This is a follow on from Philately and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) – Part 1.
What is Philately?
When it comes to whether or not NFTs are philately, many of the arguments put forth used invented definitions, often manipulated to represent the argument.
The Oxford Dictionary describes the origins of the word as “a franking mark or postage stamp exempting the recipient from payment.” The word’s origins reflects the period prior to the introduction of the Penny Black where it was the practice that the recipient paid postage on delivery.
The Oxford Dictionary defines the current word as:
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- the collection and study of postage stamps (noun)
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Over the years, the definition of philately has evolved to a more broader definition. For example, the Wikipedia entry states:
“It also refers to the collection, appreciation and research activities on stamps and other philatelic products. Philately involves more than just stamp collecting or the study of postage; it is possible to be a philatelist without owning any stamps.”
Types of NFTs
There are currently four types of NFTs aimed at the philatelic community:
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- Crypto Stamps (Official)
- Stamp Art NFTs (Official)
- Crypto Stamps and Stamp Art NFTs (Unofficial)
- Postal NFTs
I see many of these being confused with one another, so I’ll go through the four different types and weigh them up against the Oxford definition and the more broader definition of philately.
Crypto Stamps (Official)
A Crypto stamp is a tangible postage stamp that has an NFT twin in the blockchain. The first official Crypto stamps were issued in May of 2018 by the National Post Office of Gibraltar. On 11 June 2019, Austria Post released what it claimed to be the world’s first blockchain stamp.
To obtain the Crypto stamp, owners of the tangible stamp usually need to scan a barcode on the stamp. Once scanned, the owner is provided with the NFT version that is assigned a scarcity rating. Ratings usually start from Common to Rare (with variations).
Crypto Stamps are highly popular and they usually sell out within days of release. The first Swiss release crashed their website due to demand. They can be bought and sold aftermarket.
Official postal authorities that have released Crypto stamps are:
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- Croatia
- United Arab Emirates (UAE)
- Gibraltar
- Liechtenstein
- Marshall Islands
- Switzerland, and
- United Nations
Under the Oxford definition, this NFT alone should not be considered philately as they are not used for postal purposes.
However, as they are released by an Official postal authority, they would fall under the broader definition of philately for those interested in the study of the tangible stamp and its relationship to the history of NFTs and the postal authority.
An exhibition on the physical stamp may not be considered complete unless all the various associated NFTs are also collected. Presenting crypto stamps may have challenges as traditional exhibiting has not accepted multimedia entries.
Stamp Art NFTs (Official)
Stamp Art is images of stamps created specifically for NFTs. They have no tangible twin and have no postal usage.
In 2021, the United States Postal Services officially licensed out the stamp designs for their Day of the Dead release to Veve. Veve only deals with officially licensed products including Disney and Marvel. The NFT are backed by the Ecomi (Omi) currency but are not yet available to convert back to normal currency (but this will be a function added as well a type of dividend payment). The NFTs can be purchased via auction or Buy Now via their marketplace.
Stamp Art is can be available in a limited drop or at a set price. Drops (where it is unknown what scarcity is purchased at the time of the buy) can result in the collector achieving an NFT rated as Common to Super Rare, and these drops have sold out in less than a second, often increasing significantly in value over time. Obtaining the NFTs from the first drop is extremely difficult due to demand but the post-market shows that, even buying them in post-release market, will result in an increase in value.
In 2022, StampsDaq released their first officially licensed stamp art for Ivory Coast. These were based on older stamp releases and were available in a pack of six of random rarities. These have not yet shown the same popularity as the Veve issues.
As these NFTs are not used for postal purposes, the NFTs would be not considered philately under the Oxford definition.
It is hard to connect Stamp Art to the broader definition. For example, the Ivory Coast NFTs were released non-contemporaneously to the stamps they were based on. The Veve releases were released contemporaneously with their tangible stamps and could be bundled with displays of First Day Covers, Maxim Cards, presentation folders etc.
Crypto Stamps & Stamp Art (Unofficial)
NFTs can be created by anyone. Opensea is probably the most popular platform for this purpose. Artists can create an NFT and upload it the platform to allow people to buy and sell.
