Afghanistan 1999 stamps Orchids/Flowers/Plants/Nature full set MNH

Afghanistan 1999 stamps Orchids/Flowers/Plants/Nature full set MNH**

The complete set of Afghanistan 1999 stamps featuring Orchids/Flowers/Plants/Nature typically refers to a release that includes both a set of individual stamps and a souvenir sheet.

The full issue generally consists of:

• 6 individual stamps (or a set of 6 values) featuring various orchids or cactus flowers.
  • Michel Catalogue numbers: 1896-1901 (for the set of 6, often listed as “Cactus flowers”).
• 1 Souvenir Sheet (or miniature sheet) which contains 1 stamp.
  • Michel Catalogue number: Block 115.

Important Note for Afghan Stamps (1996-2001):

It is critical for collectors to know that a large number of stamps, including many topical issues from around 1996 to 2001 (which covers this 1999 set), were considered unauthorized issues by the Universal Postal Union (UPU) and Afghan Post officials.

The period between the end of the communist regime and the US-led invasion saw a proliferation of stamps sold primarily to collectors through various agents, which were not officially authorized for postal use by the then-governing bodies of Afghanistan. For this reason, major catalogs like Scott often list these issues as “unauthorized” or “illegal stamps.”

While they are beautiful and widely collected as thematic material, they were not officially recognized postal issues and should be treated as such in a collection.