Library

Cinderellas

Dispensing

History of stamps

Postage due

Postage stamp

Souvenir sheets (miniature sheet)

Stamp collecting

Test stamps

Postage stamp

A postage stamp is evidence of pre-paying a fee for postal services. Usually a small paper rectangle which is attached to an envelope, signifying that the person sending the letter or package has paid for delivery, it is the most popular alternative to using a prepaid-postage envelope.

Stamps have been issued in other shapes, however: the circular stamps of New Zealand, triangular and pentagonal, and 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; Switzerland made a stamp partly out of lace, and the German Democratic Republic once issued a stamp made entirely of synthetic chemicals.