A miniature sheet is a stamp sheet smaller than a normal postal sheet and may contain one or more stamp designs, sometimes together with labels or tabs. It usually contains several examples of the same stamp. In Hungarian issuing practice, miniature sheets often contain no more than ten stamps, although larger formats have also appeared.
Like souvenir sheets, miniature sheets are often produced with collectors in mind. An important difference is that the stamps contained in a miniature sheet are normally also issued in standard postal sheets.
The world’s first miniature sheet was issued in Belgium in 1919. It contained ten stamps depicting one of the symbols of Liège.
Hungary’s first miniature sheets were issued in 1942 for the Red Cross I series. Every value in the set also appeared in a miniature sheet containing 12 stamps.
Despite the name, a miniature sheet is not necessarily physically small: some examples can occupy an entire album page. When more than one stamp design is included, the stamps may be arranged in regular rows or in mixed combinations.
