Mint stamp

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This mint stamp of the Russo-Ukrainian War symbolizes Ukraine's will and defiance in the face of Russian aggression. Stamp of Ukraine s1985.jpg
This mint stamp of the Russo-Ukrainian War symbolizes Ukraine's will and defiance in the face of Russian aggression.
A mint high value 100 Rupee key type stamp of Ceylon valid for postage or revenue use and vulnerable to tampering to remove a fiscal cancel to make it appear to be a more valuable unused stamp. Ceylon 100R stamp.jpg
A mint high value 100 Rupee key type stamp of Ceylon valid for postage or revenue use and vulnerable to tampering to remove a fiscal cancel to make it appear to be a more valuable unused stamp.

In philately, a mint stamp is one which is unused, has never been mounted and has the original gum, (if issued with gum). [1] [2] The term applies equally to postage stamps and revenue stamps.

Contents

In practice[ inconsistent ], the term is used within philately to refer to any stamp that appears to be unused with gum. It also includes those without gum but only when they have been issued without gum.

To avoid confusion the various states of mint can be distiguised in the abbreviations stated under "Variations".

Variations

Variations of the term mint include:[ inconsistent ]

The hinging referred to in these terms is mounting of the stamp in a stamp album by the application of a stamp hinge to the back of the stamp. The highest grade is unmounted mint or mint never hinged. The term mint never hinged has developed to provide reassurance to buyers that the stamp has not been tampered with to remove traces of mounting, as the term unmounted mint was thought to be ambiguous.

In practice only the terms MNH and MH are used, but in some cases the term MNG when there are no, or hardly any stamps are known with gum.

Value

Mint stamps are often more valuable than used stamps as in many cases fewer mint stamps survive. A mint stamp may also be in better condition than a used stamp which has passed through the mail. Sometimes, however, used stamps may be more valuable than mint ones where higher numbers of mint stamps have survived, perhaps because large numbers of mint stamps were bought by collectors but few used on letters. [3]

Tampering

Differences between mint and used values for the same stamp have led to a small industry in removing, or adding, postal cancellations to stamps. Another common practice is to attempt to remove fiscal cancellations, which are often pen cancels, in order to change a stamp used fiscally (for tax purposes) to one apparently unused. Stamps available for both postage and revenue (fiscal) purposes are usually worth more unused or with a postal cancellation. Madame Joseph specialised in the addition of forged cancels to stamps that were worth more used than unused.

See also

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Philately is the study of postage stamps and postal history. It also refers to the collection and appreciation of stamps and other philatelic products. While closely associated with stamp collecting and the study of postage, it is possible to be a philatelist without owning any stamps. For instance, the stamps being studied may be very rare or reside only in museums.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cancellation (mail)</span> Postal marking to deface a stamp and prevent its re-use

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Postage stamp reuse is the technique of fraudulently reusing postage stamps from sent mail to avoid paying the cost of postage.

This is a list of philatelic topics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pen cancel</span> Cancellation of a stamp by writing on it

In philately, a pen cancel – symbol – is a cancellation of a postage or revenue stamp by the use of a pen, marker or crayon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cancelled-to-order</span> Postage stamp cancelled by the postal administration before sale to a stamp collector

A cancelled to order postage stamp, philatelic symbol , is a stamp the issuing postal service has cancelled, but has not traveled through the post, but instead gets handed back to a stamp collector or dealer. They can come from withdrawn stocks of stamps cancelled in sheets and sold as remainders or from new sheets for sale at reduced rates to the stamp trade. Postal services of various countries do this in response to collector demand, or to preclude stamps issued for the collector market being used on mail. Some of the history of CTOs is from stamps being given to collectors on an approval basis, in person or through mailings; the first CTOs began in the late 19th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stamp album</span>

Stamp albums are books used to house a collection of postage stamps.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stamp hinge</span>

In philately, stamp hinges, or mounts, are small, folded, transparent, rectangular pieces of paper coated with a mild gum. They are used by stamp collectors to affix postage stamps onto the pages of a stamp album.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Revenue stamp</span> Adhesive label used to collect taxes on products

A revenue stamp, tax stamp, duty stamp or fiscal stamp is a (usually) adhesive label used to designate collected taxes or fees on documents, tobacco, alcoholic drinks, drugs and medicines, playing cards, hunting licenses, firearm registration, and many other things. Typically, businesses purchase the stamps from the government, and attach them to taxed items as part of putting the items on sale, or in the case of documents, as part of filling out the form.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philatelic fakes and forgeries</span> Fraudulently manufactured imitation postage stamps

In general, philatelic fakes and forgeries are labels that look like postage stamps but have been produced to deceive or defraud. Learning to identify these can be a challenging branch of philately.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baden 9 Kreuzer error</span> German postage stamp type with a rare color misprint

The Baden 9 Kreuzer Error is a postage stamp error produced by the historical German state of Baden in 1851.

In philately, a regummed stamp is any stamp without gum, or without full gum, that has had new gum applied to the back to increase its value.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fiscal cancel</span> Stamp cancellation indicating usage for tax purposes

In philately a fiscal cancel – symbol – is a cancellation on a stamp that indicates that the stamp has been used for fiscal (taxation) purposes.

The value of a postage stamp in the stamp collecting market depends on various features of its condition. Among the features assessed are centering, margins, and gum.

The Davies Collection is a collection of Libyan revenue stamps from 1955 to 1969, formed from material from the Bradbury Wilkinson Archive, and presented to the British Library Philatelic Collections by John Neville Davies in 1992.

References

  1. Mackay, James. Stamp Collecting: Philatelic Terms Illustrated. 4th edition. London: Stanley Gibbons, 2003, p.88. ISBN   0-85259-557-3
  2. Youngblood, Wayne L. All about Stamps. Iola WI: Krause Publications, 2000, p.109. ISBN   0-87341-963-4
  3. Robert Murray, "Are Used or Unused Stamps Worth More?".