US Duck Stamps ... What Do Ducks Have to do With Stamps??

United States Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamps, better known as “Duck Stamps,” are beautiful large pictorial stamps produced by the U.S. Postal Service for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. They're called duck stamps because they always feature an artist's rendering of a specific type of wild game bird - often ducks.

Duck stamps cannot be used for postage: they serve as the federal licenses that are required for hunting migratory birds. A different duck stamp is produced every year, and hunters of migratory birds must purchase one each year. Every year an artist's contest is held and the winning artist's design becomes the design of the next duck stamp. Duck stamps are absolutely gorgeous, visually stunning stamps with vibrant colors and splendid detail, and are extremely popular among stamp collectors.

In addition to serving as hunting licenses, federal duck stamps raise money for wetlands conservation and the National Wildlife Refuge System.

Famous US Stamps - The Pan-American Issue Inverts


Issued in 1901 in connection with the Pan-American Exposition held in Buffalo, New York, the six beautiful commemorative stamps of this series, Scott Nos. 294-299, were early bi-colored stamps. They feature various transportation-related subjects, including several ships, a vintage electric automobile, a steam engine and train, the bridge at Niagara Falls, and canal locks at Sault Ste. Marie. The set is a must-have for any US stamp collector and, because of its theme, it's a desirable set for topical stamp collectors too.

Three of the stamps - the 1 cent, 2 cent and 4 cent, are known to have varieties with inverted vignettes - the central part of the design.

Few stamp collectors will ever own one of the Pan-American inverts, but we can all hope.

Keeping Track of Your Stamp Collection

Keeping a stamp inventory is a logical step once your collection grows beyond just a few stamps. After all, if you don't keep track of what you already have, you won't know what you still need, and you'll also run the risk of buying unneeded duplicates. And even more important than those important considerations, if you keep an up-to-date inventory of your stamp collection you'll have a proper record of your holdings for insurance purposes.

Some people prefer the old-fashioned way of recording their stamp purchases and sales: they use pencil and paper. This method has a couple of advantages - namely, it's free and it's extremely flexible - but it can also be time-consuming, as every entry must be manually made. Another downside is the amount of paper that can be required: if your stamp collection is extensive, the inventory may occupy several notebooks.

Using one of the many philatelic computer programs that are available is a more modern method than the old pen and paper method. This type of software consists of specialized programs that inventory and track the contents of stamp collections. Although most if not all must be purchased, they have several advantages. New items can easily be added, sold items can easily be removed, and a list of stamps can be sorted, generated and then printed out in several ways. You can even add scans of actual items in your collection.

An alternative to a dedicated stamp inventory program is Excel, a computer-based spreadsheet program that many are familiar with and already own. Pictures aren't possible, but many of the other advantages of dedicated philatelic programs are still there, including ease of entry, removal and inventory sorting options. As with the dedicated software, a list of your holdings can easily be generated and then printed out.

How to Buy Stamps

Finding free stamps is nice - you can get them from your own mail and from friends and relatives. But at some point (usually soon) those free stamps just aren't enough to satisfy you. Either you already have them or you just want to branch out into something different than what you see in the mail. Fortunately there are many ways to build your stamp collection if you're willing to spend a little money. Once you begin buying stamps, your problem will be too many stamps to choose from, and not enough money.

Stamp shops aren't as common as they used to be, even just a few years ago. They still exist, though, and there are 1,200 stamp shops in the US, with thousands more throughout the rest of the world. To see if there's a stamp shop in your town, look in the telephone yellow pages under "stamps for collectors."

Online stamp shops like The Stamp People are taking up the slack from the lower number of brick and mortar stamp shops that are still around. Online stamp dealers, like any other sellers, are generally reputable, honest and professional, and their stamp offerings are of the same quality as an in-person stamp dealer. Online stamp auctions also exist on a number of websites.

