Romania Postage Due Stamp, Unpaid Letter Tax

Romania · 1881 · 5 BANI

This is one of Romania's first postage due stamps, designed to indicate the amount of postage to be collected from the recipient of an underpaid letter. The design is purely functional, featuring the large numeral '5' for the denomination within an ornate, circular frame. The inscriptions 'TAXA DE PLATA' (Tax to Pay) and 'TIMBRU' (Stamp) clarify its purpose.

Issued in 1881, these stamps standardized the collection of unpaid postage in Romania, a common practice established by the Universal Postal Union to handle mail with insufficient franking.