Afghanistan has a long postal history, and has issued many highly collectible stamps in its time. It borders Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, China, and Pakistan.
The Emirate of Afghanistan began using its own stamps in 1871. These earliest stamps were square stamps, used at a 45º angle to make them diamond-shaped. They were not canceled in the usual sense, but had bits torn off of them for cancelation. Regular-style cancels began in 1891.
For several decades, the stamps of Afghanistan progressed in design rather slowly, even with the country’s 1919 independence from Britain. The new state, the Kingdom of Afghanistan, lasted until 1973; it was only in the 1960s that bolder and more colorful designs began to be seen on Afghani stamps — in fact, many collectors feel that the designs were improved in a direct effort to appeal to international philatelists and increase revenue for the country. Most stamps from this era use French (usually POSTES AFGHANES) as well as Persian.
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The Republic of Afghanistan issued stamps during its rule from 1973 to 1978, after which the country was renamed again, to the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. When the communists fell in 1992, Afghanistan became the Islamic State of Afghanistan until 2001, though from 1996 there was a struggle with the Taliban, who would rule part but never all of the country and who began the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
From 1992 until 2001, there were no official stamps issued in Afghanistan. However, one interesting subset of Afghanistan stamps are several nice-looking issues made between 1996 and 2001, while much of the country was under Taliban rule. These stamps have subsequently been declared illegal and invalid, but are collected by many international buyers as an interesting slice of history in this storied and volatile region.
See also: Tajikistan Stamps Collection: More History Than You’d Think
The country is now called the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, and has resumed the issuance of official stamps. The listings of Afghanistan stamps for sale in this section is updated daily. Check back often.
