Stamp/Formats

Formats List

Formats: Besides being collected as single stamps, depending on the way they were issued stamps can also be collected in other formats. Please note that due to the database format of the Colnect Stamp Catalog most of the other formats have a related single stamp catalog entry. Available options are:

• Booklet: A small booklet with stamps inside. Some booklets are sold through automates, the booklet cardboard then protects the stamps from mechanical damage. Booklets can be quite simple in design or be a piece of art that integrates the stamps or gives additional information about them.
• Booklet Pane: Some booklets contain panes (or minisheets) of stamps that are specifically produced for booklets.
• Gutter Pair: Two stamps separated by a gutter (selvage).
• Mini Sheet: As opposed to regular sheets of stamps, that usually contain 50 or 100, in a few cases 25 stamps of the same type, mini sheets only contain a few stamps. The exact definition varies, but in most cases mini sheets have 20 or less stamps. The sheets may have all stamps of the same design (the classic German Kleinbogen) or have stamps of all different designs, up to twenty or more. The difference from souvenir sheets is that in general you can buy single stamps out of a mini sheet at the post office, as mini-sheets tend to have narrower margins (often perforated) to facilitate stamp removal, while souvenir sheets in general have much wider margins.
• Se-tenant: Two or more stamps with different denominations, colors, design, etc., joined together side by side, printed on the same sheet, in a strip or block. The stamps can be directly printed next to each other or be separated by one or more non-stamp labels (blank or with printing). For the Colnect Stamp Catalog also stamp pairs with non-stamp labels in between that are not upside-down to each other are categorized as se-tenant. Single stamps with a non-stamp label attached are considered single stamps and they are listed in the format "Stamp" and not "Se-tenant".
• Souvenir Sheet: Usually a small sheet with one or more stamps, though quite large souvenir sheets exist. Stamps in a souvenir sheet can be all the same or different, even with different face values. Very often the stamps in a souvenir sheet will also be issued by post office in regular panes. The difference to mini sheets is that souvenir sheets are only sold as whole by the post offices. Of course the stamps are also valid if used as singles, but usually can not be bought from the post office in that way.
• Stamp: A regular, single postage stamp. The same stamp may also exist in the catalog as part of items in one or more of the other formats.
• Stamp with Attached Label
• Tête-bêche: a joined pair of stamps printed intentionally or accidentally in upside-down direction to one another. A pair of tête-bêches can be a vertical or a horizontal pair. Triangular stamps can be linked only "head-to-tail". Tête-bêche is a type of the Se-tenant.