Different types of stamps | New & old stamps | Stamp collecting tools | Maxicards vs. postcards

What are the different types of stamps?

Definitive stamps have stamp values that are commonly used and therefore stay in circulation for a long time. The most common definitive value is the ordinary stamp for a standard letter, like our 50c stamp.

Commemorative stamps celebrate social or historical events that are of national importance.

Personalised stamps allow a photograph to be printed on the tab of a valid postage stamp and can be produced featuring photos of individuals, family, friends or favourite pets. In 1999 Australia introduced the world’s first Personalised Stamps™. Anyone can now have their picture shown on a "tab" next to a stamp.

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How can you tell a new stamp from an old one?

A used stamp will be postmarked.

Postmarking is when a rubber stamp is used to place an impression over part of the stamp and envelope with ink. This postmark will tell you when and where the stamp was posted.

New stamps do not have postmarks on them, and are called mint stamps. These types of stamps can be bought from Australia Post shops or stamp dealers. New stamps come in a whole variety of different types; there are sheets of stamps, miniature sheets, self adhesive, sheetlets and much much more. There are so many ways to collect mint stamps! For different types of collectables check out the products page.

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Tools to use when collecting mint and used stamps

Some tools and items you may need to put your collection together.

• Bowl of warm water
• Clean tea towel or a paper towel
• Something heavy, like a book
• Stamp tweezers
• A magnifying glass
• Perforation gauge (mainly for ultra-serious collectors)
• Stamp album
• Stamp mounts
• Stock sheets
  

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How are maximum cards different to postcards?

Postcards are generally cards with postage paid on the back of them. If they don’t have postage paid on them you need to affix a stamp if you want to send it through the post. They are most often used for sending messages to people you know while you are on holidays, although some people do have collections of postcards.

Maximum cards (or maxi cards as they are often called) are a little different. Like some postcards they do have postage paid printed on the back of them BUT they also have a stamp adhered to the front of the card that is postmarked with the first day of issue. There are some important rules for maximum cards.

• First the image that is on the maximum card needs to be very similar or in direct relation to the image on the stamp. For example you couldn’t put a Voyager stamp on a Spacewalk maximum card. The maximum card must have a picture of the same spacewalk or a very similar spacewalk on the front.

• The postmark that is on the “set” of maximum cards needs to have a direct relation to all the stamps. For example if the stamp issue is about fairies and goblins you couldn’t have the postmark as a place called Fairiesville because that doesn’t relate to goblins in any way.

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