dummy stamp
Illustration — A 2004–05 test stamp of the United States. A dummy stamp is a stamp-like label which is not valid for postal use. Dummy stamps are a form of cinderella stamp and the two principal types are test or training stamps, used to test postal equipment or train postal workers, and printer's sample stamps created to promote or demonstrate the printing capabilities of a stamp printer.
dummy stamp
- Field
- test stamp, specimen stamp and training stamp.
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wikidata · Q16967448
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Overview
In the United States the term relates primarily to test and training stamps, while in the United Kingdom the term is used more widely to include promotional and sample stamps produced by printers. The term has been in use in the U.K. since at least 1949 when reports of proceedings of the Royal Philatelic Society, London referred to a display of "dummy stamps" produced in connection with the negotiation of a printing contract for the postage stamps of South Africa. In 1981, the British Philatelic Bulletin illustrated printer's sample stamps from the R.M. Phillips Collection produced by De La Rue.
Dummy stamp is a test stamp or specimen stamp.
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Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Dummy stamp, revision 1324875406 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
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Broader subject
1- printer's sample stampTerminology
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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