2018-07-19 Thu

‘Caritas’ in Latin means charity. The stamps which were issued for the purpose of raising money for charitable purposes are referred to as "Charity Stamps". These are regular definitive and commemorative postage stamps, but they have a "value-added tax" or "surtax" on them, designed to raise money for national organizations, public events, and public charities.

The first Belgium Charity Stamps appeared on 1st June 1910. With the purpose of charity 8 stamps were printed and issued. They are actually two sets of four stamps, with each set being printed in a different format.

The stamps depict St. Martin of Tours Dividing his Cloak with Beggars, based on the painting by Anthony van Dyck, the world-renowned Flemish Baroque painter. These stamps were issued in four different denominations i.e. 1c, 2c, 5c and 10c.

The charity Belgium stamps of 1910 were re-issued the following year which are identical to the 1910 stamps, but they are overprinted "1911" at the upper right.

Image Curtsey: https://www.stamp-collecting-world.com