Another source of stamps are the public stamp shows that are regularly held in the US and all around the world. Some are very large, but others are much smaller with fewer dealers. The smaller shows are perhaps a better place to start: big stamp shows feature hundreds of dealers and can be a bit overwhelming unless you've been to one before. Learn where and when local stamp shows will be held by asking your stamp dealer, reading philatelic newspapers and checking stamp websites. You'll find stamps, covers and supplies at just about every stamp show, and sometimes paper ephemera and vintage postcards too.

Some stamp dealers offer mail-order stamp services: some are worldwide stamp dealers, while others are much more specialized. Some stamp dealers, including some pretty large ones, will send you stamps on approval, where you pick and keep those you want and return the rest along with your payment.

You can also buy stamps (new issues only) at any post office. Not all post offices carry every current stamp, but all should have at least a few different stamps to choose from. Some of the post offices in larger cities have a special philatelic window that serves the needs of stamp collectors. If you're lucky, one of these "retail stores" will be easy for you to get to. But don't panic if there isn't one in your area: the US Postal Service also offers a mail-order Philatelic Fulfillment Service Center. You can also buy stamps on the USPS website, located at www.usps.gov. And every country that issues stamps has its own postal administration. Many take stamp orders from collectors that are located elsewhere, and they often have websites, making it far easier for you to make purchases.

Should You "Invest" in US Forever Stamps?


The USPS has announced yet another postal rate hike, this one to take effect May 11, 2009. The 1-ounce domestic letter rate will rise 2 cents, to 44 cents, and the international one ounce rate will rise even more, to 98 cents. Rates for many other mailing services will also increase.

Postal customers can, however, use Forever Stamps — regardless of when they were purchased — to avoid some of the bite of this and future rate hikes: Forever Stamps can be used to mail 1-ounce domestic letters after the price change without the need for additional postage. Forever Stamps are widely
available through post offices, retail outlets such as grocery stores, and online, and the USPS seems to be encouraging their use. Right now their price is 42 cents, but they'll go up to 44 cents on May 11. Forever Stamps purchased before the last rate increase (in May 2008) cost 41 cents, but regardless of what was paid for a Forever Stamp, it can be used to pay whatever the 1 ounce domestic letter rate happens to be at the time.

So, should we stock up on Forever Stamps as a means to hedge against postal increases?

No. Although we deplore the inefficiencies of the USPS which have contributed to the need for this rate hike (just like we deplore the inefficiencies of the American Big 3 automakers) the need for the increase is there. But investing in Forever Stamps by buying large quantities is a bad idea, because postal rate increases, since 1971 at least, have historically been lower than the inflation rate. Despite the numerous postal rate hikes during that period, the relative cost of stamps has actually gone down. The overall inflation rate has been higher than the postal increases, so the dollar, relative to the cost of a stamp, is worth less now than it ever has been. If the same pattern holds, as the dollar continues to go down, you'd be paying more for today's Forever Stamps than you would in the future for a "regular" stamp.

Several other countries offer the equivalent of the US Forever Stamp: the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Belgium, Finland, Norway, Sweden among others. The Forever Stamps are not a bad thing for postal customers, but they'd be a bad long-term investment.

Glassine Envelopes (or just "Glassines")


Glassine envelopes are an invaluable, indispensable tool for stamp collectors. Glassine is a thin, lightweight, semi-transparent or translucent paper-type material which is fairly resistant to moisture. It's used in stamp hinges and in glassine envelopes, and unlike regular paper, it contains no chemicals that would harm stamps.

Glassine envelopes are inexpensive, widely available from stamp suppliers and come in a wide variety of sizes. Sizes range from small enough to only hold a few stamps all the way up to large enough to hold booklets, covers and many souvenir sheets. Books made of glassine leaves are also available to store full sheets of stamps. Because glassine is semi-transparent, you can see what's inside without needing to take your stamps out of their glassines.

Along with stock pages or stock books (some of which incorporate glassine pockets and/or interleaving into their design), glassine envelopes are a great way to store stamps until they're mounted onto the pages of your stamp albums, although it's not recommended to leave them in glassines for, say, 50 years.

