Illegal stamps are postage stamp-like labels issued in the names of existing independent countries or territories used to defraud postal administrations, stamp collectors, and the general public. Often, but not always, a member nation of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) will have asked the UPU to issue of 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 stamps which may have some of the same characteristics as illegal stamps but which are not usually issued in the name of an existing country.
Read more about Illegal Stamps: Identifying Illegal Stamps, Consequences of Illegal Postage Issues
Famous quotes containing the words illegal and/or stamps:
“It ought to be illegal for an artist to marry.... If the artist must marry let him find someone more interested in art, or his art, or the artist part of him, than in him. After which let them take tea together three times a week.”
—Ezra Pound (1885–1972)
“In Stamps the segregation was so complete that most Black children didn’t really, absolutely know what whites looked like.”
—Maya Angelou (b. 1928)