Bluenose - Classic Canadian stamp issued in 1929, and
generally considered the most beautiful Canadian stamp
ever produced, with the perfect combination of design, engraving, and color. I
think it
is one of the most beautiful worldwide.
Centering
"Centering" for a stamp refers to how well the design is centered relative to the
perforations. Most stamps have a rectangular design, with a blank area around it,
and
then the perforations. In modern stamps the design is usually well centered, but in
older stamps, especially those produced before 1900, centering was often quite poor.
Here are some examples:
Those four stamps were printed in 1861, 1868, 1863, and 1868 (l to r), and exemplify
pretty well the extremes of centering that were not uncommon at the time.
Centering is usually described by philatelic experts with initials such as F, VF,
XF.
Here are the terms used, and their general meanings:
G = GOOD. This means the stamp is seriously off center, with the perfs
cutting
into the design. For anything but the rarest stamps, where there are so few that
any
condition is acceptable, stamps with GOOD centering are considered little more than
space
fillers. Some people call this grade AVERAGE.
F = FINE. This means noticeably off center on two sides, but the perfs
touch the
design only slightly or not at all.
VF = VERY FINE. This means the stamp is well centered, but not perfectly
so. It
is a bit off center in at least one direction, but still attractive.
XF = EXTRA FINE. This means the stamp is perfectly centered.
Note that the worst centering is not called POOR or ABYSMAL, which would be far more
accurate. Descriptions are always at least a bit exaggerated.
SO WHAT ABOUT THE FOUR STAMPS ABOVE?
The second and fourth have G centering, the first I would call VF, and the
third I would call F. This is not a science, and has a big effect on a stamp's
value, so
a seller is almost certain to evaluate the centering of his stamps better than a
buyer.
You will see grades such as F-VF, meaning FINE to VERY FINE, and implying that the
stamp is not quite VF, but certainly better than just F. On such minute
distinctions
rest big bucks. There is also SUPERB! And let's not forget GEM! Those imply the
Best
of the Best, a stamp that is the finest imaginable for its issue, and a true GEM
can sell
for many multiples of its catalog value.
"For its issue" - that brings up one last important point about centering. In those
early days when centering varied so wildly, some stamps that were printed in small
quantities, or with very narrow margins,
simply don't occur with centering even as good as VF. SO you will see
descriptions such as "XF for this issue!" attached to stamps that are really only
F. The
seller is trying to tell you this is about the best you'll get. If you trust him,
fine.
I suggest you look up the stamp in
Datz's The Buyer's Guide. He gives precise
statistics about all the early US stamps, with illustrations of typical centering,
so you
can be your own judge of how well a specific stamp compares to the standards for its
issue.
Here's more about centering, and its effect on a stamp's value.
Center Line Block
The center line block is a block of four from the center of a sheet of early 20th
century US stamps, with horizontal and vertical guidelines running through the
perfs, or
through the center of the blank space between the stamps. It was used for two
different
purposes on flat plate engraved stamps of the U. S.
On single-color definitive stamps, which were printed in sheets of 400 (20x20), the
guidelines showed where the sheet was to be cut into panes of 100. We have center
line
blocks because unperforated sheets of many definitives in the years from 1906 to 1926
were sold to private parties for conversion to coils (see the plate diagrams on my K is for Kansas City Roulettes page -
everything
you see on the left-hand image there would have printed.)
Bi-color stamps like our first airmail stamp, the 24¢ Curtiss Jenny stamp of
1918
(Scott C3), were printed in sheets of 100, and had to be printed in two steps, one
per
color. The guidelines helped align the plate for printing the second color.
Unfortunately, they did not guarantee correct up vs. down orientation, and the plates
used for the first printing of the 24¢ Jenny had no other markings to help
show top
vs. bottom. Under the pressures of time and efficiency, at least one sheet was
printed
with the centers inverted. After that sheet of 100 of the Inverted Jenny was
found, TOP
was added to both plates for subsequent printings. (see my I is for Invert Error page for a picture of the Inverted Jenny.)
