Editing Postage stamp (section)

=== The twentieth and twenty-first centuries ===
[[File:Mannerheim on US stamp, Champion of Liberty.jpg|thumb|upright|The US Mail postage stamp of [[Marshal of Finland|Marshal]] [[C. G. E. Mannerheim]] from 1961]]
After [[World War II]], it became customary in some countries, especially small Arab nations, to issue postage stamps ''[[Glossary of French expressions in English|en masse]]'' as it was realized how profitable that was.<ref name="HBL"/>

During the 21st century, the amount of mail—and the use of postage stamps, accordingly—has reduced in the world because of [[electronic mail]] and other technological innovations. [[Iceland]] has already announced that it will no longer issue new stamps for collectors because sales have decreased and there are enough stamps in stock.<ref name="HBL"/>  In 2013 the Netherlands [[PostNL]] introduced [[Postzegelcode]]s, a nine-character alphanumeric code that is written as a 3x3 grid on the piece of mail as an alternative to stamps.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-05-23 |title=Postzegel niet meer nodig met app |url=https://nos.nl/artikel/509787-postzegel-niet-meer-nodig-met-app |access-date=2023-08-29 |website=nos.nl |language=nl}}</ref>  
In December 2020, 590,000 people sent cards with these handwritten codes.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-12-29 |title=Gebruik postzegelcodes PostNL bijna verdrievoudigd |url=https://www.rtlnieuws.nl/tech/artikel/5205786/postnl-postzegel-code-postzegelcodes-codes-kaartje-post |access-date=2023-08-29 |website=RTL Nieuws |language=nl}}</ref>