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Pillar Of The Community
Israel
1216 Posts |
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Since many here are from the USA I'll start there: Is it legal, once you've added the required sum of stamps, to add more stamps, like from a different country or expired USA stamps, for decorative or otherwise any non-postal use? I remember a few years ago an American neo-nazi group added Hitler's stamps on their hate mail within the USA. So technically it was possible and was done.
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Pillar Of The Community
United States
1434 Posts |
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1) USA stamps never expire; every stamp ever issued by the US is valid for face value, (side note: all US currency since 1914 is still valid); 2) while trying to substitute a foreign stamp for an American one (like using Brazilian in place of American) would be fraud, adding stamps is ultimately harmless and legal (as far as I know): if you added more American then you're just overpaying, if you add foreign stamps you're just adding decoration, as far as USPS is concerned. |
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Bedrock Of The Community
12552 Posts |
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Agree with Classic but would add that using foreign stamps may cause confusion and problems during postal processing. |
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Pillar Of The Community
Israel
1216 Posts |
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Thank you both.
I was asking because in another thread someone asked about using wallpaper stamps that cannot be bought in post offices, on covers.
It should be ok De Jure, but not possible or practiced De Facto. I venture to guess it will not pass with nude or Christian picture stamps in the Gulf countries.
So basically one can create philatelic oddities by adding foreign stamps between the legit stamps so they get canceled.
I also guess that you may not add Cuban stamps on USA inland covers. |
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Pillar Of The Community
United States
715 Posts |
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Not all U.S. stamps are valid for postage, though you would not want to use the demonitized stamps on modern mail because they are valuable. U.S. postage stamps have been demonetized only twice.
The first time was in 1851, when the 5-cent and 10-cent stamps of the 1847 issue were declared invalid as of July 1 by the Act of March 3, 1851 reducing the normal letter rate from five to three cents.
The second time involved stamps issued at the outbreak of the Civil War. New stamps were issued in 1861. |
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Valued Member
Switzerland
480 Posts |
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My guess is as long as the automatic face canceler detects a (tagged) stamp at top right of your cover, you can add whatever you want. In a postal sorting center with high traffic, it is unlikely a human operator will interfere with the hoards of covers. If you live in an area where the post office handles just a few letters, someone might have the time to check the stamps on a cover and if p*ssed off enough may reject the letter. |
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Pillar Of The Community
Netherlands
6526 Posts |
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Quote:
I venture to guess it will not pass with nude or Christian picture stamps in the Gulf countries. I, fully, agree. That is why I do not believe for a moment they were issued with the consent of those Gulf states. That is different from stamps issued through a contracted agent that are unlikely to have ever seen the issuing country. Those, still could have been valid for postage if stuck on a letter, even if the sole purpose was to make collectors part with their money. |
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Pillar Of The Community
United Kingdom
8577 Posts |
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Christianity and Islam aren't incompatible to that extent. Christ is regarded as a prophet in Islam. Doesn't change the fact that these stamps weren't used in the Trucial States, of course. |
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Pillar Of The Community
Netherlands
6526 Posts |
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Valued Member
United States
142 Posts |
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It is perfectly legal to use Foreign stamps on covers long as you use the correct United States postage. I did it for years when I belonged to a lot of Stamp exchange clubs, replying to those forever stamp exchange chain letters and on the SASE when sending away for pictorial postmarks. I never used Dunes stamps but acquired a lot of the 10F green cow stamps from the Cameroons with wavy line cancels stamps. |
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Pillar Of The Community
United States
4276 Posts |
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Quote:
I venture to guess it will not pass with nude Yet famous art nudes were issued from the Trucial State areas. Yet the USA has not issued nudes just an occasional exposed breast and that was generally over 100 years ago. |
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Pillar Of The Community
Netherlands
6526 Posts |
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Has it ever been proved they were issued from the Trucial States? It is much more likely they are bogus with their names on them.
Even the Dutch postal authorities can be prude. I know of someone who once thought it would be a nice present to order a sheet of personalised stamps with a nude picture of herself. She wanted to give it to a friend as a birthday gift. The post office would not allow it.
It is surpising Spain issued a stamp depicting Goya's 'La Maja Desnuda.' It is not a country you would expect to do that until about 25 years ago. |
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| Edited by NSK - 09/24/2023 03:20 am |
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Pillar Of The Community
United States
4276 Posts |
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Quote:
Has it ever been proved they were issued from the Trucial States? Yes, an American got permission and ran the stamp programs for some years. Edit: Finbar B. Kenny was the American. |
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| Edited by Parcelpostguy - 09/24/2023 12:14 pm |
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Bedrock Of The Community
12552 Posts |
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This gives some background on the sand dunes stamps: Quote:
GOVERNMENT OF FUJEIRA
POST OFFICE
FUJEIRA - Arabian Gulf.
