{{short description|Marking on a mail piece showing that postage has been prepaid}} [[File:Bangladesh BA4.jpg|right|thumb|A Bangladeshi meter stamp which includes the indicium portion at right]] [[File:Indicium-Cuba-1894-4centavos.jpg|right|thumb|An indicium from an 1894 Cuban postal card depicting Alfonso XIII at age 5]] right|thumb|A handstamp indicium from German East Africa indicating prepayment of postage. A scarcity of postage stamps in WWI caused postal authorities to handstamp "Frankiert mit 7½ H" (plus a seal from the director of posts) on envelopes brought in by the public. In philately, '''indicia''' are markings on a mail piece (as opposed to an adhesive stamp)<ref name=Miller>{{cite web|url=http://www.linns.com/howto/refresher/terms_20050711/refreshercourse.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100525195046/http://www.linns.com/howto/refresher/terms_20050711/refreshercourse.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 25, 2010|title=Miller, Rick; ''The language of cover collecting'' in Linns.com Refresher Course section}}</ref> showing that postage has been prepaid by the sender. ''Indicia'' is the plural of the Latin word {{Lang|la|indicium}}, meaning distinguishing marks,<ref>Room, Adrian., ed. ''The Cassell Dictionary of Word Histories''. London: Cassell & Co., 1999, p.306.</ref> signs or identifying marks.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.linns.com/howto/refresher/identifying_20010827/refreshercourse.aspx|title=Wunderly, Kathleen; ''Foreign words spice up stamp collecting'' in Linns.com Refresher Course section|access-date=2010-12-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150504192200/http://www.linns.com/howto/refresher/identifying_20010827/refreshercourse.aspx|archive-date=2015-05-04|url-status=dead}}</ref> The term imprinted stamp is used more or less interchangeably,<ref name=Miller /> but some indicia are not imprinted stamps. One example is the handstamp, which can be seen in a photo on this page.
== Forms of indicia == Indicia can take a number of forms, including printed designs or handstamps where a stamp would normally be that indicate the pre-payment of postage. Imprinted stamps on postal stationery are indicia.<ref name="carlton"/>
The term also refers to a meter stamp impression<ref name="carlton">Carlton, R. Scott. ''The International Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Philately''. Iola WI: Krause Publications, 1997, p.117. {{ISBN|0-87341-448-9}}.</ref> or the part thereof that indicates the value or postal rate.<ref>Mackay, James. ''Philatelic Terms Illustrated''. 4th edition. London: Stanley Gibbons, 2003, p.71. {{ISBN|0-85259-557-3}}.</ref>
== See also == {{portal|Philately}} *Indicia (publishing) *Information Based Indicia *Postmark
==References== {{reflist}}
== External links == *[https://people.eecs.berkeley.edu/~tygar/papers/Cryptographic_Postage_Indicia/CMU-CS-96-113.pdf Carnegie Mellon University Computer Science technical reports CMU-CS-96-113: ''Cryptographic Postage Indicia'']
{{Authority control}} Category:Postal markings Category:Philatelic terminology