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A postal fiscal is a
Postal fiscals were authorised from 1 June 1881.Patrick, Douglas & Mary. ''The Hodder Stamp Dictionary''. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1973, p. 189. These stamps were also postally valid in British colonies such as Malta which used British stamps at that time and in British post offices abroad in places such as Beirut.
A postal fiscal is a revenue stamp
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, ...
that has been authorised for postal use. Mackay, James. ''Stamp Collecting: Philatelic Terms Illustrated''. 4th edition. London: Stanley Gibbons
The Stanley Gibbons Group plc is a company quoted on the London Stock Exchange specialising in the retailing of collectable postage stamps and similar products. The group is incorporated in London. The company is a major stamp dealer and philat ...
, 2003, p. 109. Postal fiscals may arise because there is a shortage of 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 ...
s for a country or out of economy to use up obsolete or excess stocks of revenue stamps. Postal fiscals are to be distinguished from stamps marked " Postage and Revenue" which were always intended for either use, or revenue stamps used postally by accident or because local postal regulations did not prohibit such use. Postal fiscal status may usually only be identified from the cancels on used stamps or where the stamp is found on cover.
United Kingdom
Postal fiscals were authorised from 1 June 1881.Patrick, Douglas & Mary. ''The Hodder Stamp Dictionary''. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1973, p. 189. These stamps were also postally valid in British colonies such as Malta which used British stamps at that time and in British post offices abroad in places such as Beirut.
New Zealand
From 1 April 1882 revenue stamps became valid for postal use and vice versa. This continued until the 1960s.''Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue: Commonwealth and British Empire Stamps 1840-1970''. 112th edition. London: Stanley Gibbons, 2010, pp. 445-447. New Zealand fiscals overprinted for various Pacific islands were similarly valid for postal purposes, and in islands such asNiue
Niue (, ; niu, Niuē) is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean, northeast of New Zealand. Niue's land area is about and its population, predominantly Polynesian, was about 1,600 in 2016. Niue is located in a triangle between Tong ...
and Tokelau
Tokelau (; ; known previously as the Union Islands, and, until 1976, known officially as the Tokelau Islands) is a dependent territory of New Zealand in the southern Pacific Ocean. It consists of three tropical coral atolls: Atafu, Nukunonu, a ...
they were only used postally and were not valid for fiscal use.
Other countries
Several other countries have used postal fiscal stamps, including Bechuanaland, Dominica, Hong Kong, Tobago, Venezuela and Western Australia.See also
*Postal tax stamp
A postal tax stamp refers to a stamp which raises revenue for charity or war related projects. Postal tax stamps are similar to semi-postals, except their use is mandatory instead of voluntary. They are used to show payment of a compulsory tax on m ...
A postage stamp with a charitable surcharge.
*Semi-postal
A semi-postal stamp or semipostal stamp, also known as a charity stamp, is a postage stamp issued to raise money for a particular purpose (such as a charitable cause) and sold at a premium over the postal value. Typically the stamp shows two deno ...
A postage stamp with a charitable surcharge.
*Postage and revenue stamp
A postage and revenue stamp, sometimes also called a dual-purpose stamp, is a stamp which is equally valid for use as a postage stamp and as a revenue stamp. They often but not always bear an inscription such as "Postage and Revenue". Dual-purpose ...
References
Philatelic terminology Revenue stamps {{Philately-stub