A souvenir sheet or miniature sheet is a postage stamp or a small group of postage stamps still attached to the sheet on which they were printed. They may be either regular issues that just happen to be printed in small groups (typical of many early stamps), or special issues often commemorating some event, such as a national anniversary, philatelic exhibition, or government program.
Luxembourg issued the first generally recognized souvenir sheet in 1923, a single 10-franc stamp, not otherwise available, inset in a larger blank sheet. The purpose was to honor the birth of Princess Elisabeth. However, this country had produced a somewhat similar issue in 1921, a small sheet of 5 stamps to celebrate the birth of Prince Jean, and an even earlier sheet of 10 stamps for the accession of William IV in 1906.[1] Neither had margin inscriptions and both consisted of regular issue stamps that were otherwise available.[2] Since the 1920s many other countries have produced souvenir sheets. The United States issued its first one in 1926, and printed several more in the 1930s, with new ones occasionally issued since that time. Starting in 1955 the United Nations has occasionally produced them.
While some of the earliest souvenir sheets are valuable (for instance in excellent condition the US White Plains sheet of 1926 is worth hundreds of dollars), modern ones are typically produced in considerable quantities and have no special value except as an appreciation of their beauty.
This is a souvenir sheet from St Pierre & Milequon is shared from the Miller Collection.
A Souvenir sheet is a special postal issue, typically used to commemorate special events, which incorporates one or more stamps. It is produced on small format paper with wide margins, often printed with a unifying background and/or title. The stamps may or may not be perforated and usually differ in design and possibly denomination from each other.
A great resource to learn more about philately is the Smithsonian National Postal Museum – https://postalmuseum.si.edu
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