In philately, an imprinted stamp is a stamp printed onto a piece of postal stationery such as a stamped envelope, postal card, letter sheet, letter card, aerogram or wrapper.Carlton, R. Scott. The International Encyclopedic Dictionary of Philately. Iola WI: Krause Publications, 1997, p.117. . The printing may be flat upon the surface of the paper, or embossed with a raised relief.Van Gelder, Peter J.; The Collectors' Guide to Postal Stationery, A Squirrel Publication, Shrewsbury, UK (1997) An imprinted stamp is also known as unadhesive stamp Ewen, Herbert L'Estrange. Priced Catalogue of the Unadhesive Postage Stamps of the United Kingdom (1840–1905). London: Ewen's Colonial Stamp Market, 1905. or indicium.
The cost of the item of stationery includes the manufacture of the item and the charge for postal service. The design of imprinted stamps often bears a close resemblance to normal adhesive stamps of the same country and era. It may be a definitive or commemorative stamp.
Collecting In the early days of philately, it was common to cut the imprinted stamp from the rest of the item and retain only the stamp. This is known as a cut square. In the U.K. this is known as cut-out. If the imprinted stamp is then trimmed around the edges, it is known as cut to shape. It is a full corner if it has the complete corner of the envelope with side and back flaps attached.Thorp-Bartels Catalogue of United States Stamped Envelopes, Century Edition, 1954. Today collectors much prefer to keep postal stationery items intact, because cutting destroys the postal history, the knife of the stamped envelope, the postmark and any receiving marks.
Usage Some countries permitted the use of a cut-out imprinted stamp to pay postage on another item of mail. This is also known as a cut-out.Mackay, James. Philatelic Terms Illustrated. 4th edition. London: Stanley Gibbons, 2003, p.40. .Patrick, Douglas & Mary. The Hodder Stamp Dictionary. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1973, p.61. .
Items of postal stationery with an imprinted stamp are sometimes found with adhesive stamps added to pay for additional services such as airmail, registration or the part transport of mail by a local postal service. Such covers are known as conjunctive covers,Richard Frijola Adams Express local stamps used on an item of U.S. postal stationery and such use is known as a conjunctive use. Placement of the adhesive stamp in addition to the imprinted stamp in order to pay a higher postal rate is called "uprated" (Spanish= franqueos complementarios).Littrell, Robert, Ed.; Postal Cards of Spanish Colonial Cuba, Philippines and Puerto Rico, UPSS, 2010; This term also applies when an imprinted or embossed stamp is overprinted or handstamped to increase the face value.
See also Embossed postage stamp
References
External links
1881 Canada postcard with imprinted stamp.