Exhibition of Stamps

First Stamps of Iran

The story of stamp began in London in 1840, from a piece of black and small paper with the image of Queen Elizabeth, worth a Penny, later known as the “Black Penny” Stamp. Nineteen years later, on his trip to Europe, Nasser-ed-Din Shah, saw this new product and liked it and upon returning to Iran, has been assigned a team to have Iran owned stamps as the European countries. A hundred and fifty years old Iranian stamp story began in 1868, and continues.

The first stamp of Iran took its name from the French word “Timbre” and the term "postal stamp" was translated from the French word "Timbre Postal". But the stamp and all its synonyms in other languages actually represent a proof of prepaid for postal services. This small, often perforated, sometimes imperforated paper, gradually became recognized among all countries with various writings and images, and with the expansion of the Universal Postal Union, the stamp accompanied letters to the whole world, like a global messenger. In addition to the wide use of stamps, a variety of different types have been printed like, such as Definitive set, commemorative, charity, parcel, official, Government and financial and justice, local and press, are various types of stamps Which may be published at different periods but were used or not used as postal stamps. In spite of spending a lot of money and printing, some stamps are not used officially. Whatever the reason is, it will inevitably create two stamps; used and unused stamps in the post. In addition to these the categories and the abundance in printing of stamps, another event has doubled the stamp’s variety; Surcharged or overprint is a handstamp that affects the stamp for various reasons and creates a different stamp; Sometimes changes the price sometimes changes the government and sometimes extends the credit of a stamp. Of course, as stamp is a pricy piece of paper which has always been the subject of greed for abusers, fake stamps sometimes appear occasionally amongst the main stamps. Although stamp is a small part of a letter or postal packet, it has many stories about history, culture and language. Also, the stamp with the image of a seal tells a lot of stories about the country, Conquering and geographical boundaries. Each stamp in its figures and pictures is anecdotal of national symbols, heroism, cultural heritage, religious memories, social, economic and cultural achievements. Stamps on one hand are Promoters of educators, health and happiness, and on the other hand they are symbol of lamentation the war, destruction and displacement.

Since the beginning of printing stamps, lovers of this cultural phenomenon began to collect it from eighteenth century. Iran has been the companion of the journey from the beginning. Haj Hosein Agha Malek, one of the greatest collectors of his era, collected valuable treasure and devoted it to Astan Quds Razavi. This valuable treasure is contained stamps from the most expensive Iranian to rare examples of in the world. Envelopes that sometimes have their letters in their hearts or an unread letter that can be read from their outward; most of all, Hajj Hossein tell the story of Agha Malek's interests.

First Stamps of Iran

The first stamps, such as “the Black Penny ", have been associated with the image of rulers, official icons, depending on each country and culture. The first official stamp of Iran, known as “Baqeri", also was published during the Qajar period by the official logo of Iranian government - Lion and Sun -. Continuing this trend, the images of the Qajar rulers, from Nasser-al-Din Shah to his successors, was formed on official stamps. The kings’ series are shown Iranian historical architectural monument in addition to the face of the kings of Iran. This process continued during the Pahlavi era, but after Islamic Revolution of Iran in 1979, the figures of the stamps were flourishing and these stamps joined history.

Qajar Stamps

European travels of Nasser el-Din Shah led Iran with new effects of the new world. Among these souvenirs was getting to know the postal services. Since the printing of the first official stamp in Iran from 1868, until Pahlavi’s provisional over print on Ahmad Shah Qajar’s stamps in 1926, Qajar stamps narrate turbulent events of this period for more than five decades. From the coming and going of the kings to the Iranian constitutional movement, the uprisings of the people of Azerbaijan, the Lar and the Forest movement, and the occupation of Bushehr by the United Kingdom, all reflect the angels of the history of the Qajar period.

Pahlavi Stamps

The narrative of the rise and fall of a dynasty can be heard from the stamp of Pahlavi; even earlier it was the story of the rise of Reza Khan from the Persian Cossack Brigadeto the Sardar Sepah (secretary of war) and the prosecution for the republic, and eventually sitting on the throne. Stamps narrate the story of the transformation of the times from Shahi and dinars to the Qeran and Tuman, exactly from the brand and the transformation of the name of the country from Persia to Iran. But despite the portrait of the first and second kings of Pahlavi and their families, which had the most reflection in the stamps of this dynasty, portraits of the ancient Iranian kings and architectures of Iran, the images of the Achaemened and Sassanid kings, and ancient sports and the commemoration of Iranian celebrities such as Sa'adi, Rudaki and Avicenna and such cultural themes can be observed on stamps since 1925 to 1979, during Pahlavi era.