Civil War
If you grew up in the South, as I did, you know that the proper term is not "Civil
War",
but "The War Between The States".
"CSA" stands for Confederate States of America, the official name for the South
during
the War.
In the North, the official name for the Civil War was "The War of the Rebellion"!
The Internet is full of great Civil War web sites - try your favorite search engine.
Here's a fascinating page titled The Confederate Postal Operations - Adding Order to a Time of
Chaos and
Disorder(!)
Examples of some Civil War era postal material can be found on my own W is for War, A is for
Advertising Cover, and Trains on
U.S.
Advertising Covers and Patriotic Covers pages.
Commemorative stamp
A Commemorative stamp is one issued to honor a person or event. It is printed
once, in relatively small quantities (typically 50 to 100 million in the U.S.), and
withdrawn from sale (if not sold out) after a specified time, usually about a year.
Or
at least that's what it used to be - these days, with stamps for insects,
aquariums, and
dinosaurs, the definition has been stretched quite a bit. They usually make at
least a
pretense of a connection to U.S. history or culture, but let's face it, the name of
the
game is "market appeal". Here is a page with
images of some U.S. commemoratives.
Cover
A cover is any postally used envelope, usually with an address, a stamp, a
cancel, a postmark, and perhaps other postal markings. Many of my pages show
examples of
covers - try A is for Advertising Cover.
Definitive stamp
A definitive stamp (as opposed to commemorative, special, or service-specific stamps) is one
issued as
a work-horse of the postal system. Usually small in size (so many will fit on a
pane),
and with a patriotic (e.g., a flag) or generic (e.g. "Transportation") design, it is
printed in huge quantities (billions), and reprinted as needed (unlike a
commemorative,
which usually gets only one printing), and may stay in service for many years -
some in
the U.S. have lasted over two decades.
Durland Catalog
The Durland Catalog is published periodically by the United States Stamp Society (formerly the Bureau Issues
Association), and lists all known plate numbers on U.S. stamps. That may seem like
useless information, but in fact has several important uses for collectors. For one
thing, its plate number can be used to authenticate a stamp, since plate numbers are
unique to a design and (usually) format. For another, some people collect plate
blocks,
i.e. the
block of four (or on some older issues, six or eight) stamps adjacent to the plate
number, and need to know what plate numbers were used, and in what quantity, since
rarer
numbers command a high premium.
If the topic of plate blocks interests you, I've written a little about them, here
Expertizing
I've made reference throughout these pages to the presence of fakes and forgeries
in the
philatelic marketplace, and the importance of being cautious when buying expensive
material - see especially Q is for Quality.
An expertization certificate is a form of insurance. Someday you or your heirs will
want to sell the items you have collected, and a certificate helps guarantee that a
prospective buyer will be willing to pay some reasonable percentage of what you did.
The way you obtain a certificate is fairly simple - first you need a request form
from
the service you wish to use. There are several general expertizing services I know
of in
operation in the US right now, and many other specialized ones. The next section
of this
document gives the names and addresses of two of the major ones. Write for a
certificate, which will explain as well the terms. They all charge a fee, either a
percentage of the item's value, or a flat fee per item.
Follow the instructions on the form, and send it in, then be patient. These things
take
time. Four to six weeks is typical.
A certificate is not a guarantee, however; new technology and information have led to
revised opinions about some material, in both directions - items once judged
authentic
may now be judged fakes, and ones rejected as fakes may be accepted as valid,
though the
latter is far less likely - you can count on the experts to be cautious and
conservative -
if they are not sure, they will say so, and give a "No Opinion" certificate.
The most frustrating thing for me about getting a certificate is that it never says
exactly how the experts reached their decision. Depending on the item, its value,
and
the complexity of the judgment, a service will submit your material to just one
expert,
or to as many as three or four. Most services have a reference collection of
material
known to be both genuine and fake, for comparison with items submitted for
expertization.