As these have no connection to postal usage and no connection to Official postal authorities, these would not be classified under any definitions of philately. They are best considered ‘cinderellas.’
Postal NFTs (Official)
The United States Postal Service is the first postal authority to use their ePostage labels and CaseMail‘s non-fungible token (NFT) mail technology for postal purposes.
Documents are cryptographically signed with a unique CaseMail ID, time-stamped, encrypted and recorded on the Blockchain. The documents are immutable and can never be altered.
The initial rollout of the service was exclusively for legal professionals and government agencies with further releases planned to provide global access primarily through integration partnerships with providers of consumer and business services.
There are no cryptocurrencies required with these NFTs and CaseMail tokens are purchased with standard U.S. currency.
These NFTs do not appear to be available for purchase after-market, and due to the purpose they are being used, obtaining them may be difficult or restricted at this point in time.
These NFTs are used for postal purposes, authorised by a postal authority and fit the definitions of philately. These NFTs are philately.
Will NFTs grow the hobby?
This is an interesting question. Firstly, it requires traditional philately to re-think how the hobby is viewed not just now, but in the next decade. Traditional philately is highly conservative and very reluctant to change or adopt anything new that doesn’t fall within old world views.
The next generation that is coming through does not generally share these views as we have seen through the explosion of social media philatelic accounts over the last few years. This new generation moves faster, adopts quicker, and has little time for the rigours of traditionally philately.
From my interactions across social media, I try to gain some insights into various demographics. The following is observational only.
The 20-40 year old demographic are open to accepting new ways of collecting into the hobby, usually with some or little reservations. This demographic is not afraid to collect NFTs alongside tangible collections and are doing so. They understand the technology, they understand the language and they can see ways to integrate this into their collections. They will often try first and then make a decision; if it works for them.
The 55+ demographic does not appear to be interested in NFTs at all – this is usually due to a lack of understanding of the crypto world. However, they did seem to be interested in the Stanley Gibbons/Showpiece release of the 1c Magenta fractions. Although it should be noted that many thought they were a legal owner of part of the 1c Magenta when in reality the Product Disclosure shows them only as beneficial owners under basic trust law (that is, they are only entitled to the profits of the stamp and have no legal claim to ownership).
When the first Veve drop was released, there were a number of collectors who stated ‘looks like I am collecting stamps now’. These are people that have never been part of the community before who now considered themselves part of the community. Veve was unique as it introduced stamps alongside two extremely massive pop-cultures – Disney and Marvel.
What I am not seeing is the transition of NFT collectors into the tangible stamp space. They are completely separate markets. I believe this is because tangible stamps do not offer the financial rewards of NFTs and the intents of each market is completely different.
Conclusion
NFTs are philately depending on the type of NFT. Postal NFTs meet all definitions of the word philately and Official Crypto Stamps meet the broader definition.
I do believe that NFTs are going to become more prominent in philatelic collections, especially as the scope and technology of NFTs and the postal service industry evolves. Their popularity will continue to grow as long as they are released by official postal authorities.
I don’t believe (as of now) that NFTs will grow the hobby. Social media, in particular YouTube and Facebook, remain the single biggest drivers for new collectors entering the hobby, and that is through tangible stamps.
As always, my motto is collect your way, anyway! Anyone who says different is a stamp snob!
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I collected stamps when I was a kid, then let go. Recently joined VeVe and jumped right back into stamps when I saw the USPS stamps, and since have joined StampsDAQ. Now, I actually welcome the fact that digital stamps aren’t philately. I completely agree that it’s not the same, as you lose the physical aspect (touch and smell for example), and the “stamp art” calling I really like. It’s a new world that’s being built, and it’s exciting to be part of it. Perhaps it’ll fail, but there are collectors of failed experiments!
On the 2 sites mentionned at least, you get more than just a JPEG: on VeVe you get an augmented reality allowing you to plop your digital stamp into your surroundings on a photo or image, and on StampsDAQ you can get animated stamps. You might think that it isn’t much, but it’s a new layer, a new of experiencing stamps (or art in general).
