Christmas seal

Christmas seals are labels sold at Christmas time to raise funds for charity. These are/were often anti-tuberculosis organizations as shown by the double barred cross/Cross of Lorraine on stamps.

The first seal was issued in Denmark in 1904. Other organizations in other countries soon followed, with Christmas seals appearing in the US in 1907, Canada in 1908. Early on, the seals were allowed to be placed next to postage stamps and so are found cancelled. This was eventually banned requiring Christmas seals and other labels to be placed on the back of envelope.

A modern development is the release of an overall full-pane design, encouraging collection of whole mint panes.

 File:Canada 49xmas seal.jpg|Canadian french language seal of 1949. File:Canada 53 xmas seal.jpg|1953 Canada. Canada and the US shared the same design for some years. File:DWI xmas seal.jpg|Danish West Indies. File:Denmark 1973 xmas seal.jpg|Denmark seal from 1973. File:Finland xmas seal.jpg|Finland 1932 seal. File:Mexico Xmas seal.jpg|Mexico. Often released in this era in panes of 50 with different designs. File:US 1925 xmas seal.jpg|US 1925 seal. File:US 1990 xmas seal.jpg|US 1990 design. 

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