Economical motifs

Many stamps

Not only the Dutch postal services have noticed that issuing many stamps brings in a lot of money each year. Postal services world wide are releasing more stamps than they did thirty years ago such as for instance Denmark.
Denmark issued 5 commemoratives in 1965 and in 1995 22 stamps were issued. Probably, we may not grumble in The Netherlands. Many little islands far away often have an outrageous attitude against the innocent philatelist.

Colorful perforated paper

In general the economic position of these countries is weak. Infertile soil and the great distances to the world's mayor markets make it impossible for them to manufacture agriculture products or industrial goods profitable. These countries are dependent on tourism and the production of colorful perforated paper.

Postal service

We can hardly speak of stamps, because a stamp is a token of a prepaid postal service. Stamps of these countries are not printed to be affixed on letters, but exist to cheer up the bank return.
Some "postal services" are extremely good in it. Sometimes even thirty percent of the state income is generated by selling "stamps". The relation between circulation and postal needs is, what you might call, "somewhat disturbed".

Sensible philatelists

The islanders have the option to put a different stamp on their letters every day. They may be accustomed to 300 to 500 new stamps every year. I can not get used to these practices. And I do not really want to either...
Sensible philatelists do not collect these stamps. They may look pretty and interesting for those stamp lovers who collect by theme, but please keep in mind that an economic motif is the reason for their existence.

More information

Postage Stamps 1999