A team of Italian researchers reporting in the journal Analytical Chemistry has developed an innovative complex method for verifying the authenticity and rooting out fakes of what may be the smallest and most valuable pieces of paper.

Designed and printed by New Zealand Post, the commemorative "stamp" is actually a pair - with the prince on one, his bride on the other and a perforated line down the middle. Which means Mr and Mrs can be torn apart.

The Lady Liberty forever coil stamp issued in December 2010 shows a replica of the world-famous landmark which stands outside a casino in Las Vegas, Nev., not the actual monument in New York Harbor.

At least one country is making postage stamps a relic of the past. The Swedish postal service is ditching stamps in favor of a text message payment system.

A set of four Chinese stamps from the Cultural Revolution era has sold at auction in Hong Kong for more than $1.15m (£708,000).

The Cuban Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Information and Technology and the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the People (ICAP) issued a special set of stamps on December 6 to celebrate the 50 th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties with Vietnam, on December 2.

The winner of the popular vote for the Most Beautiful Stamp of the Year 2008 was Frosty Night, a stamp designed by Nina Rintala

The price for a first-class mail stamp will increase 2 cents to 44 cents, starting May 11 2009.

Discerning collectors as well as professional dealers and ambitious investors will meet at the world's most important stamp auction to be held at the Rapp auction house from November 24 to 27, 2008.