Flag Over Porch Stamps - A Fascinating Study in Recent US Stamp Varieties


If you like definitive stamps and you're into finding multiple varieties of the same basic stamp design, try having a look at the 32 cent Flag Over Porch stamps issued by the United States in the mid- to later-1990s. You'll find more than enough varieties to satisfy you. The stamps are common and fairly recent so they're not hard to find, but they have more than a dozen main varieties (and many more minor varieties) to look for.

The USPS used three different printers for these stamps. Some are self-adhesive serpentine die cuts while others are lick-and-stick stamps. There are three different year date imprints - some blue, some red, for 1995, 1996 and 1997. They were printed in different formats - sheet stamps, coil stamps and booklet
stamps. They were printed using different die cut gauges and perforation gauges. And compounding it all is the sheer number of different plate numbers that were produced on the coil stamps. Distinguishing between all these types can be a philatelic challenge. For a while, new varieties of the Flag Over Porch stamps were being discovered regularly, and they still pop up from time to time. In our opinion the Scott U.S. Specialized Catalogue has yet to list all the varieties that have been discovered.

Entire stamp albums can and have been printed to display these fascinating stamps in all their philatelic glory.

The three printers used were Avery Dennison (AD), Stamp Venturers (SVS) and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP). Avery Dennison booklet FOP stamps were the first, distinguished by a thicker "USA 32," a pale blue background and a die cut of 8.7 on 2, 3 or 4 sides. The first printing had a small blue 1995 year date imprint. It is Scott No. 2920b. Later printings bear a larger year date imprint and are Scott No. 2920. At the same time AD also printed coil stamps, die cut 8.7 vertically, with a large blue 1995 year date. Primarily sold through the US Philatelic Bureau, these stamps - Scott No. 2915 - are somewhat scarce, particularly used.

A thin "USA 32" and a blue 1995 year date characterize the initial Stamp Venturers printings. The corner of the building is not visible below the flag, and there is no partial star at the left. The first SVS printings (Scott No. 2897) were a gummed sheet stamp with a dark blue flag, perforated 10.4 (Scott No. 2897); and a gummed coil stamp with a paler flag perforated 9.8 vertically (Scott No. 2914). SVS also produced a coil stamp with die cut 11.5 vertical and a blue 1996 year date imprint. The blue of the flag on this Flag Over Porch stamp (Scott No. 2915B) is dark. And SVS also produced an experimental linerless coil stamp in 1997 (Scott No. 3133), although they are dated with a blue 1996 imprint. Die cut
9.9 vertically, the sky at right is pale, but the flag features a deep shade of blue.

The FOP stamps printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing feature a thin "USA 32." The Sky is a darker blue than used by the other printers and the curtains of the house are darker. But the main distinguishing feature of the BEP Flag Over Porch stamps is that all of them bear a red year date imprint. The first BEP FOP stamps were issued in 1995 and have a red 1995 date. They are lick and stick stamps perforated 10.8 x 9.8 on two or three sides, in booklet panes of 10 (Scott No. 2916). They exist as an imperforate error (Scott No. 2916b). Another BEP booklet stamp was printed in 1996, a self-adhesive die cut 9.8 with a red 1996 date (Scott No. 2921). And yet another BEP FOP stamp (Scott No. 2921C) bears a red 1997 year date. It was issued in booklets of 15, with one pane of 10 plus one of five with label. BEP also printed coil stamps. The first bears a red 1995 year date. Perforated 9.8 vertical, it has pronounced light blue shading in the flag (Scott No. 2913). It was reissued with shiny gum in 1997, but that stamp still has the 1995 year date. Coil stamps with die cut 9.8 were issued in 1996 and bear a 1996 year date imprint. This stamp (Scott No. 2915A) features several varieties, with straight cuts at the bottom or the top. There are also four different types of die cutting, distinguishable under magnification. Scott No. 2915C is yet a different coil variety with a 1996 year date, die cut 11 vertical, and the die cut 9.8 coil stamp was re-issued with a 1997 year date (Scott No. 2915D). It features rounded die cut corners at top and bottom, and was issued on peelable backing paper that was larger than the stamps.

