A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal

administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost
involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the face
or address-side of any item of mail—an envelope or other postal cover (e.g., packet,
box, mailing cylinder)—that they wish to send. The item is then processed by the
postal system, where a postmark or cancellation mark—in modern usage indicating
date and point of origin of mailing—is applied to the stamp and its left and right sides
to prevent its reuse. The item is then delivered to its addressee.
Always featuring the name of the issuing nation (with the exception of the United
Kingdom), a denomination of its value, and often an illustration of persons, events,
institutions, or natural realities that symbolize the nation's traditions and values,
every stamp is printed on a piece of usually rectangular, but sometimes triangular or
otherwise shaped special custom-made paper whose back is either glazed with
an adhesive gum or self-adhesive.
Because governments issue stamps of different denominations in unequal numbers
and routinely discontinue some lines and introduce others, and because of their
illustrations and association with the social and political realities of the time of their
issue, they are often prized for their beauty and historical significance by stamp
collectors whose study of their history and of mailing systems is called philately.
Because collectors often buy stamps from an issuing agency with no intention to use
them for postage, the revenues from such purchases and payments of postage can
make them a source of net profit to that agency.