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Stamps For Relief

The Stamp Collecting Report. I'm Lloyd de Vries.

China recently issued what's called a semi-postal stamp to aid its earthquake victims.

Part of the price pays to mail a letter...and part is a donation to a charity. In this 
case, about half   was supposed to go to quake relief -- but China's postal service has 
decided to donate ALL the money.

China has a large, active stamp collecting community...and people lined up at local post 
offices as early as 6 ayem the day BEFORE the stamps went on sale to buy them. But it 
wasn't just stamp collectors -- it was also non-collectors who just wanted to help.

The stamps are predominantly red and white, and show an earthquake crack, a seismic graph, 
and interlocking hearts.

Other countries, especially in Europe, issue semi-postal stamps all the time.

The U-S came into it fairly late, with the Breast Cancer Research charity stamp 10 years 
ago... which is still on sale. There was also a U-S stamp to aid the victims of September 
11th.

I'm Lloyd de Vries of The Virtual Stamp Club. For more on stamps and stamp collecting, 
visit virtual-stamp-club-dot-com.

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