in the kingdom: for Aruba, the Caribbean Netherlands (Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba), Curaçao and Sint Maarten. The first stamps of the Netherlands were issued in 1852 and depicted King William III. During the Second World War the"
"Postage stamps and postal history of the Caribbean Netherlands The three public bodies of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba started issuing postal stamps after the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles in 2010. The islands form a separate postage region under the name Caribisch Nederland (). The first stamp issued showed the maps of the three islands. Stamps of similar design were issued in the other newly formed postage regions of Sint Maarten and Curaçao. The value of the current stamp is denominated in Netherlands Antillean guilders, but is expected to be replaced by US-dollar denominated stamps in 2011 when the"
"the states of Württemberg and Baden; in 1871 Switzerland, Luxemburg, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Canada followed; 1871-74 Rumania, Russia, the Scandinavian countries, Spain, Japan, Itay, Chile and France followed where as early as 1777 """"L’Almanach de la Petite Poste"""" had reported about an early and short-lived forerunner(in translation): At first, only domestic use of the ""correspondence cards"" was possible, but with the formation of the Universal Postal Union in 1874, international delivery became soon possible. Postcards with imprinted postage stamp (better named ""postal cards"") were sold without any pictures, but soon private individuals began adding pictures of their own."
"(1869), all closing in December 1879. From 1864 on, the offices used stamps of Hong Kong. France had an office in Yokohama from 1865 to 1880, using French stamps. The United States opened post offices in Yokohama and Nagasaki in 1867, in Kobe in 1868, and in Hakodate in 1871, using US stamps, and closing in 1874. In 1870, Baron Maeshima visited London to learn the workings of the British postal system, and founded Japan's postal system in 1871. The first stamps were issued in April 1871, in a set of four covering the different postal rates; the intricate two-color"
"stamps were first introduced, special stamps were often issued; for instance the cantons of Switzerland issued stamps for use within a canton, and inscribed them ""Poste-Local"" or ""Orts-Post"". The Russian province of Wenden issued stamps for a local post from 1862 to 1901, while Nicaragua issued stamps for Zelaya only, due to its use of a different currency. In rural Russia Zemstvo Post handled local mail independently of the central government; some of these lasted until the 1917 revolution. Many countries have had private local posts at one time or another. Usually these operated with the acquiescence of the government,"
"begin with. The U.S. ""penny postcard"" rate lasted through 1951. Presumably for the purpose of getting a prompt reply, a sender was given the opportunity to pay for postage ""both"" ways with an attached message-reply card, first introduced by Germany in 1873. Other European countries quickly followed suit. Spain furnished message-reply cards to her Colonies: Cuba (1880), Philippines (1889) and Puerto Rico (1898). The U.S. issued them first in 1892. Message-reply cards were attached tête-bêche and likely to be perforated or rouletted to facilitate separation once in the hands of the recipient. The recipient could then tear them apart and"
"helpful: The first postage stamp was issued in Great Britain in 1840, and by the early 1860s or earlier the first postage stamp forgery - in the sense of a stamp created to fool philatelists into thinking that it is a genuine one - appeared on the market. By 1863 forgeries were so common that the book ""Forged Stamps: How to Detect Them"" was published and by 1864, forgeries were being produced of both common and scarce stamps from a wide range of issuing countries such as Austria, British Guiana, Finland, India and Spain. Jean de Sperati is among the"
"with Nezikin pictured here. Several countries have issued love stamps for Saint Valentine's Day, such as; Belgium, France, Sweden, Norway and Denmark. Collectors will often try to collect covers from romantically named towns. Perhaps the most well known, servicing more than 200,000 each year around Valentine's Day, is Loveland, USA. In 1985 An Post, the Irish Post Office, started issuing Love stamps for use on Saint Valentine's Day cards. The first pair of stamps issued depicted clouds and balloon (22p value) and hearts and flowers (26p value). An Post continues to issue new designs each year. Several nations issue postage"
"Andorra cannot Join PostEurop as its Postal System is looked after independently by both France and Spain. The Isle of Man and Guernsey, Crown dependencies of the United Kingdom, first issued Europa stamps in 1976, with Jersey following in 1978. The number of participants reached 35 in the 80s. Turkey participated continuously since 1960, and communist Yugoslavia from 1969. The collapse of the communist bloc in 1989–90 brought new issuers, reaching 57 countries in the late 90s. When CEPT decided to focus more on telecommunications in 1993, PostEurop took over the management of the Europa issues. The CEPT logo was"