Now you won’t get the little imperfections on a digital stamps (or if there is one, it’s on all of them), but you get an edition number. You might think it’s crazy, but the brain likes to build connections and you can create an emotional or intellectual bond with a digital thing. It wasn’t for a stamp, but I paid 4 times the basic price for a digital collectible that had an edition number that meant something to me.
And as pointed out, these are officially licensed stamps. I can understand a “proper” philatelist not being interested in “digital stamp art” (not to say NFT because it’s not a popular word at the moment), but I’d suggest a least giving it a peak and dipping a toe in. And the way in is not necessarily the easiest (for StampsDAQ you’ll need a MetaMask and to setup manually the Polygon network on it – not complicated as such, but not easy when you’re a novice – whereas on VeVe it’s a phone app and you just need an e-mail and a credit card). But in the future I’m sure it’ll come naturally and be made simpler.
Who knows where it may go, and some of those “stamps” are very limited (888 editions for the super rare Year of the Rat on VeVe). Anyway the separation of philately and digital stamp art collection (philARTely?) is as far as I am concerned a good thing. No shackles, no blinders, a new paradigm with it’s own grails and kinks!
I own an NFT on Veve of each of the USPS issues. 🙂
I am researching what philatelic NFTs can be created by a private philatelist.
Maybe based on personalized stamps that I designed in 4 countries, like at Zazzle in USA?
Maybe based on a postally-circulated cover, postcard or maxicard before 1921, let’s say?
No IP protection there.
Maybe based on modern postage stamps that are in the public domain, from some countries?
Also: principles, not principals. Principals are at school…😉
Haha – thanks for the pick-up! I should not multi-task when replying sometimes. lol
😊
The difference is printing my own has no relationship to actually being postage. Yes, there have been experiments with printing custom stamps, but I believe your comparison is false.
The relationship to postage was not really the point. The point is, that if you break NFTs down to just a jpeg/photo/etc, the medium of stamps is just paper and ink – common mediums/consumables.
However, if you are applying philatelic principals to the purpose, that is another aspect. I agree that not all NFTs fit into the definition of philately (as outlined in the article). However, Postal NFTs are used for postage purposes and are philatelic.
Yes, postal authorities are able to issue relevant postage as NFTs. I’d pay a couple of bucks to mail myself something with an NFT, but it would need to be a real-world envelope, not an email or equivalent.
I find more interesting what the UK and Germany before them have done w the issuance of postage stamps attached to “bar codes”. Lots of potential services including ownership / posession tracking possible w that.
I totally respect that the digital world is not for everyone! I much prefer tangible items too. However, what I prefer should not be imposed on those who’s interests are different, right? I also own Stamp Art NFTs – and I have been collecting them with the same reasons I collect tangible items. Best of both worlds, I say. 😉
Nothing wrong w collecting NFTs of any kind although I think they are in a bit of a bubble due to their newness and all of the experimentation going on. I hope your stamp art NFTs are unique or have some limited edition aspect.
Bubble are often touted by never realise – just like stock market crashes. haha
I have three of the Veve NFTs – common, uncommon and rare. It was an experiment with a couple of other prominent philatelists. One bought Crypto Stamps, I bought Stamp Art, and the other bought a fraction of the 1c. We are all tracking the success of each. 🙂
What confounds me is why someone would by a stamp NFT when it is functionally equivalent to a photo of the stamp. Yes, I understand the “guaranteed uniqueness” of a specific NFT identified on a block chain, but if I want to take advantage of the apps evolving on to of block chain tech, I can do that with NFTs of my own devising of the stamps I own as well as the ones I don’t own, but lust after and for which photos are publicly available.
The problem I see with ‘unofficial’ NFTs is that they are hard to track. I still think catalogue listings and official postal authority products are the best NFTs to buy. As mentioned in Part 1, you could print your own stamps as well – they are just paper and ink. If they are just paper and ink, what factors do you place on them to elevate them above paper and ink?
An NFT is not necessarily just an image. An NFT can be a 3D object or a video, it can include music. And the fact it is licensed by a country’s post office gives it authority (some digital stamps have contracts that exclude that particular stamp from being “reprinted” into digital format in the future – so that stamp in NFT form is the only iteration that will exist in NFT). And there are official NFT stamps in existance today that are unique (and to my knowledge that haven’t been minted yet).