Plate numbers on coils just add additional spice to the challenge that's already presented by the Flag Over Porch issue. Some, like Scott 2914, 2915, 2915B, 2915D and 3133 bear only one number. But 2913 and 2915A offer more than 10 different plate numbers. Add to that the die cut styles and the fact that some copies of 2915A have 10 or 11 teeth per side and there are some interesting and sometimes scarce combinations.

Are you confused yet? If you are, you're not the only stamp collector who is. But despite your confusion, keep in mind that the FOP stamps present a remarkable challenge to collectors, and you'll be richly rewarded if you can master their intricacies.


Author's Note. The Scott Catalogue numbers for this article are taken from the 2000 edition of Scott's United States Specialized Catalogue, printed not long after the end of printing of the Flag Over Porch stamps. Several varieties were discovered after the catalogue's printing, and several numbering changes were made in later editions, including re-categorizing some of the minor varieties of FOP stamps as major varieties.

Honoring Living People With Stamps



Australia Post, unlike the United States Postal Service, permits its stamps to depict living people.

Four stamps issued on January 26th (Australia Day) honor four of the country's newest "Australian Legends." All four are Hollywood film stars.

Cate Blanchett, Russell Crowe, Nicole Kidman and Geoffrey Rush each now have a stamp that features their likeness, issued in honor of their contribution to Australian culture and entertainment.

The postal authorities of some countries produce stamps that feature living celebrities as a means of tapping into their popular appeal and increasing stamp sales. But from an American perspective, it's odd to see.

Auction to Benefit Australia Bush Fire Victims



In a remarkable and no doubt welcome outreach to the victims of Australia's tragic bush fires, Melbourne stamp auctioneers Prestige Philately have announced that they will hold a charity auction to raise funds for the Red Cross Victorian Bushfire Relief Fund.



The auction will take place on Friday, March 13th.



According to a press release from Prestige Philately, "Some one thousand homes have been lost and more than 180 people are known to have perished, while dozens are in hospital. Several substantial settlements have been wiped off the map. Many other towns have been grievously affected."



"Among the deceased and the dislocated are a number of people well known in the philatelic community. One collector lost not just his home but also the three parish churches at which he ministered. A prominent philatelist and his wife have had to endure the immeasurable loss of their son and daughter-in-law, and three young grandchildren."



We applaud Prestige Philately's outreach to the victims of this terrible tragedy and hope stamp collectors around the world will support it by donating material to be sold for this worthy charity.



Donations of philatelic material to be sold at this auction must be received by Prestige Philately by the end of February. Items can be sent by registered mail to PO Box 126, Belgrave 3160 Australia or delivered to the firm's premises at Unit 2, 1630 Burwood Highway, Belgrave, Australia.

Yet ANOTHER Rate Increase by the United States Postal Service



Groan. They've done it again (or, at least, they're about to do it). The Governors of the USPS announced yesterday that they have approved new rates for First-Class Mail, Standard Mail, Periodicals (newspapers and magazines), Package Services (retail Parcel Post), and Special Services, effective May 11, 2009. The price of a First-Class Mail stamp will increase two cents to 44 cents.



Many Postal Service shipping prices were raised in January 2009 and thankfully they will not increase again in May. But in addition to the First-Class Mail stamp, other postal rates that will go up May 11 include: postcard stamps increasing by a penny - to 28 cents; the first ounce of a large envelope (flat) increases 5 cents to 88 cents; and the first ounce of a parcel increases 5 cents to $1.22. The new, increased First-Class Mail International postcard and letter rates (first ounce) are: Canada - 75 cents, Mexico - 79 cents, and other countries - 98 cents.



The likely result of these increases? We think enough is enough. There have been entirely too many rate increases lately, and they're coming faster and faster than ever. My goodness, the last postal rate hike was just last month! There is a breaking point, and we may be rapidly approaching it. People just may react by sending more emails and making more phone calls, sending fewer letters through the mail. Postal revenue may go down instead of up - the opposite effect that the USPS wants. I mean, good grief, it's now cheaper to place a telephone call to just about any country in the world - and talk for more than a few minutes, too - than it is to send a one ounce letter to the same place.