Some also have sophisticated modern equipment that allows them to analyze the item
with
special light or to analyze it chemically to reveal key features. And you may
assume the
experts have seen a lot of real items and fakes, so they know what to look for.
The bottom line for me is this:
1. I always try to authenticate tricky material first myself, if only to learn a
little
more about it. Understanding how to expertize my own material and what makes the
difference between the real thing and a fake increases my enjoyment of the hobby, and
helps protect me from costly mistakes. In addition, if I find it difficult to decide
what something is, I am better able to appreciate the efforts of the experts I
consult.
2. I avoid questionable material. If I have trouble finding the feature that
distinguishes a variety - a watermark or design element, for instance - I pass the
item
by. Even if the experts say it is genuine, I prefer to own something that exhibits
its
distinguishing marks as clearly as possible. This does not mean I don't need a
certificate for that item, of course. If there's money to be made faking it, someone
will do it.
Expertizing Services
American Philatelic Expertizing Service. Go to their website, or write them at -
APES
P.O. Box 8000
State College, PA 16803
American Philatelic Society members get a discount from the APES, so joining that
organization can save you money if you need a lot of certificates.
One excellent source of information about how expertizers work, and the methods
that are
used to authenticate stamps, is the recent series of articles by Mercer Bristow,
Director of the APES, in Stamp Collector (which is sadly now defunct (7/4/4).
-----------------------------
The Philatelic Foundation is one of oldest collector organizations in the
country. It has one of the best reference collections in the world, and offers one
of
the most respected expertizing services. There is another organization called the
"American Philatelic Foundation", which does have a web site - it has no connection
with
the PF.
The Philatelic Foundation
70 West 40th Street, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10018
Telephone: (212) 221-6555; Fax: (212) 221-6208.
Email: philatelicfoundation@verizon.net
Web site
-----------------------------
The Confederate Stamp Alliance specializes in CSA material.
Applications for authentication and/or applications for
membership are available from:
Patricia A. Kaufmann,
CSA Recording Secretary
522 Old State Road
Lincoln, DE 19960-9767
Link to Web site
First Day Ceremony Program
Most stamps issued by the USPS are announced several months in advance, with a
specific
issue date and city or town of release. At the designated place and time, a First
Day
Ceremony is held - some are very simple, others quite elaborate. Official USPS
Programs
are handed out free to attendees at the First Day ceremonies. These programs - which
also vary from plain to fancy - always contain a copy of the stamp being released,
with a
first day cancel, and a list of the dignitaries attending. The programs are a
moderately
popular collectible, and most are quite affordable, with prices in the $5 to $20
range.
The most desirable copies are ones that have been autographed by the famous names in
attendance. I have one I prize from the 1997 Thornton Wilder stamp FD ceremony with
Carol Channing's autograph - she starred on Broadway in "Hello Dolly", which was
based on
a Thornton Wilder play, "The Matchmaker". For some stamps issued in the past few
years,
the programs have been available by mail from the USPS Philatelic Fulfillment
Center, but
as with many practices of the USPS, there is no consistency to this. Recently
(starting
mid-2000), the ceremonies and programs have been severely down-scaled, as part of a
USPS
economy drive. The programs are now mostly very plain and unadorned.
Free Frank
The term "free frank" is often used today to describe the privilege granted to all
Congressmen, to send their mail free of postage. They simply sign the cover where
the stamp would go, or stamp their signature there.
But "free frank" is actually redundant,
since the verb "frank" means (according to my dictionary) "to mark (a letter,
package,
etc.) for transmission free of the usual charge, by virtue of official or special
privilege". Presidents, members of Congress, Postmasters, and other government
officials have long had this authority - their signature serves in place of a stamp
to
prepay their official mail, so one says they have the "franking privilege".
A more appropriate use of the term "free frank" is when applied to soldiers' mail -
in
most wars since the US Civil War, soldiers on active duty could send mail without
postage
by writing either "Soldiers' Mail" or "Free" in the top right corner. One of the
many
valuable accomplishments of the Universal Postal
Union was the institution of this Free Frank privilege for servicemen in time
of war
and the unobstructed passage of such mail between combatants, though the
implementation
of this system has not always worked smoothly.
