Semi-postal

A semi-postal stamp or semipostal stamp, also known as a charity stamp, is a postage stamp issued to raise money for a particular purpose (such as a charitable cause) and sold at a premium over the postal value. Typically the stamp shows two denominations separated by a plus sign, but in many cases the only denomination shown is for the postage rate, and the postal customer simply pays the higher price when purchasing the stamps.

The first semi-postal was actually a postal card; to commemorate the Uniform Penny Post in 1890, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland issued a card with a face value of one penny, but sold it for sixpence, with the difference given to a fund for postal workers. The first semi-postal stamps were issued by the Australian colonies of New South Wales and Victoria, who both marked the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1897 with stamps denominated in pennies, but sold for shillings, a 12x increase over the face value.

Semi-postals became widespread in European countries at the beginning of the 20th century. In many cases they have become standard annual issues, such as the Pro Juventute series of Switzerland started in 1913. Many countries issued semi-postal stamps to raise money for the Red Cross in World War I. The surcharges are typically a fraction of the face value; at one point the Fédération Internationale de Philatélie was officially boycotting stamps with surcharges greater than 50 per cent of face value, saying that such issues were exploitive of stamp collectors. The United Kingdom's Royal Mail, a relative newcomer to semi-postals, issued its first stamp of this type in 1975 with a 4½p denomination and a premium of 1½p for charitable causes making the total cost 6p, with funds going to health and handicap charities. The stamp issue was not considered a success and there have been few UK semi-postal issues since.

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