Label (philately)

In philately, label^[1] or coupon^[2] or tab^[3] is a part of sheet of stamps separated from them with perforation (or narrow white margin in imperforate stamps). It cannot be used for postage because it does not have face value and any indication of a postal administration that issued such stamps with labels. The notion of label should not be confused with the term "gutter" or with a margin of a stamp sheet.

Sometimes, label is also a stamp-like adhesive of no postal value, often used for promotional purposes.^[4]^[5]

Stamp of the Soviet Union with a label dedicated to the Tree of Friendship in Sochi (1970)
Stamp of Russia with an intermediate label dedicated to the Russian painter and writer Vasily Vereshchagin (1992)
Mr. ZIP on a stamp sheet margin (not a label!). A US postage stamp (1966) featuring "The Boating Party" painted by Mary Cassatt in 1893–1894

References

^ See examples on the sites AskPhil Archived 2012-05-06 at the Wayback Machine and Stamps News and Stories. Archived 2010-02-13 at the Wayback Machine
^ AskPhil. Archived 2009-03-08 at the Wayback Machine
^ Kenmore Stamps. Archived 2012-03-19 at the Wayback Machine
^ Advanced Philatelic Glossary at findyourstampsvalue.com.
^ Glossary of Terms for the Collector of United States Stamps Archived 2015-06-01 at the Wayback Machine, United States Stamp Society, Inc.