Coffeescented stamps brew magic across UP

ALLAHABAD: If you are a coffee lover, you can now enjoy the aroma while going through your snail mail.

India Post has come up with unique coffee-scented postage stamps. Printed at the India Security Press, Nashik, the stamps are priced at Rs 100.

Only 2 lakh stamps have been printed for sale across the country through 81 philatelic bureaus and over a thousand philatelic counters of India Post.

The stamps were released by minister of state for communications and minister of state for railways Manoj Sinha in Bangalore on April 23 and are selling like hot cakes across Uttar Pradesh.

“Collectors are showing interest in coffee-scented stamps. We started offering the stamps from just two weeks back and have so far sold 120 out of 1,200 that we have,” in-charge, Philately Bureau of Allahabad, Rajesh Verma said.

“Demand is also pouring in from other cities like Pratapgarh, Mirzapur, Jaunpur, Jhansi, Kaushambi, Sultanpur and Basti where we provide stamps. People in these cities will also be able to buy these stamps in another 10 days,” he said.

“Other philatelic bureaus in Lucknow, Kanpur, Bareilly, Gorakhpur and Agra are also reporting good sale, said a senior postal department official.

“India has come out with fragrant stamps thrice in the past and I have all of them. Now that I have managed to get the coffeescented one, my set is complete. At least four of my fellow stamp collectors in Lucknow have also bought these stamps,” said Indraneel Das, an avid stamp collector of Lucknow.