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.
Some non-European countries followed suit (such as New Zealand, which has issued annually since 1929); the New Zealand associated territories of the Cook Islands and Niue often issue Christmas or Easter stamps in two sets of values, with one set having a charitable surcharge. But semi-postal stamps are still predominantly European. By contrast, the United States is a newcomer to semi-postals, with its first semi-postal being the Breast cancer research stamp issued in July 1998. Through 2016 four additional stamps were issued, three for other causes and the fourth a reissue of the Breast cancer stamp. A subsequent law allowed five more stamps to be issued at two-year intervals. The first, for Alzheimer's disease, was released in November, 2017.
Semi-postal issues are not always issued on a regular basis for health and similar causes; they have been on occasion issued as a means of raising funds for disaster relief. These are usually sold as charity stamps, though occasionally, as with the 1971 refugee relief stamps of India, the excess cost has been made obligatory (a postal tax stamp). One of the highest value semi-postal stamps is the Falkland Islands' "rebuilding fund" stamp, issued in 1982 after the Falklands War. This was aimed primarily at collectors, and had a postal value of £1 with an added £1 surcharge.
Charitable disaster relief stamps are commonly found in smaller island nations as a result of natural disasters, as in the case of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1980 hurricane relief issues, and Tonga's 1982 cyclone relief stamp. In these cases, existing issues are often used, with text indicating the reason for the surcharge.
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