Click here to
view a page about the history of the
franking privilege.
Freshness
"Freshness" is one of the important factors in evaluating a stamp's condition. Some
others are GUM, CENTERING, and PRINTING.
The ideal stamp is "Post Office fresh!" meaning it looks just as good as it did
when it
was first purchased, or better yet, when it was printed. The paper is fresh and
soft,
not browned or brittle; the gum is fresh, not browned and cracked; and the image is
clear, crisp, and unfaded. All of those elements combine to define a stamp's
Freshness.
Sometimes you have to look at a lot of examples of a stamp, to appreciate what true
"freshness" is. A stamp may look faded, but that could be just the way all of the
issue
was printed. The paper may look toned, but that could be just the paper it was
printed
on. So you have to look at a lot of stamps before you can safely evaluate just one.
Grills
"Grills" are a sort of embossing that was applied to US stamps as a security measure
during the period from 1867-1872. All or part of the surface of each stamp was
impressed
with a grid of small indentations that were intended to break the surface of the
paper
and cause it to absorb a cancellation so that it could not be washed and reused.
This was but one of many such schemes attempted by the USPOD in this early era of
postage stamp production. Whether they were really necessary - or merely the
result of
someone's paranoid fantasies - is debatable. None of them proved worth the time and
trouble, nor lasted long.
GUM - Hinging - Gum Condition
It surprises many people initially when they learn that the condition of the gum on a
stamp affects its value to a collector, but it's true.
Think of it this way - while it seems silly for a stamp worth only a dollar or two,
if
you are going to spend a hundred dollars on a tiny scrap of paper, you should get the
best example of that scrap of paper you possibly can. And stamps worth a hundred
dollars
- and much more - are not uncomon. Therefore the ideal stamp is post-office fresh,
with
bright color, a crisp, perfectly centered design, sharp perforations, and fresh
unmarred
gum. With early stamps, most of which have suffered some sort of wear over the
years,
small variations in each of those features can have significant affects on the
value (see
Q is for Quality)
Stamp Collectors have developed a special vocabulary to describe hinging on stamps -
NH means "Mint, Never Hinged", and is often indicated (in auction catalogs,
for
instance) by a pair of asterisks (**). It means the stamp is unused, and its gum has
absolutely no disturbance of any sort. Post Office fresh. You will often see
"MNH", for "Mint, Never Hinged", but to me that is the same as "NH" - the
"M" is
just for emphasis.
LH means "Mint, Lightly Hinged", and is often indicated (in auction
catalogs, for
instance) by a single asterisk (*). It means the stamp is unused, but has been
hinged,
and the hinge removed, leaving a discernible mark on the gum, but only a slight
one. You
may see "VLH", for Very Lightly Hinged, implying that the trace of hinging is being
mentioned only for strict accuracy.
H means "Unused, Hinged", and usually implies a good deal more than just
lightly
hinged, i.e. there are probably hinge remnants on the stamp.
HR means "Unused, with Hinge Remnants", and you can be fairly sure the back of
the stamp is a mess, with heavily disturbed gum and parts of several messy old
hinges.
OG means "Original Gum", and is often used to avoid more precise terms. It
means
the stamp is unused, and has at least some of its original gum, but is probably
hinged or
heavily hinged. You may see "partial OG", meaning the stamp has lost most of its
gum
somehow, but still has a little. Terms like OG are salesman's terms, ways of
trying to
make a stamp look better than it is.
DG is sometimes used as well, and means "Unused, with Disturbed Gum", which
does
not mean the stamp needs a psychotherapist, but that the gum is not pristine, and
none of
the other terms describes its condition accurately. There should be no hinge
remnants.
Sweated Gum and Glazed Gum are basically the same, and describe the result
when
stamps are stored under too much heat and/or pressure, melting the gum into a very
smooth, shiny condition that reduces the value as much as hinging.
