The collection consists of sheets of commemorative UN postage stamps issued between 1983 and 2009, First Day Covers (colorful UN-issued envelopes with cancelled stamps) issued between 1969 and 1991, and UN postal cards issued between 1989 and 1996. Also included are commemorative philatelic collection cards from 1972 to 1994.
2016 United Nations International Dance Day stamps.
Collection Overview
The United Nations was established in 1945 to promote international cooperation and today counts most of the nations of the world as members. The UN is headquartered in New York City but also has offices in Geneva, Switzerland, Nairobi, Kenya, and Vienna, Austria.
The United Nations Postal Administration (UNPA) was created in 1951 to issue official U.N. stamps and stationary. The first stamps were issued by the UNPA that same year. Over the decades, interest in the collection of U.N. stamps has increased tremendously, to over 3 million per year in the 1970's. Print runs of U.N. stamps today are more on the order of 400,000 units.