3 ms·
Stamps are 1900s' NFTs.
by bhouston 5y ago
Stamps are 1900s' NFTs.
- VonGuard 5y agoIncorrect: stamps have a very distinct use. NFTs are just humongous numbers that are metaphorically associated with some.... thing.
- manquer 5y agoStamps had a function, now they are mostly decorative. You can print postage with unique number. Stamps are just one method for postal service to identify your package and its payment and transportation mode.
- poo-yie 5y agoUS stamps of today seem to be far less decorative (talking about the design on the stamp itself) than ones I've seen from days gone by.
- chrisseaton 5y agoStamps are fungible tokens though. The whole point of NFTs is they're non-fungible tokens - that's what the N stands for.
- electroly 5y agoIn terms of collecting, stamps are nonfungible. They are individually graded for the centering of the image, the condition of the perforations, the condition of the gum, and sometimes the novelty of the cancellation (if it's used). The price of a stamp is based both on the rarity of the stamp in general and on the grading of the particular stamp. When you buy a stamp, you're buying the exact pictured stamp[0], not a fungible equivalent. [0] Usually. Sometimes people will buy "spacefillers" where they don't care about the quality, they just want something cheap to put in the spot in their collection. These are often unpictured and you get whatever the dealer sends you. These could be considered fungible.
- klyrs 5y agoAn uncancelled stamp is technically fungible, but a cancelled stamp is, well, funged. It never ceases to amuse me that this can increase the stamp's value.
- electroly 5y agoUncancelled ("mint") stamps are still individually graded for centering, gum, and perforation. This probably matters less on modern stamps (vs. classic stamps) but nobody collects modern stamps.