Watch out for stamps with hinge remnants and/or heavily disturbed gum, as these can
conceal much more serious defects such as tears, thins, repairs, etc. Any stamp
that is
heavily hinged loses at least half its catalog value at once, and may in fact
qualify as
no better than a space filler. And keep in mind that anyone selling a stamp will
always
try to downplay its defects, so one man's "VLH" may be another's "H". Terms like
"virtually" and "almost" are often used to stretch the truth a bit.
For more on the value of stamps, see my Q
is for
Quality page, and my page on The
Economics of Stamp Collecting.
Locals, Agents, Provisionals, Carriers, Expresses, and
Forwarders
The period immediately before and during the early years of postage stamps in this
country was particularly rich in interesting and often short-lived experiments in
how to
prepay and deliver mail. All the postal mechanics and procedures we take for granted
today - for printing, distributing, selling, and processing stamps and stamped mail
- had
yet to be developed. Home delivery of mail did not exist - one had to drop mail at
and
collect it from designated places. There were not even post offices as we know
them -
collection and delivery points were public meeting places such as hotels and public
houses.
Even after the successful experience with the first postage stamps in Great Britain
in 1840,
the U. S. was not convinced the idea would work here, partly because it required
postal
reform, including lower standardized rates, which many feared would bankrupt the
government. But in 1845 Congress enacted a major standardization of the postal rate
structure, and Postmasters in the largest cities, starting in New York, sought and
received permission to create their own stamps - these were the Postmasters'
Provisionals, which were replaced in 1847 by the first official Government
issues.
During the same period, private and public organizations were developing the ideas
and
tools that would evolve into our modern mail system. Many of them created stamps,
i.e.,
adhesives or handstamps to record the payment of fees. The collection and study of
these
items, on and off cover, is a fascinating and rewarding specialty.
-----------------------------
A local is any private mail-carrying entity, and the term is sometimes used to
cover all the more specific terms discussed below. The true Locals were private
companies operating in larger cities to provide local pickup and delivery of mail
strictly within their city, mainly or at least partly independent of the Post
Office.
Many issued their own adhesives.
Carriers were individuals or companies who provided the missing link between
individuals or businesses and the Post Office - they charged a fee to take mail to
the
nearest Post Office or to collect it from one and deliver it to the addressee. Some
issued adhesives. The early ones were independent, but starting in the early 1840's
many were absorbed by the Post Office
Department. From the 1850's through the 1890's (?) Carrier service remained a
premium
service, even when provided by the USPOD.
Expresses were companies operating over longer distances, between cities, to
provide service in competition with the mails, or to offer services (such as package
delivery before the advent of Parcel Post) the Post Office did not. Their equivalent
today is organizations such as UPS and Federal Express. Their attraction then, as
now,
was the ability to provide faster service. Some issued adhesives to show payment
of fees.
Agents were individuals who acted on behalf of the Post Office, usually in
connection with a boat or train. They collected mail and fees at a departure
point, or
en route, added markings such as "PAID" and other postmarks and
cancellations, and
entered the items into the mailstream. They did not issue their own adhesives.
Forwarding Agents thrived during the period from 1820 to 1860, and served as
the
collecting and routing mechanism for international mails. Many added their own
markings
to the mails they handled. To my knowledge they did not issue their own adhesives.
To learn more about Carriers, Locals, and Expresses, I suggest you start with the
Siegel
Auction Galleries Encyclopedia entry on the topic.
"On piece"
Philatelists use the term "on piece" to describe a cancelled stamp on a piece of
paper,
usually a corner cut from an envelope, and ideally including all of the
postmark/cancellation. A stamp may also be "on cover", i.e. on the entire envelope
it
paid to mail.
Pane vs. Sheet
A pane of stamps is the largest quantity of stamps you can buy at a post office.
Many
people mistakenly call this a "Sheet of stamps", which actually means a larger
multiple,
of four or six or eight or even more panes, and corresponds to the size of the
plate used
to print the stamps.
