Miniature sheet
Encyclopedia
Postage stamp
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...
s still attached to the sheet
Paper
Paper is a thin material mainly used for writing upon, printing upon, drawing or for packaging. It is produced by pressing together moist fibers, typically cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets....
on which they were printed. They may be either regular issues that just happen to be printed in small groups (typical of many early stamps), or special issues often commemorating some event, such as a national anniversary, philatelic exhibition, or government program. The number of stamps ranges from one to about 25; larger sheets of stamps are simply called "sheets" with no qualifier.
The stamps on the sheet may be perforated
Postage stamp separation
For postage stamps, separation is the means by which individual stamps are made easily detachable from each other.Methods of separation include:# perforation: cutting rows and columns of small holes...
in the usual way, or imperforate. The margins or selvage of the sheet may have additional printing, ranging from a simple statement of the occasion being commemorated, up to a full picture of which the stamp(s) are just a small part.The margins of the sheet may have ornamental designs,price,emblems and logo(s)which are not the part of stamp(s). Stamps on the miniature sheet can be in se-tenant
Se-tenant (philately)
Se-tenant stamps or labels are printed from the same plate and sheet and adjoin one another, unsevered in a strip or block. They differ from each other by design, color, denomination or overprint. They may have a continuous design. The word "se-tenant" translates from French as meaning "joined...
position while the same stamps were not se-tenants in regular issue.
Both the stamps and the entire sheet are valid for mailing, although they are almost always sold above face value and kept in mint collection by collectors
Stamp collecting
Stamp collecting is the collecting of postage stamps and related objects. It is one of the world's most popular hobbies, with the number of collectors in the United States alone estimated to be over 20 million.- Collecting :...
; a handful of usages may be found as philatelic cover
Philatelic cover
A philatelic cover is an envelope or post card prepared with a stamp and address and sent through the mail delivery system for the purpose of creating a collectible item. Stamp collectors began to send mail to each other and to themselves early on, and philatelic mail is known from the late 19th...
s.
Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
apparently issued the first souvenir sheet in 1923, a single 10-franc stamp, not otherwise available, inset in a larger blank sheet. The purpose was to honor the birth of Princess Elisabeth
Elisabeth, Duchess of Hohenberg
Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Hohenberg was a Luxembourgian princess, a daughter of Grand Duchess Charlotte and Prince Felix of Bourbon-Parma...
. However, somewhat similar issues by that country go back to the royal coronation of 1906. The United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
issued its first one in 1926, and produced a series in the 1930s, and has issued others over the years. Since 1955 the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
has occasionally produced them.
While some of the earliest souvenir sheets are valuable (for instance the US White Plains sheet of 1926 is worth hundreds of dollars), modern ones are typically produced in considerable quantities, and have no special value.