Stamp, Josiah Charles, 1st Baron Stamp of Shortlands, 1880-1941, English economist and financier. Active in many national and international economic commissions, he had an important part in the framing of the Dawes and Young plans for German reparations and was economic adviser to the British government after 1939. He was raised to the peerage in 1938. His books include Fundamental Principles of Taxation in the Light of Modern Developments (1921, rev. ed. 1936), Financial Aftermath of the War (1930), and Christianity and Economics (1939).

stamp: see postage stamp; seal.

Collection and study of postage stamps. The first postage stamps were issued in England in 1840, and in the U.S. in 1842. Stamp collectors usually specialize, collecting stamps of one country, one period of time, or one subject (e.g., birds, flowers, art). Value depends on rarity and condition. An issue of stamps that includes a printer's error may have increased value.

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(1765) British parliamentary measure to tax the American colonies. To pay for costs resulting from the French and Indian War, the British sought to raise revenue through a stamp tax on printed matter. A common revenue device in England, the tax was vigorously opposed by the colonists, whose representatives had not been consulted. Colonists refused to use the stamps, and mobs intimidated stamp agents. The Stamp Act Congress, with representatives from nine colonies, met to petition Parliament to repeal the act. Faced with additional protests from British merchants whose exports had been reduced by colonial boycotts, Parliament repealed the act (1766), then passed the Declaratory Act.

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A stamp is a distinctive mark or impression made upon an object, for instance those made on a piece of paper and used to indicate the prepayment of a fee or tax. Types of stamps include:

• Postage stamps, used on mail
• Revenue stamps, often used on documents; they are superficially similar to postage stamps, but may have very high denominations
• Philately is the study of postage and revenue stamps
• Stamp collecting is the extremely popular hobby of collecting postage stamps.
• Rubber stamps, devices used to apply inked markings to objects
• Seal (device), used by notary publics or other authorities for identification purposes
• A coupon, voucher, or electronic record of the right to a benefit, for example, Ration stamps and food stamps

People called Stamp:

• Josiah Stamp, 1st Baron Stamp, British banker
• Laurence Dudley Stamp, British geographer
• Terence Stamp, English actor

Stamp can also refer to:

• BASIC Stamp, a microcontroller
• Stomp (strike), a downwards kick using the heel that is sometimes called a stamp
• Stamping (metalworking), a process where metal is formed by being pressed with an embossed pattern
• Leather stamping, a leatherworking process
• Progressive stamping, a manufacturing process

See also:

• Stamps, Arkansas
• Stamps Family
• Stamps, a nickname for the Calgary Stampeders, a CFL team