You can buy full sheets (also called Press Sheets) of many modern stamps through the
USPS Philatelic Services Division, headquartered in the salt caves in Kansas City,
at 1-
800-STAMP-24.
Pasteup
Pasteup is a term used to describe a process used in creation of early coil stamps,
which were created in a manual operation that required trimming and pasting strips of
stamps together to form longer strips. The longest contiguous strip of stamps one
could
obtain at the time was twenty, so every twenty stamps in a coil of stamps there
would be
a Pasteup or Pasteup pair, where two strips had been joined. Some collectors of
early
coils like to collect these as significant varieties, while others avoid them.
For
more information on how pasteups were created, see this.
Perforations - Unperforated vs. Imperforate vs. Misperforated
"Imperforate" means a stamp was issued without perforations, a practice that
was
common in the earliest days of stamps, and again for a period in the US at the
start of
the 20th century, when private companies converted unperforated sheets to coils for
use
in their proprietary vending and affixing machines.
"Unperforated" means a stamp failed to receive the perforations it should have
had, and was released that way by mistake, constituting a production error.
"Misperforated" means a stamp has perforations, but they are so poorly aligned
with the design that they constitute a production freak. The line between "poorly
centered" and "misperforated" is somewhat a matter of personal judgment.
Despite all the above, few people use "unperforated". The common term for a stamp
issued "unperforated," in error, is "Imperf Error". So much for precise terminology.
Plate Blocks
I started collecting when I was eight or ten, when someone gave me a starter set for
Christmas. My Dad's boss heard I was collecting, and started sending home plate
blocks
of new issues. That hooked me - free stamps, and in a format I found mysterious and
appealing. I eventually accumulated a U. S. plate block collection for every issue
from
about 1910 on, and then decided I had too much money tied up in my collection, so I
sold
it off. But I still love plate blocks and other multiples for what they reveal about
stamp production methods and their development.
A plate block is the block of four (or on some older issues, six or eight) stamps
adjacent to the plate number on the pane of stamps you buy at the Post Office. Those
numbers exist on most stamps produced in this country since 1894, when the BEP took over production of U.S. stamps. Prior to that
time, stamp production was performed by private companies, and there was no official
policy about plate numbers, so some sheets of stamps had them, but others did not.
Most
did have some sort of marginal inscriptions, such as the name of the company that
printed
them.
Plate numbers were added to stamp plates as both a security device (sort of like
serial
numbers on money), and as an accounting device (to help in keeping track of how many
times a plate had been used, for example).
The study and collection of plate blocks is an interesting specialty area. Some
people
try to obtain an example of every plate number, while others are content with just
one
per issue. Until a few years ago, plate blocks were relatively scarce, since there
was
usually only one per pane of fifty or one hundred stamps. Recently the USPS has
started
putting a plate number in every corner of even small panes of twenty, so plate blocks
have little scarcity value, and have lost their appeal to many collectors.
The exception to the rule that all stamps since 1894 have plate numbers was the
Overrun
Nations set of 1943, about which you can learn a little more here.
Other pages in my web site where I mention (and show examples of) plate blocks are
F is for Firsts,
H is for Handstamp,
I is for Invert Error,
Durland Catalog,
Knapp FDCs.
Postal Markings
Postal Markings include handstamps, machine markings, hand
notations, x-cancels, etc., i.e. any officially applied
marking on a
stamp or cover, to cancel the stamp or provide some sort of record of its cover's
progress through the mails.
"CDS" stands for Circular Date Stamp, the most common sort of postmark put on
letters to record their time of entry into the mailstream, or of their receipt at
some
point along the way.
"PAID" was a common marking up until 1850 or so. Prior to that time, most
mail
was sent DUE, i.e. the recipient had to pay the postage. In the rare cases when the
sender pre-paid the postage, a PAID marking was applied, usually with the amount
prepaid,
e.g. "PAID 5", for prepayment of 5 ¢. (See the section below on "Stampless
covers"
for a couple of stories about how people used and abused the DUE system.)
