![cover image](https://wikiwandv2-19431.kxcdn.com/_next/image?url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b3/Belgium_railway_parcel_stamp_1881.jpg/640px-Belgium_railway_parcel_stamp_1881.jpg&w=640&q=50)
Parcel stamp
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In philately a parcel stamp is a stamp specifically issued to pay the fee for the transport of a parcel through the postal system and usually marked as such. It is to be distinguished from a postage stamp used to pay the cost of posting a parcel, although there may no practical distinction as far as the sender is concerned. Parcel stamps issued by governments have the same status in philately as postage stamps, but parcel stamps issued by private railway companies or road carriers are regarded as cinderella stamps and many parcel stamps are also railway stamps.
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b3/Belgium_railway_parcel_stamp_1881.jpg/320px-Belgium_railway_parcel_stamp_1881.jpg)
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bc/Great_Western_Railway_prepaid_newspaper_parcel_stamps.jpg/640px-Great_Western_Railway_prepaid_newspaper_parcel_stamps.jpg)
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/1901_Parcel_Post_Label.jpg/640px-1901_Parcel_Post_Label.jpg)
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b8/Great_Britain_private_parcel_service_stamps_-_4.jpg/640px-Great_Britain_private_parcel_service_stamps_-_4.jpg)
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/06/Perth_1971_postal_strike_private_stamp.jpg/220px-Perth_1971_postal_strike_private_stamp.jpg)
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/Italianapacchipostali10cent1914scottQ8.jpg/640px-Italianapacchipostali10cent1914scottQ8.jpg)
The international parcel post service was established by the Universal Postal Union on 1 October 1881 (Great Britain, India, The Netherlands and Persia, 1 April 1882), following the agreement of 1880 in Paris.[1][2]