What's wrong with the USPS? They need to get as lean and mean in conducting their business as the rest of us have had to become, not price people out of using their service. USPS, you need to get much more efficient in how you do things, not raise your rates yet again. That's what makes a business successful in these hard economic times.

How Postmarks Can Affect Stamp Values





Stamp cancellations can significantly affect the value of postmarked stamps. Stamp collectors who don't collect cancels usually prefer lightly cancelled stamps with postmarks on a corner or a small portion of the stamp, so that the stamp design isn't obscured. All other things being equal, lightly cancelled stamps are ordinarily more valuable than stamps with heavy or smeared postmarks.



But the presence of cancellations themselves may increase the value of stamps. Many unused stamps are more valuable than their used counterparts. An example is the British Penny Black, which has an unused value that's almost 20 times higher than the used value. But the opposite is true for some other stamps, such as the Germany hyperinflation stamps - these have a value that's much highe if they're postally used.



Some collectors are far more interested in the cancellations than the stamps. Those stamp collectors prefer bold, clearly struck and highly legible cancellations instead of the light postmarks preferred by other collectors. It's possible to specialize in cancel collecting: you can collect the cancellations of a particular country or city, different cancels on the same stamp issue, or a specific type of cancellations, such as fancy cancels.

Pictorial and Slogan Cancellations



The United States Postal Service makes a distinction between special cancellations which have a caption that publicizes an event (a type of slogan cancellation), and pictorial cancellations, which contain an image.



In the United States, official pictorial cancellations are almost always applied at what's called special "stations," - post offices that are created and exist for only a very short time, often one day, at a special event. A good example of this is a Pittsburgh Steelers cover that we own. It commemorates one of Steelers' victories in the Super Bowl. It was cancelled at a special station at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh (that USPS station did not normally exist and was only created for this event) and it also is a pictorial cancel, as the text of the cancel is all within the image of a football helmet (see the picture above).



The range of subjects that are allowed for slogan cancels and pictorial cancels is pretty wide. They may even include tie-ins for commercial or marketing purposes, such as the "Happy Who-Lidays" pictorial/slogan cancel that was so widely used by the USPS a few years back.

Types of Stamp Cancellations

• A Bullseye cancellation (also called Socked on the Nose or SOTN) is a stamp collecting term for a typically circular cancellation that was struck on or very near the center of a stamp's design. Well-struck bullseye cancels are popular with some stamp collectors because of their neat appearance.

• Cancelled-to-order stamps (also called CTOs) are stamps that have been cancelled by a postal authority, but were never used to transmit mail. They are created by postal authorities in order to sell them cheaply to stamp collectors. Many Eastern European countries and others sold great numbers of CTOs to collectors in the 1950s - 1990s strictly for revenue. CTOs still retain their original gum. Some authorities use the same canceller for all CTOs, and apply it very neatly in the corner of four stamps at one time. In some instances, the "cancellations" are actually printed as part of the stamp itself.

• Deferential cancellations are designed so as not to deface the image of the ruler or regent on the stamp.

• Fancy cancels were produced during the last half of the 19th century by postmasters in the United States and Canada. They carved or cut their own cancellers from cork or wood in various designs such as stars, circles and flags. Fancy cancels are extraordinarily popular and are highly sought after.

• First day of issue cancels (FDC cancellations) are special cancellations with the date the stamp was first issued for sale and the words "First Day of Issue" or the equivalent in the issuing country's language. Some include an illustration related to the subject of the stamp.

• Flag cancellations are a US machine cancel that uses the design of the United States flag. The stripes of the flag serve as the killer portion of the cancellation.

• Handstamped cancellations are applied by a hand stamping device rather than a machine.

• Highway post office cancels are applied in transit by portable mail handling equipment in trucks.

• Machine cancellations are added by high-speed processing machines.

• Mute cancel refers to a cancellation that includes no text and "does not speak."

• Pen cancels (or handwritten cancels) refer to the use of a writing pen to deface the stamp. They were more common in the 19th and early 20th centuries, but are still used by postal workers who notice a stamp that missed being machine cancelled.

