Souvenir sheet

Souvenir sheets are small special format little panes of a few stamps, once only produced for special events. That event would often be a major stamp exhibition. Today, many stamp sets have souvenir sheets added as a normal thing.

They typically have large margins with inscriptions and details about the event. The stamp design can be part of the overall design of the souvenir sheet. Varieties can exist with differing margin imprints for different events.

Souvenir sheets are generally postally valid since, after all, they are sold by post offices. If produced imperf, souvenir sheets can be a source of imperf singles of the stamps used. However, sometimes only the intact souvenir sheet is postally valid. However, postally valid souvenir sheet that have been demonetized/made obsolete have been given to charities who have overprinted and sold them. An example of this is of a couple of Belgian souvenir sheets from the 1930s.

Printed souvenir items produced for events, either by the post office or privately, should not be confused with souvenir sheets. Many stamp shows in China give away items that look like souvenir sheets at first glance. However, these are produced privately and typically are undenominated. There are also private souvenir items that have reproduced expensive Chinese stamps but in a different size or perf.  File:Japan 1998 souv s.jpg|Japan 1998 New Year souvenir sheet, only available as prizes from the national lottery. These are postally valid nowadays File:US CIPEX s s.jpg|US 1947 CIPEX souvenir sheet. The singles have often been cut out and used as substitutes for the originals, albeit in the wrong colors File:US Magic SS.jpg|US magic souvenir sheet, created in lenticular format   File:China non postal ss.jpg|Privately produced souvenir item from China, probably produced for a stamp show 