A hand stamp comprising: an outer shell having a hollow interior; an inner shell located within said hollow interior of said outer shell and relatively movable therein, said inner shell having a hollow interior; said inner shell and said outer shell having a common longitudinal axis; a stamp image carried by said outer shell within said hollow interior of said inner shell; a biasing device for providing a biasing force between said inner shell and said outer shell in a first direction along said common longitudinal axis; a limit stop mechanism (31, 32) for limiting relative movement between said inner shell and said outer shell along said common longitudinal axis; a releasable locking mechanism (44, 45) for normally preventing relative movement between said inner shell and said outer shell in said first direction until released; at least one user print sensor (15, 16) carried by said outer shell for generating user identification signals representative of the fingerprint of the user when contacted by the finger print of a user; and a microcontroller unit carried by said hand stamp and coupled to said at least one print sensor and configured for receiving and converting said identification signals to transmittable equivalent signals; characterised by: a communication unit coupled to said microcontroller unit for wirelessly transmitting said equivalent signals to an associated remote device containing fingerprint identification signals of an authorized user and for receiving a wirelessly transmitted release signal transmitted by the remote device when said equivalent signals match said identification signals of an authorized user; and said microcontroller unit being configured to generate a locking mechanism release signal for unlocking said hand stamp for use in response to the receipt of said release signal by said communication unit. an outer shell having a hollow interior; an inner shell located within said hollow interior of said outer shell and relatively movable therein, said inner shell having a hollow interior; said inner shell and said outer shell having a common longitudinal axis; a stamp image carried by said outer shell within said hollow interior of said inner shell; a biasing device for providing a biasing force between said inner shell and said outer shell in a first direction along said common longitudinal axis; a limit stop mechanism (31, 32) for limiting relative movement between said inner shell and said outer shell along said common longitudinal axis; a releasable locking mechanism (44, 45) for normally preventing relative movement between said inner shell and said outer shell in said first direction until released; at least one user print sensor (15, 16) carried by said outer shell for generating user identification signals representative of the fingerprint of the user when contacted by the finger print of a user; and a microcontroller unit carried by said hand stamp and coupled to said at least one print sensor and configured for receiving and converting said identification signals to transmittable equivalent signals; characterised by: a communication unit coupled to said microcontroller unit for wirelessly transmitting said equivalent signals to an associated remote device containing fingerprint identification signals of an authorized user and for receiving a wirelessly transmitted release signal transmitted by the remote device when said equivalent signals match said identification signals of an authorized user; and said microcontroller unit being configured to generate a locking mechanism release signal for unlocking said hand stamp for use in response to the receipt of said release signal by said communication unit. a communication unit coupled to said microcontroller unit for wirelessly transmitting said equivalent signals to an associated remote device containing fingerprint identification signals of an authorized user and for receiving a wirelessly transmitted release signal transmitted by the remote device when said equivalent signals match said identification signals of an authorized user; and said microcontroller unit being configured to generate a locking mechanism release signal for unlocking said hand stamp for use in response to the receipt of said release signal by said communication unit.