Why do we need stamps? Before the advent of stamps, postage had to be paid at the office with change.  Stamps are much more convenient because you don't have to travel to the post office, and you also don't need to carry around change. From when stamps were first introduced there has been little change to them. The only real changes involve them being printed on better paper with brighter ink.

There is, of course, one other use for the humble stamp, and that is collecting them.  This seems to be one area of stamps that will not change, although computer-printed stamps are now becoming more common, and those are not as fun to collect.

Many countries now offer online services that allow you to print stamps from your computer.  The advantage to this is that you don't have to leave your house to buy stamps.  Some post offices also have terminals where you can weigh a letter or package, type the destination into the machine, and it will print out a stamp of the exact worth it will cost to send your item.  This eliminates the need for you to waste two stamps to mail an international letter, when in reality it may only cost 1 1/2.

There are other possibilities for the future of stamps, such as stamps with embedded microchips containing information on a letter's destination.  However, because stamps serve their purpose so perfectly as they are now, it is unlikely they will change drastically in the future.

Next, check out the errors section to learn how some mistakes could make you a lot of money, or just make that perfect addition to your collection.

Stamp History | Stamp Collecting | Stamp Errors