Postal stationery (Ganzsache)

What Is Postal Stationery?

Postal stationery (German: Ganzsache) is a postal item with an imprinted stamp or inscription showing that postage has already been paid. The buyer receives a card or envelope with the postage built in, instead of an adhesive stamp to attach to something else.

Common Forms

• Postal cards: first issued in Austria-Hungary in 1869
• Stamped envelopes
• Letter sheets and lettercards
• Aerogrammes
• Newspaper wrappers

Use in This Catalogue

Editions with format: postal-stationery are prepaid postal items paired with an NFT, not stamps. Correos' criptopostales are the clearest example: each one is a physical card prefranked at tariff A, with an NFT on Polygon as its digital twin. They are listed alongside crypto stamps because they follow the same physical-digital pairing, but their postage is part of the card and no adhesive stamp exists.