‘Real’ stamps or just fancy stickers?
It seems that collecting new stamp issues from various countries is losing its appeal, because very few are getting into the mail and are harder to get, “used.” Canada Post, like some countries, only uses a stamp in preference for a “label,” on posted materials, at a customer’s request.
Ask for stamps on your packages, but be prepared to spend a lot of time waiting for the clerk to enter it in the computer.
Countries like the U.S., England, Australia, Holland, Ireland, etc. use adhesive on stamps, the self-sticking ones that will not soak off in water and must be removed with expensive label remover. This makes for few good-quality cancelled examples. Now, it seems, Germany will no longer accept any packages, domestic or overseas, with stamps as payment; the self-printed label is preferred.
The argument here is between a postage stamp, a label and a sticker. Which is a collectable item? Some might say all, but I collect stamps. The difference, of course, is the use. Labels are for fun or advice and have only entertainment or informational use, such as “Air Mail,” “Fragile” or “Postage” labels and barcodes. Stickers are strictly for fun and for kids who collect them. Then there are stamps, or are they? I like the postage stamp with a clear cancel, with date, that was on a letter or parcel, used in postal service. That to me is a real live stamp. It has travelled and transported something with it. It has history.
Let’s look at some Canadian stamps that are not easy to mail. The first ones that come to mind are the hockey card stamps. Where can you use them, other than large envelopes or parcels? They are too big. The $10 whale is only good on a parcel. Since, in Canada, you are still permitted to use “stamps” on packages if you request it, I consider them a “real” stamp that can be in my collection, but if there are stamps which are not available for postage, should they be in your collection? Do you have “stickers” in your collection?
In a lot of countries, stamp issues are for specific use, and can only be used for that purpose. If those stamps are no longer allowed on items, are they still “real” stamps, or just fancy “stickers”?
So it seems that my collection of new stamp issues from Germany will come to an end.
Walter Kerber is a long-time member of the Lethbridge Philatelic Society.