PostNL souvenir edition
It is with some reluctance that we are writing a blog post about a new PostNL issue. The reluctance stems from the fact that this is a philately harmful issue. Nevertheless, we are writing about it to provide an explanation and issue a warning.
What is it about?
On September 7, 2026, PostNL will launch the above product. The postage value is rate 1 (for domestic mail items up to 20 grams), worth €1.40. The selling price by PostNL is €14.95.
This concerns a ceramic stamp in the shape of a 5x5cm Delft Blue tile.
There is nothing wrong with that in itself; PostNL issues more souvenirs in this way, including gold and silver 'stamps' with a face value of rate 1 that are then sold for €25 or €50. Anyone who wants to spend money on them is free to do so. The NVPH does not consider them postage stamps and will therefore not include them in a catalogue. Album makers do not do so either.
With this edition, PostNL goes a step further. The edition is being delivered unsolicited to all subscribers; moreover, the postage rate 1 (for letters up to 20 grams) is never achievable, because this piece of ceramic already weighs well over 21 grams.
A consecutively numbered (empty) stamp folder no. 724 is also being delivered to folder subscribers. You can then stick an enclosed stamp in it yourself.
Inquiries with the NVPH reveal that this issue is considered a souvenir rather than a postage stamp and will therefore not be included in the NVPH catalog. Consequently, no official NVPH FDC is being issued for it. It does appear, however, that PostNL is issuing an FDC for this itself.
Perhaps readers with a legal background can say more about this, but it seems to us that automatically delivering a product at a multiple of the face value to subscribers who have a subscription to stamp issues and who always receive them at the face value applicable at that time may not be legally tenable.
Incidentally, the Netherlands is not the first to issue a ceramic stamp. Austria already issued the stamp shown below in 2014. The major difference, however, is that the face value in that case was €5.90, and the stamp was sold by the Austrian postal service even before that.
Written in: Dutch
You could still stick that Austrian stamp on a registered letter. PostNL could have made it a stamp for registered mail as well, but then of course they are afraid that they will actually be used. That is obviously not the intention!
Sticking it on a regular letter is not recommended. The sorting machine doesn't like that very much either. By the way, this souvenir is an object and cannot be sent as a regular letter. It must be sent as a small package.
Written in: Dutch
It is particularly annoying that this is being sent without consultation. On the other hand, every hobby costs money, and ours is no different.
I find this quite a funny stamp; even though I normally only collect plate errors from after the Euro conversion, I will purchase this one as well.