Illegal Stamps and Cancellation:
Illustrated at the end of this official announcement (attached) are certain illegal labels purporting to be stamps of the Post Office of Fujeira.
These labels were privately printed by Jacques Anhoury and/or George Hage and/or Middle East Stamp Company of Lebanon. Be officially informed that these stamps were never sold in the Post Office of Fujeira nor are they valid for postage in Fujeira.
We have been advised that some of these spurious labels have been mailed illegally through another Post Office accompanied by a fraudulent statement bearing the printed name Postmaster General of Fujeira, and marked "via Sharjah" in the address. A spurious circular cancellation has been applied to these illegal stamps to simulate a legal mailing.
On June 9th and again on July 20th we cautioned about this type of illegal private announcement. Fujeira does not have a Postmaster General, and Fujeira mail is not addressed via Sharjah. Fujeira is an independent sovereignty and handles its own postal affairs as well as its own philatelic sales.
Illegal private Statements:
In this illegal statement illegally mailed by these parties, they state as unissued perfectly normal stamps of the Post Office of Fujeira which have been on sale, and are on sale, and are valid for postage. They further incorrectly state that the normal cancellation devices used in Fujeira Post Offices are not being used, and state that those which they have made and use privately are now the proper cancellations.
It is assumed that following our precautionary notice of June 9th, overseas residents would not be misled by such an illegal private mailing, and would not mistake it for an official statement.
The recent printed statement prepared by said George Hage and/or Jacques Anhoury and/or Middle East Stamp Company of Lebanon libels an overseas resident who originally furnished the technical assistance for establishing the Post Office of Fujeira under Universal Postal Union regulations six years ago. Similar libelous comment was made against this same overseas resident by these very same people when they first manufactured and distributed what they misrepresented to be stamps from "Oman", a fraud against the public which are not valid for postage anywhere in the world. Possibly their untrue statements are made to direct attention away from the fact that they illegally send mail out through other Post Offices in violation of Universal Postal Union regulations and manufacture and sell labels which they try to sell as stamps.
We have been officially advised that in addition to creating and distributing the spurious "Oman" labels, said Anhoury and/or Hage and/or their associates are spokesmen for the radical "Popular Front" created to expand revolts against the legal governments of Muscat and Oman and the territories of the Arab Gulf.
Their experience in illegal and criminal activities is evident by their continuous private printing and distribution of labels bearing the name "Kingdom of Yemen", as well as "Oman", plus other spurious paper without the slightest postal value, and they regularly mail such envelopes through other post offices in violation of Universal Postal Union conventions. At least one of these Middle East stamp merchants spent time in jail after criminal conviction for illegalities connected with stamps.
In official summary:
We are sending this third official notice of caution to overseas residents, so that no one can be misguided regarding statements bearing the name Fujeira, and so that anyone repeating the misinformation or criminal liable spread by these parties on forms bearing the name Fujeira will knowingly take upon himself the responsibility for such acts.
We readvise that any communications sent to Fujeira should be addressed directly to the Government of Fujeira, or to the Post Office of Fujeira, and should not be mailed to some other private post office box in Amman, or Beirut, or marked via Sharjah, or some other territory where these unscrupulous merchants might have business operations or henchmen.
Furthermore, be officially informed that Fujeira stamps originating with Middle East Stamp Company, Beirut, who have without authorization announced themselves as agents of this Post Office, are to be considered as private and spurious, and without value, unless listed on the official statement of stamps released by this Post Office, dated 20 July 1970. No new Fujeira stamps have been issued since 13 June 1970.
In particular the six labels plus souvenir sheet which they proclaimed "issued" on June 25th, bearing Expo 70 Osaka pavilions, and a further six labels plus souvenir sheet which they proclaimed issued on July 20th are spurious private emissions and not postage stamps.
Legal action is to be taken against Hage and or Anhoury and/or their co-conspirators, and this is to be considered official notice that any Fujeira stamps distributed by these merchants are deemed spurious and will be seized and the distributors and/or stamp dealers trafficking in these illegal stamps will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
We would like to repeat that this Post Office does not operate through agents in Beirut or any other country of the world outside of Fujeira. All stamps of the Post Office of Fujeira are produced for and by the Post Office and sold by the Post Office at face value. Any statement that there were or are previous or present agents of the Fujeira Post Office are untrue. Any statements that the Post Office of Fujeira should be addressed via Beirut and or Sharjah and/or some other territory are illegal and fraudulent.
30 July 1970
POST OFFICE OF FUJEIRA
Fujeira, Trucial States
Arabian Gulf
http://www.ohmygosh.on.ca/stamps/fu.../fujann2.htm |
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Pillar Of The Community
United Kingdom
8577 Posts |
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Kenny printed and sold the "stamps", but most were not legitimate issues with a genuine sale in the States. |
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Bedrock Of The Community
12552 Posts |
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Replies: 16 / Views: 1,381 |
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Posted 09/23/2023 02:54 am