"Cancels" today are the bars or lines to the right of the CDS that "cancel"
the
stamp,
i.e. deface it so it cannot be reused. In the 19th century cancels were often either
very
crude blobs that totally obscured a stamp's design, or Fancy Cancels
with wild and wonderful shapes representing anything from a bird to a death's head.
"Postmarks" are the city, date, and time stamps (usually in a circular border,
therefore a Circular Date Stamp), applied to mail to indicate the place and time
when it
entered the mail stream.
PRINTING - Printing Quality
One of the factors in evaluating a stamp's overall condition is the Quality of
Printing.
Especially in the early days of US stamp production, the quality of the product
varied
tremendously. Printing plates were expensive to produce, so they were used as long
as
possible, and the difference in the sharpness of the impression on an early printing
versus that on a late one can be dramatic. Ink was mixed and applied by hand, so the
amount, color and distribution all varied. The best way to understand this is to
look at
a lot of stamps, and see the differences for yourself. The most valuable stamp
will have
a sharp, crisp, bright impression, while its lesser brethren will look faded and
muddy.
Siderographer
Occupational title, engraving - person who operates the machine that transfers dies
to
plates, and supervises mounting and unmounting of plates on presses. Many U. S.
stamps
printed
in the early twentieth century have initials in the sheet margins, sometimes many
sets.
The Siderographer's initials occur (usually) only once per plate, and are
usually
in the
lower
left corner, put there when the process of "rocking in" all the individual stamp
images
was completed. The Plate Finisher's initials were added in the bottom right
corner, and
also occur (usually) only once per plate, as the Plate Finisher did the burnishing
and polishing of the plate after the Siderographer did his job.
Up until 1911, Plate Printers added their initials to the plate as well, one
set
each
time the plate was checked out of the vault for use, so there are often many
different
sets.
The images below are typical examples of plate printers' initials.
I'm not sure why, but the majority of the good examples I have seen
are from the Pan-American Exposition issue of 1901, and primarily for the plates
used to
print the vignettes (center of the design), in black. Perhaps most other plates were
larger, so the initials were printed in a part of the selvage that was cut off and
discarded?
For more on the subject of plate initials, take a look at the
excellent
web site of Doug
D'Avino, at
http://home.earthlink.net/~davinod/Initials.htm . My thanks to Doug for
his assistance in my getting this writeup right - on the subject of multiple
Siderographer initials on one plate, an uncommon but occasional
practice, he wrote me -
There are a couple of instances of multiple Siderographer initials on a plate...
It is
suspected that: 1) The second set of initials came from an apprentice or
2) Schedules were tight so another siderographer finished the job (perhaps
after it was proofed and had to be corrected). On my site, Charles
Vermeule and Harold M. Clarvoe have both initialed a single plate as
siderographers.
Service-specific stamps
Service-specific stamps are ones issued for a specific type of mail, such as
Air-
mail or Priority Mail. They are like definitives, in that they
may be
reprinted as needed, and remain on sale for an indefinite period of time. Today
they can
be used for any mail, their use is not restricted to the service for which they are
issued, but up until about thirty years ago that was not the case - an air mail stamp
could be used only for air mail postage. See also commemorative
stamps and special stamps.
Special stamps
Special stamps are ones that fit into none of the other categories(!) They
aren't quite definitives, they're not commemoratives, and they are not service-specific
stamps. They include Christmas stamps and Love stamps and miscellaneous other
issues
that are printed in relatively large quantities, may be reprinted as needed, and may
remain on sale for several years. Sounds like a definitive to me, but someone
decided
not.
Stampless Covers
The term "Stampless Cover" usually refers (for U.S. postal history)
to mail sent before the introduction of postage stamps
in 1847. Up to that time, letters could be sent either Prepaid or Due - the latter
was
most common - and the amount of postage was marked in pen or with a handstamp on the
letter. Mail carriers had to collect the postage from the recipient if it had not
been prepaid.
The collection and study of stampless covers is a popular branch of philately.
