I'm learning dutch so I thought it would be a great idea to do a post about stamps from The Netherlands. With that in mind that dutch word(s) for postage stamp is "post zegel". So let's talk about them.

The first "post zegel" was released in 1852.

What a dapper fellow that King Willem III was! Before the "post zegel", I can only imagine that you paid somebody in cheese or tulips in The Netherlands to deliver your mail, depending on how far away it was!

Officially King Willem III died in 1890 from a kidney ailment, but it was in Het Loo Palace so make your own story up.

Willem had had a sprog with second with Queen Emma who was too young to rule so Queen Emma was regent until Wilhemina turned 18. Those were the days, when 18 year old was grown up. But they hadn't invented Ibiza back then.

Wilhemina seems to like to look the other way on stamps. I have no clue if this is an official thing or not.

Dutch stamp collectors are weird. Here's a stamp worth over $3000.

The value is inverted which you'd think may account for its price. But it's fake! Genuinely they're off their rockers, how do I get into the dutch fake stamp printing business?!