They are used in many countries and reduce the cost of printing large issues of low-value make up stamps.
[citation needed] The Universal Postal Union approved the use of non-denominated stamps on international mail in 1995.
[2] In announcing its decision to adopt non-denominated postage in 2006, Canada Post noted that it had to print more than 60 million one-cent stamps following the last price increase in 2005.
[4] On 11 December 2013, Canada Post unveiled its Five-point Action Plan, which temporarily removed "Permanent" stamps from sale, although they remained valid for postage.
[7] In 1940, the Government of United Province of British India issued a non-denominated stamp marking Literacy Day.
One stamp will always be worth the required postage of a Standard Post medium domestic letter.
Customers may use multiple Kiwistamps or mix them with denominated stamps to make up the required postage for bigger domestic or international mail.
As of February 2024, the current values of non-denominated Åland postage stamps, or no-value indicator (NVI) are: Lokalpost (domestic, within Åland only): €2.80, Inrikes (Finland): €2.90, Europa (Europe): €3.20, Världen (the world): €3.40, 1 klass (1st class): €2.80, 2 klass (2nd class): €2.40 and Julpost (Christmas mail): €1.50.
NVIs that are no longer issued, but still valid for franking: Regular first class stamps can also be used to mail letters abroad, providing that their combined value corresponds to the appropriate rate by Swedish Post.
[11] Non-denominated postage was first introduced in the United Kingdom in 1989 for domestic mail, in part as a workaround to the problem of fast-changing rates, the Royal Mail issuing "non-value indicated" Machins using textual inscriptions "1ST" and "2ND" to indicate class of service rather than a monetary value.
This practice began in 1975, when there was uncertainty as to the timing and extent of a rate increase from ten cents for the first ounce of first-class postage as the end of the year approached.
The United States also issued stamps with letter denomination, beginning from A, B, etc., during postal rate changes.
On October 21, 2010, the second Forever stamp, featuring pinecones on evergreen trees, was issued for the holiday season.
Coils of Forever stamps were first issued on December 1, 2010, in the se-tenant format with Lady Liberty and the Flag design.
A re-design, announced June 16, 2011, featured four American scientists: Melvin Calvin, Asa Gray, Maria Goeppert Mayer, and Severo Ochoa.