"special postal privileges which had been enjoyed by officials of the East India Company. Stamps for official use were prepared and carefully accounted for to combat the abuse of privileges by officials. In 1854 Spain had printed special stamps for official communications, but in 1866 India was the first country to adopt the simple expedient of overprinting 'Service' on postage stamps and 'Service Postage' on revenue stamps. This innovation became widely adopted by other countries in later years. Shortages developed, so these stamps also had to be improvised. Some of the ""Service Postage"" overprinted rarities of this year resulted from"
"Postage stamps and postal history of the Dutch East Indies This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of the Netherlands East Indies, otherwise known as the Dutch East Indies, and which today is known as Indonesia. The first postage stamp in the Dutch East Indies was printed in Utrecht, the Netherlands, on 1 April 1864. The stamp showed a picture of King Willem III of the Netherlands and had a face value of ten cents. It was designed by T W Kaiser. Until 1920, stamp designs only showed pictures of the King and Queen and were"
"Postage stamps and postal history of Indonesia This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Indonesia. Indonesia is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, consisting of 17,508 islands. With a population of around 230 million people, it is the world's fourth most populated country. The Indonesia Post Administration was formally established on 27 September 1945, but the history of Indonesian stamps began on 1 April 1864 with the release of the first Dutch East Indies stamp. The history of Indonesian stamps can be divided into five broad periods: The first postage stamp in the Dutch"
"were issued in the United Kingdom, but many countries began soon after. In Spain, the first stamps was implemented on 1 January 1850, with face values ranging from 6 quarters for simple letters to 10 real for heavier certificates and international items. All stamps featured an image of the monarch. The last step for the final reorganization of mail came in 1889 with the creation of the Body of Postal Workers, organized as a pyramid structure. Coinciding with the reforms of the mid-nineteenth century liberal governments launched the telegraph service. Following the French example, Spain had developed a line drawing"
"distinctive stamps for use overseas beginning in the late 19th century, and the number and variety of issues reached its heyday at the beginning of the 20th century. All German Post Offices Abroad were closed down during or shortly after World War I. It was not unusual for countries to maintain such offices and Austria-Hungary, China, France, Greece, Italy, Japan, Poland, Romania, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States all did so. In the latter part of the 19th century and into the 20th century, having extraterritorial post offices was one indication of a nation's international power. Stamps from"
"Postage stamps and postal history of Mauritius Mauritius, a small island in the southwest Indian Ocean, is of towering importance in the world of philately for a number of reasons. Its first two postage stamps issued in 1847, called the ""Post Office"" stamps, are of legendary rarity and value. They were the first stamps issued in any part of the British Empire outside of Great Britain. The unique cover bearing both “Post Office” stamps has been called ""la pièce de résistance de toute la philatélie"" or ""the greatest item in all philately"". The cover was sold at auction, in Zurich,"
"Postage stamps and postal history of Mauritius Mauritius, a small island in the southwest Indian Ocean, is of towering importance in the world of philately for a number of reasons. Its first two postage stamps issued in 1847, called the ""Post Office"" stamps, are of legendary rarity and value. They were the first stamps issued in any part of the British Empire outside of Great Britain. The unique cover bearing both “Post Office” stamps has been called ""la pièce de résistance de toute la philatélie"" or ""the greatest item in all philately"". The cover was sold at auction, in Zurich,"
"Great Britain commemorative stamps 1970–79 Commemorative stamps, postage stamps issued to honor or commemorate a place, event or person, have been released by Great Britain since 1970. Several sets were released during the decade of the 1970s. Postage Stamps were first used in Great Britain on 6 May 1840, with the introduction of the world's first Adhesive Postage Stamp known as the Penny Black. Until 1924, all British stamps depicted only the portrait of the reigning Monarch, with the exception of the 'High Value' stamps (also known as the ""Sea Horses"" design) issued in 1913, which were twice the size"