A Valuable Stamp That Had No Value Part II Of II

In continuation to the post on Monday….

The stamp could be used for sending a free inland letter or postcard on the day the shares of the Dutch Post would officially be introduced at The Amsterdam Stock Exchange. The translation of the words on the paper that the stamp was mounted onto were: “This postage stamp is worth 80 cents on the day that PTT Post will be quoted at the Stock Exchage. On that day this little jewel will be valid for inland letters and cards up to 20 grams. Here you are!”

On June 29, 1998, the PPT finally appeared in the stock market. The “O” postage was only good for that one days mailing. Oddly enough, the stamp was not widely used by the public. There was only a small amount that ended up circulating through the mail system. Perhaps with having to wait 5 months to use the stamp, many people lost their “free stamp”. Perhaps people only regarded the original catalog packet as a form of junk mail and threw them out.

It is estimated that there were around 3,750,000 stamps printed and mailed to patrons.