Although a lot of mail comes to us digitally these days, we also regularly see cards or letters through the letterbox. Cards and letters with stamps, either with a large number, a portrait of the queen, or with fun, multi-colored images. Where does the use of stamps actually come from? We will go into more detail about mail, postage and stamps.
Unclear postal delivery
In the past, the delivery of mail was a matter of varying private initiative. Mail was given to couriers or a messenger. As a result, there was no regular postal service. Not all parts of the country were equally accessible. Rates were also not standardized. That made sending mail complicated for the public. In addition, the security of the letters or packages sent was not guaranteed.
A law for the postal service
In 1799 all uncertainty came to an end. The State took over management of the post. This made it necessary for a law to be introduced in which all postal matters had to be regulated. The first Postal Act was introduced in 1810. The law stipulated that the State had a monopoly on the postal service and which rates had to be charged for postal services. It was 1810, so it was still the French period. After the formation of the new Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1813, the postal law remained in force, but new services eventually made a new law necessary. This was introduced in Belgium in 1847, the Netherlands followed in 1850. One of the innovations that the new Postal Act regulated was the use of postage stamps .
Who pays the postage?
Sending the mail is also called port or porto , derived from the Latin portare . It is logical that this postage, sending mail, costs money. After all, Post Office employees had to be paid. The Postal Act of 1810 stipulated that the recipient of the postal items had to pay for this. In practice this sometimes proved to be very difficult.
- The recipient was not at home, so the delivery person had to return (more often).
- The recipient had moved or died.
- The recipient rejected the mail item.
In all these cases it meant that the postal worker should have done the work, but was not paid for it. A different system was needed to better manage the financial side of things.
International
In other countries of the world, mail was initially arranged in the same way. The recipient paid. This meant that postal workers in other countries also encountered the problem of uncollectible income. The simple solution was devised by an Englishman: Rowland Hill.
Postal duty stamp
As early as 1835, Lovrenc Koir in Yugoslavia came up with the idea of replacing the wax stamp on letters with a postal duty stamp, which had to be stuck on the letter. That would make the handling a lot easier, placing wax stamps was quite laborious:
- let the paint melt
- let it drip onto the letter
- use a special wax stamp to create an embossed print in the soft wax.
The government in Vienna accepted the idea, but did not immediately do anything with it.
Idea: a postage stamp
In 1837, Rowland Hill came up with the idea of having the costs paid by the sender , not the recipient. Payment could then be made immediately, when the postal item was delivered. You then received proof of payment. That receipt was stuck on the postal item. You will have recognized the principle: such proof is the current postage stamp. The postal worker could see from the mail item that it had a stamp on it, and that shipping had therefore been paid for. Problem solved! When the Scotsman James Chalmers came up with a way to make the stamp self-adhesive, by providing it with a layer of gum that became sticky when moistened, the system was complete. Because the amount to be paid was already pre-printed on the stamp, standardizing postal rates was much more feasible in practice.
The first stamps
The inventor of the stamp was an Englishman. So it is not surprising that the very first postage stamp was issued in the United Kingdom. On May 6, 1840, the world’s first postage stamp, depicting Queen Victoria , was placed on a letter. In addition to the portrait, the indication of the value and the word postage, which means port. The first stamp had a value of one penny, one penny. The color of the stamp was black, so it was quickly nicknamed Penny Black . A country name was not mentioned on the stamp, which did not seem necessary. After all, who wouldn’t recognize Queen Victoria? Since then, British postage stamps have not featured a country name, but the profile of the head of state appears in a corner of the stamp. In all countries where postage stamps were subsequently issued, the name of the country in question always appeared.
The first stamps in Belgium
When the first stamps appeared in the United Kingdom, they immediately attracted the interest of postal services in other countries. Representatives of those postal services went to the United Kingdom to study the new system. In 1847, a new postal law was adopted in Belgium, in which the new system was introduced, i.e. with the use of stamps. Preparations for making the new stamps could begin. An image of King Leopold I , created by the painter Charles Baugniet , was chosen . Because paintings could not yet be printed on stamps, an engraving of the image was made by Jacob Wiener. The first Belgian postage stamps were issued in 1849, in values of 10 and 20 centimes. (A centime was the hundredth part of the Belgian Franc, the Belgian currency at the time.)
The first Dutch postage stamp, with the image of King William III
The first stamps in the Netherlands
The Dutch Postal Act of 1850 made the use of postage stamps possible. The first Dutch postage stamps were issued on December 27, 1851, with an image of King Willem III , in values of 5, 10, and 15 cents. (A cent was the hundredth part of a guilder, the Dutch currency at that time.) Jacob Wiener, who had already made the engravings for the first Belgian postage stamps, also did the engravings of the first Dutch stamps.
Mailbox
Because the sender had already paid via the stamp, sending the mail could be further automated. There was no need for an official to receive the mail. If you had stamps at home, you could also frank the letter yourself and then drop it in a letterbox. The mailbox became a permanent part of the street scene.
Penalty postage
If insufficient stamps have been placed on a particular item of mail, or the value is too low, then the payment has not been made. Additional payment must be made. Because it is practically impossible to return the postal item to the sender and this would also lead to major delays in the settlement, a separate arrangement is in place for additional payment. The shortage of postage paid, together with a fine, will be charged to the recipient. Initially, special postage stamps were pasted by postal workers, stating the amount to be paid, the penalty postage , that you could pay to the postman. Nowadays you receive an extra card in your mailbox, on which the relevant amount of stamps can be stuck.
Forgeries
Stamps were not just pieces of paper, they represented value. To prevent counterfeits, the stamps were provided with a watermark . The first stamps were often on large sheets and were cut loose by postal workers. So they were stamps without perforation. Of course, that made counterfeiting easier. Stamps were therefore very quickly provided with perforations. When the stamps are torn loose, the typical stamp perforation occurs . To make it even more difficult for counterfeiters, different perforations were used. This allowed the teeth to be further apart at the top of the stamps than at the sides. New issues of stamps could always have different perforations.
Series
Stamps were intended as proof of payment that payment had been made to send the postal item. When rates changed or a head of state changed, it became necessary to issue new stamps. Series were created, stamps with the same image, but with different values and colors. When the stock of stamps ran out and the printing plates wore out, a new printing plate had to be made. A new image could then be chosen immediately. The range of different stamps became larger. Ideal for collectors! Stamps also became a way to display specifics of the country. Images of important people, buildings and events.
Series of stamps
Shapes and sizes
Nowadays there are many variants of the stamp.
- The ancient postage stamp, which you moisten to make it stick
- The self-adhesive postage stamp, a kind of sticker
- Vending machine booklets with stamps
- Stamp sheets, containing different stamps from a series together
- Self-printed stamps (paid via internet of course)
- Franking machines that print a stamp ‘postage paid’.
- Penal postage stamps, if you had placed too little (or nothing) on your letter
Etc. The philatelist, or stamp collector, is licking his fingers!
read more
- Postage stamps? Collect!
- Stamps, could it be something more?
- Stamps: collection area of the Netherlands