Tuvalu Issues "Personal" Stamps

October 8, 2011

Brian Cannon

Tuvalu has issued it's first "personal' stamp, a type of stamp pioneered by Canada Post, but which has become popular in most other countries around the world.

A personal stamp is an postally valid item that usually has a generic design, but allows the purchaser to select a photograph of their choice, which would be printed on the stamp, or on a label beside the stamp.

Usually the postal agency will print the image on a sheet of stamps for the purchaser. The earliest Canada Post issues had the customers image printed on a separate self-adhesive label, which the customer had to attach to the centre stamp.

Tuvalu's personal stamp is unique in the they sell a complete sheet of twenty stamps, inscribed with the country name, the coat-of-arms and the face value, 20c below a blank space, and it is up to the customer to have their own image printed, drawn, or perhaps stuck on if made on separate labels.

The blank sheets were first placed on sale June 15, 2011.

TuvaluIslands.com has made a special personal stamp, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the first Gilbert and Ellice Islands stamps, which Tuvalu was part of before separating in 1975. It was produced on a black and white laser printer with excellent results.

The Tuvalu Personal stamps, also called "National Stamps" may be ordered on the Stamps of Tuvalu website.