KUALA LUMPUR: Far from being just a payment for sending letters and postcards, stamps also tell the story of a nation.

A set of rare stamps – the first ones used in the Straits Settlements – is among the collections on display at the 29th Asian International Stamp Exhibition, which began yesterday.

Tan Chee Hui of the Philatelic Society of Malaysia (PSM) said the stamps, which were first issued in India in the second half of the 1800s, told stories of the political and economic activities in the region during that period.

“You can see which states or countries were more important (than the others) at that time politically by looking at the items,” he said.

“For instance, at the time postage stamps were a luxury, so it means that the Straits Settlements were more advanced than the other states in our country at that time.

“The stamps are important historical artefacts,” Tan pointed out. “Stamps and postal history items are the best records for social history.”

The set of rare stamps, which comes in denominations starting from one anna (Indian currency), are on loan from Singaporean collector Tan Ah Ee.

The set’s estimated value is around S$2mil (RM5.2mil).

Other rare stamps on exhibit include the first postal stamps used by the Qing Government in China.

The stamps, which were issued in 1897, were first intended to be used as revenue but were later overprinted to become postal stamps.

The exhibition runs until Dec 6 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.

It is being held together with the Malaysia 2014 World Youth Stamp Exhibition and is organised by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, the Communication and Multimedia Ministry, Pos Malaysia and PSM.-thestar