Features
that make a stampless cover appealing are what postal markings it carries, the
source and
destination of the letter, whether prepaid or due, and the rate charged.
WHY ROWLAND HILL INVENTED POSTAGE STAMPS
There is a story that Rowland Hill, the man credited with the establishment of
cheap
postage and the use of postage stamps in Great Britain, was inspired to develop the
concept by
witnessing a scene in a country village - the postman presented a letter to a village
maiden, who glanced at it, then handed it back, saying she could not afford to pay
the
postage. Hill, in sympathy, paid the postage and handed it to her. Once the
postman
had left, the girl confided to Hill that she did not want the letter at all, since
the
message it conveyed was written in a private code on the exterior, and she had read
it
when the postman first handed it to her. Whether the story is true or not, it
illustrates the major weaknesses of the older system, in which rates were very
high, so
most mail was sent Due, and the recipient was under no obligation to pay it.
THE POSTAGE DUE PRESIDENT
Even after the introduction of postage stamps in the U.S., their use was not
mandatory
for eight more years. One famous consequence of this was that in 1848, Zachary
Taylor
did not know he had been nominated for President
for several weeks after the nomination took place, until someone arrived to tell
him in
person - he had refused several letters conveying the news, because he did not care
to
pay the postage due! This seems incredible in these days of instant world-wide
communication, but demonstrates not only the disadvantage of the postage rules in
effect
at the time, but the different attitude of those times - people valued their
privacy. It
must be said as well in the famous man's defense that he had been forced to
instruct his
postmaster to reject all unpaid mail. Taylor was receiving so much from admirers
that
the cost of the postage due was more than he could afford to pay!
Moreover, he had not sought the nomination, and was not expecting it.
The term Stampless Cover applies as well, technically, to any other sort of cover
sent
without a stamp, such as Soldiers Mail and Free Franks, but its use is generally
understood to mean covers from the pre-stamp period.
Prepayment of postage became mandatory in the US in 1855.
Tagging
Tagging is a chemical substance used to coat a stamp (or as a component of its ink or
paper) that reacts to Ultra-Violet light by glowing. The purpose is to make stamps
easier for automated facer-cancellers and sorting machines to detect. The US started
using tagging on its stamps in a test mode in 1963, and since 1974 has used it on all
stamps. Most foreign countries now use some form of tagging as well.
To see tagging on US stamps you need a short-wave UV lamp, which you can buy from any
philatelic supplies dealer. The cheaper lamps, which cost as little as $35, may
require
total darkness to reveal the subtler types of tagging. A more versatile lamp can
cost as
much as $200.
Be very careful when using a UV lamp, as the light can damage your eyes if you look
at
it directly, and the human eye cannot detect UV light, so you will have no warning.
You
should be safe viewing the effects of UV light on your stamps, however, as that is
merely
reflected light.
Some collectors specialize in the collection and study of tagging varieties. In
the early
years of tagging on U.S. stamps there were several different styles in use, including
overall, and blocks of different sizes. Today most tagging is part of the paper or
of
a surface coating on the paper.
Thermography
Thermography is a specialty printing process in which a powder of ink and resin is
deposited on paper and then fused with heat into a raised, usually glossy, enamel-
like
design. It is sometimes mistaken for engraving, which can also produce a raised
design,
especially when printed on coated paper.
Wheel Arrangement Notation System
Some of the train references in these pages include notations such as "4-4-0" in the
locomotive description. These are a shorthand to describe the wheel arrangement of
steam
locomotives. The system used in America is called the Whyte system. There are three
(occasionally four) numbers - the first represents the number of leading or pilot
carrying wheels, the second the number of driving wheels, and the third the number of
trailing carrying wheels. The drivers are usually much larger than the others, and
are
the only essential wheels. So you could have an 0-4-0, but never a 4-0-4! You can
read
more about the
Whyte system
HERE .
The Europeans use a different system, with a combination of letters and digits, and
even
we Americans have a separate one for diesels. You can read more about the European
system HERE
and HERE
.
