Banned Stamps

Someone told me not to long ago that it was (and still is) illegal for US citizens to own stamps from Cuba and North Korea, and that formerly it was also a crime to own stamps from Libya.

Is this true or is it a philatelists' 'urban myth'?

I raise this question because during WWII it was illegal for US citizens to possess stamps from all the Scandinavian countries, including, to my great surprise, Sweden, which was of course not a combatant power or even under German occupation.

The Posthorn (Vol. 2 No. 1, 1945) included illustrations of the banned stamps. Here are the Swedish ones (a batch which, by sheer coincidence, includes the stamp I've decided to make my forum avatar):



If you'd like to read the article, this issue of The Posthorn can be downloaded here free of charge:

http://www.scc-online.org/old/OldAr...me%202-1.pdf

The Posthorn advised collectors not buy these stamps on the philatelic 'black market' and to wait until after the war to acquire these stamps, when supplies would be plentiful!

A study of the black market in Scandinavian stamps during the war would be very interesting indeed!

I'm interested... I didn't do anything but open the book officer. :) They were already there.

Actually it was not a crime to own stamps from North Korea or Cuba. It was illegal to import them or to sell them. (Also China (until 1974), North Viet Nam and others). Stamps bought elsewhere and brought in for yourself were legal within certain amounts as defined by U.S. Customs. The U.S. Government includes stamps and money for import or trade restrictions due to diplomatic sanctions.

I was just on a website for Kenmore Stamp Co., where they were advertising Cuban stamps from calendar year 2000 with this note. Undoubtedly the quote was written in such a way as to sound alluring in order to sell their products:

Thanks guys. I was worried for a second or so... ?

I wonder if ebay forbids sales of Cuban mint stamps?

They actually have quite a long list of prohibited items, but I don't recall seeing that.