Philately is the hobby of collecting stamps. From time to time, St. Kitts Post Office produces commemorative stamps, which can be purchased from any post office. The commemorative stamps depict various themes, which are derived from issues of national importance to St. Kitts and Nevis.
- A set of single stamps – this is where a set is composed of stamps of each denomination, i.e., if an issue has four denominations of stamps then the set of single stamps would be made out of the 4 different value stamps.
- Set of two – set of two stamps of each denomination in a stamp issue.
- Set of three – set of three stamps of each denomination in a stamp issue.
- Blocks of four – set of four stamps of each denomination in that issue. We have 3 types of such block namely:
(a) Cylinder control or robot block – shows the number and types of colours used in producing the stamp.
(b) Imprint block – shows the company and country that has produced the stamp.
(c) Value block – shows the total value of stamps on a sheet of that denomination and serial number of the sheet.
- Double bottom row – this product has all the 3 ‘blocks of four’ described above.
- First Day Cover (FDC) – a special envelope, which is designed to go along with the theme of an issue. The envelope can be sold either with a full complement of each denomination of the stamps in that issue and endorsed with a special cancellation mark indicating the date of issue, or simply, on its own. A FDC’s stamps can be sold on or after the date of issue.
- Miniature sheet – is a sheet of stamps composed of all denominations of stamps in that particular issue of stamps.
All the products mentioned above are offered as mint or cancelled, except for the First Day Cover (FDC) with stamps, which has to be cancelled on the first day of issue.
Subject to review from time to time, presently the Posts carries out the following issues:
- Commemorative stamps four times a year. These stamps are valid for a period of 5 years. They can be bought at the Bureau throughout the first 24 months but are only available throughout the postal network for six months from date of issue.
- Definitive stamps are issued once in five years.
These are normal postage stamps used during the whole period and are valid for up to 8 years.
