Illegal stamps are

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the fa ...

–like

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed dir ...

s issued in the names of existing independent countries or territories used to

defraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...

postal administration This is a list of postal entities by country. It includes: *The governmental authority responsible for postal matters. *The regulatory authority for the postal sector. Postal regulation may include the establishment of postal policies, postal rate ...

s, stamp collectors, and the general public. Often, but not always, a member nation of the

Universal Postal Union The Universal Postal Union (UPU, french: link=no, Union postale universelle), established by the Treaty of Bern of 1874, is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) that coordinates postal policies among member nations, in addition to t ...

(UPU) will have asked the UPU to issue an "International Bureau Circular" advising others of the illegal stamps. According to the UPU, the market is estimated to be at least $500 million per year. Illegal stamps are to be distinguished from the many varieties of

cinderella stamp In philately, a cinderella stamp is "virtually anything resembling a postage stamp, but not issued for postal purposes by a government postal administration". There is a wide variety of cinderella stamps, such as those printed for promotional ...

s which may have some of the same characteristics as illegal stamps but which are not usually issued in the name of an existing country, and from

postal forgeries 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. To a large extent the definitions below are ...

, the illegal counterfeiting of actual stamps.

Identifying illegal stamps

There is no definitive method to identifying illegal stamp issues. * Many illegal stamps are issued in the names of countries or territories from Africa or the former Soviet Union, or smaller island nations from around the world. Older illegal issues (from the 1970s) were often in the names of Arab states. * Most illegal stamps are not listed in the major

stamp catalogue A stamp catalog (or stamp catalogue) is a catalog of postage stamp types with descriptions and prices. The stamp catalog is an essential tool of philately and stamp collecting. Stamp catalogs are part of philatelic literature. Similar catalogs ...

s, though some may have been included in error or because their status is unclear or because the criteria for entry differ from those used by the UPU to recognise valid stamp issues. * The

WADP Numbering System The WADP Numbering System (WNS) is a project referencing postal stamps issued in the world since 1 January 2002. It is monitored by the World Association for the Development of Philately (WADP) and the Universal Postal Union. Its inventory is made p ...

(WNS), developed by the World Association for the Development of Philately and the UPU, catalogues stamps issued by UPU member nations since 2002. Not all UPU members participate.

Consequences of illegal postage issues

Illegal stamps are said to result in adverse consequences for several different parties. Stamp collectors may lose money by mistakenly buying illegal stamps that have little or no monetary value. In addition, inexperienced or non-philatelists have been tricked into buying illegal stamps that are worthless memorabilia for their favorite hobby or interests. Additionally, legitimate

stamp dealer A stamp dealer is a company or an individual who deals in stamps and philatelic products. It also includes individuals who sell postage stamps for day to day use or revenue stamps for use on court documents. Stamp dealers who sell to stamp collect ...

s may see their market, and the reputation of their industry, eroded by the illegal issues market.

References

External links

AskPhil.org
List of UPU illegal stamp alerts

List of issues believed by collectors to be Illegal

listed as bogus, unauthorized, not valid for postal use
UPU illegal stamp circulars link page
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512023705/http://www.upu.int/philately/en/index.shtml , date=2008-05-12
UPU 1996-2003 circulars in pdf
*http://www.pwmo.org/Illegals/18-UPU-Interview-EN.htm An interview with the Program Manager "Philately and IRC" at the International Bureau of the UPU Universal Postal Union Philatelic terminology

Identifying illegal stamps

Consequences of illegal postage issues

See also

References

Further reading

External links