Stamp collectors furious over pen stroke replacing date stamps

Stamp collectors are furious at PostNL’s decision to stop stamping the date on stamps and to strike them through with a pen instead.

PostNL recently issued new stamps featuring model Doutzen Kroes taken by Anton Corbijn

‘It’s a disaster for stamp collectors,’ said Martijn Bulterman, chairman of the Dutch stamp traders association NVPH. By putting a pen stroke through the stamps they are ‘effectively being ruined’, Bulterman told the Telegraaf.

‘The stamps will no longer have any value. A stamp which has been crossed out with a pen can go straight in the bin,’ he said.

Letters have not been stamped by hand in post offices since the beginning of this year but are still machine stamped in sorting offices. Stamp collectors can, however, order hand-stamped stamps from PostNL’s own collectors club.

A spokesman for PostNL told the Telegraaf that the change was made to simplify the process. ‘We have stopped using the date stamp,’ he said. ‘We understand the disappointment and are looking at alternatives.’

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