The Pros And Cons Of Non-Value Indicator Stamps.

I'm curious as to how members feel about
Non-Value Indicator (NVI) stamps, whether
the ones in their country or foreign ones.

As most of you know in Canada we've had the Permanent
stamps, US have the Forever (wow how long is that)
and Great Britain has 1st and 2nd and whatever.

In my opinion they are a good idea since the keep the same value
for many years.
How long? Who knows ? Here in Canada we have to wait until
March 31, 2014 to find out what will happen to Permanent stamps.

What I didnt like about them at first was the fact you could not
use them for foreign mail which was too bad since 3 domestic
rate values usually equaled (give or take a penny) the international rate.

Well that was changed even though some postal employees
still don't understand it.

Anyway let me have some input how you feel about them.

Not just about Canada or US, lots of European countries
use something similar but call it by a different name ofcourse.

Here are some from Austria, they are not mine but
I borrowed them from a German stamp forum.http://www.philaseiten.de/cgi-bin/i...15&CP=0&F=20


This is the basic 30gram domestic (Inland) rate 0,62 Euro
showing the map of Austria draped by the red, white and red national
flag.



The next shows the basic rate to countries in Europe 0,70 Euro




And this one is for the International (Welt means World) basic letter rate at 1,70 Euro.

I do not collect these newer ones any longer but I have to use them and put them on my mail. They look like Cinderella's!

Peter

I usually use discount postage, so it's actually fairly rare that I use a USA "Forever" stamp on my mail. But I like the overall concept.

For collectible stamps, I'm not quite as keen since the actual face value isn't readily apparent, but it's not that big of a deal. Since I generally buy uncatalogued mixtures and kiloware, some NVI definitives can be very hard to identify amidst the plethora of look-alikes in some cases.

@TheArtfulHinger, you say


But isn't that a big part of the fun in collecting stamps ?


Is that discount postage you use,older US stamps
you had in your collection and you want to get rid of it
or do you buy it somewhere ?

I'm more into the history that stamps represent rather than having to look closely to identify the correct type. It's not that I hate the detailed stuff, it's just not my favorite thing.

As an example, right now my main focus is on Germany and area. I think it's absolutely fascinating that I can own a small piece of that country's evolution over the years, from a collection of individual states, to an empire, then defeated after WWI, Danzig, plebiscites, inflation, the rise and fall of the Third Reich, the allied occupation, a divided Germany and now finally a unified nation. That fascinating history told in postage stamps is mostly what I find attractive about the hobby. I may never visit Germany in person, so I'm having it come to me, a small piece at a time. The nitty gritty of perforation guages and watermarking, etc, is a necessary component to the hobby, but not one that I like to pursue for its own sake. But that's the great thing about the hobby, for those that are attracted to such things, there are endless opportunities for enjoyment.

As to the discount postage, I recently bought a large collection/accumulation from a local estate. Among other things, it contained a few hundred dollars face in mint hinged plate blocks and singles. I don't collect US and even at NH they're only worth face at best, so I just decided to use them as postage. When they run out, I'll probably just use forever stamps because saving 10 cents or so on a letter is not worth the hassle of licking half a dozen stamps or more per letter.

@TheArtfulHinger. I certainly agree with you regarding the connection of history and stamps.

Many times when reading a book about lets say the Roman Empire
I get out my meagre Italian collection and see if I have
a stamp portraying Augustus or Pliny the Elder.

Or I'm checking out some of my Greek stamps and spot
one of Alexander the Great and think "It's time to go
to the library and get a couple of books to refresh my
memory about ancient Greece".

I also agree with you about stamps of Germany, there is
certainly a lot of history there and a lifetime
of enjoyment.

That's the beauty of collecting stamps, there are so many
different ways one can get something out of this hobby.