Official stamps

Providing postage stamp services is a monopoly of governments. Pasting a stamp to a letter or package indicates that the sender has paid the amount needed to receive the service. Today, stamps are used to pay for government services which individuals or legal persons need to "cancel the stamp" in order to receive such services. The "Navaqel” stamp is an example of such a usage of the stamp in the past that usually used to deduct the effects of stroke and exit.

Foreign Stamps and Universal Post Union

Ten years after the publication of “the Black Penny” in Britain, 25 grand duchies and several large European countries issued post stamps. But Postal affairs between countries, with different stamps and different postage costs, were faced with some problems. Heinrich von Stefan, head of the post of the German Empire, suggested the creation of a "Universal Postal Union". Union decisions were notified to all country members with the approval of the members, and It should be implemented. In 1875, the Union officially started its mission in Switzerland. Iran became a member of the Union two years later from September 1877, and the stamp of Iran was thus credited for sending letters to all country members of the Union.

Special Stamps (Over Printed and Printing Mistakes and Mistake of the Dent)

From the beginning of the emergence and publication of stamps with lithography method until the printing with modern method with Zinc and Film there was always possible mistakes in printing of stamps. Moreover, after printing and during smearing paper to the glue, cutting of stamps or perforation, the possibility of error has not been far off. These technical factors were the basis for variation of stamps as far as collectors use special terminology for common mistakes. Misprinting stamps, from the shift in color "Displaced" to the "Middle Inverted" and "double-sided" mistakes, have created a spectrum phenomenon in the stamps.

Overprint has also increased this spectrum and in addition to overprint, design and ink color, how to minting handstamps on stamps became very important among the collectors. Overprint or hallmark is a tool of metal or rubber containing design, name, date, or new price which with colored inks makes the stamps more diverse. Among the overprinted stamps, sometimes mistakenly, a hallmark was multiplied repeatedly or reversely on one or more stamps, and created unique stamps among the massive stamps of the same emblem.

Envelopes and postcards

Every postal envelope is a passenger from one home to another; a messenger between two cities, an ambassador among nations across the globe.Whatever it is written on paper the recipient first looks at the color of the envelope;The envelope is closed, with many names, labels and hallmarks.

Sometimes the envelope was opened and checked out, official and per rule or intimate and easy. Airmail or custom, envelope as a stamp or accepted, an envelope, like a stamp, narrates culture, history and politics;whether in the mailbox or between an album and perhaps inside a museum.A postcard also has all these, and moreover, sometimes there is a photo of someone or somewhere as memorial...

Stamps of the Islamic Republic

After the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, various cultural and social arenas in Iran were at the forefront of fundamental changes. The selection of events, has completely changed the design of images and themes of the Islamic republic's stamps in comparison with two historical periods ahead of itself. The stamps of this period are the narratives of those days. The first post-revolution stamps, which were printed in April 1979, provided images of the uprising of the people. The prominent figures of the revolution, along with the patterns of resistance, courage, struggle, epic, and martyrdom in the post-revolution years and during the imposed war period, included the dominant theme of the stamps. During the post-war years, stamp, as a member of the unit of Iran, has indicated many years of infringement. From injured to Prisoners of War a range of new vocabulary and values came to Iran's cultural literature each of these can be searched and retrieved through stamps. In the meantime, the revolution in the field of culture brought a new wave of values. Stamps also became the messengers and flagships of the cultural revolution as a revolutionary messenger. From the cultural revolution to concepts such as Islamic culture and civilization, hijab, construction jihad, Basidj of the deprived people, and the literacy movement are wide range of stamps of Islamic Republic which has been growing over the years and has greatly enhanced its riches. Among stamps of the Islamic Republic, the religious and political themes are most abundant.

Different stamps

The first stamps of Iran and the world, “the Black Penny” and “Baqeri Issue”, were printed on a small piece of glued paper and monochromatic, but through time, Stamps became more diverse; The sizes were larger and smaller, sometimes they were imperforated or perforated and sometimes the colors got rich or poor. Sometime later, the memorial stamps were made of gold or silver and this was the beginning of the birth of different stamps. The progress in the printing industry has also changed the face of the stamp; The use of modern technologies instead of lithography has opened a new dimension in the world of stamps. As far as today, it is possible to find stamps all over the world that are made up of materials other than paper and color. Alternatively, another material replaced paper and ink; From yarn and fabric and silks to fish scales and even particles of a meteorite, Sometimes with two-dimensional design or three-dimensional design.

​