• Pictorial cancellations include illustrations that are related to some event, person or anniversary.

• Precancels or precancelled stamps bear pre-printed cancellations. Unlike CTOs, precancelled stamps are intended for use in the mailstream and are typically used by mass mailers. Precancels typically cannot be used without a special permit so are not normally used by the general public.

• Railway post office (R.P.O.) cancels are applied on mail that's sorted on trains. They typically include information about the specific railroad and train as well as the date. The last Railway Post Office operated by the United States closed in 1977.
  

• Ship cancels are added to stamps that were mailed on or carried on a ship, often a steamer ship in the late 19th to early 20th centuries. They typically include information about the specific ship and sometimes the steamship line as well as the date. In French, the cancellation reads "Paquebot."

• Slogan cancellations include an advertising or patriotic slogan.

Cancellations



Many people call them postmarks, but the philatelic term is "cancellation." A cancellation (or cancel for short) is a postal marking applied on a postage stamp or a piece of postal stationery in order to deface the stamp and prevent its re-use in the mails. They come in a wide variety of styles, shapes, sizes and even a few different colors. Modern United States cancellations, as well as those from many other countries, commonly include the date and post office where the mailing took place, in addition to lines or bars designed to cover the stamp itself.



The portion of a cancellation that is designed to deface the stamp and does not contain any information is also called the "killer" or "obliteration." Some stamps are issued pre-cancelled with a printed or stamped cancellation and generally do not receive any additional cancellation. Cancellations can affect the value of stamps to collectors, either positively or negatively. The cancellations used by many countries have been extensively studied by philatelists and many stamp collectors and postal history collectors collect cancellations in addition to the stamps themselves.



We'll talk more about cancellations in the next few days.

What Are the Admirals?



Canada issued stamps (1912 and 1925) in a series that depicted Great Britain's King George V in the full dress uniform of an admiral in the Royal Navy. The series is handsomely designed, beautifully engraved, colorful with each stamp denomination being a different color, and very popular with stamp collectors. A number of varieties of the stamps exist, with different dies and plates being used to print the stamps.



The Canadian Admirals are one of the most fascinating and heavily-studied stamp issues that Canada has produced.



New Zealand (1926) and Southern Rhodesia (1924-1930) issued similar stamps.

How to Use Stamp Hinges


Knowing how to hinge stamps into an album is an almost essential talent for all stamp collectors. Stamp hinges are the cheapest, easiest and most popular method to hold stamps in place on album pages. Typically they are are tissue-thin, semi-transparent or translucent small slips of paper that are gummed on one side. This thin layer of gum is activated by moisture, either saliva or water (but not too much!) Stamp hinges are very inexpensive, especially when compared to stamp mounts, and are perfect for beginning stamp collectors and even seasoned collectors who want to mount used stamps.



Most are sold pre-folded and creased along the fold line. With pre-folded hinges, about a quarter or a third of the hinge is folded over onto itself so that the gummed portion faces out. The crease helps the hinged stamp lay flat on the album page. The shorter portion is the stamp side, and the longer portion is adhered to the album page. Today's stamp hinges are usually considered "peelable," meaning that their gum will adhere to the stamp and the album page with just enough strength to hold the stamp to the page, but will peel away from both if required and tongs are properly used.



Here's some instructions for how to hinge a stamp:



1. Moisten the shorter side of the hinge (the portion that's folded over) and gently press it against the center portion of the upper part of the back of the stamp. Then moisten a small portion of the larger side of the hinge down toward the end (away from the folded-over part). Don't moisten any other part of the hinge: if you moisten the entire hinge, you won't be able to flip the stamp up without damaging its top perforations, so just lick a small part of it. A tiny amount of moisture is all you need, and all you want.



2. Press the longer portion of the hinge onto the album page where you want the stamp to be placed. Hold the stamp away at a 90 degree angle while you're doing this.



3. Always guard against excess moisture on the hinges and drops of moisture falling on the stamp or the album page. If you use the proper amount of moisture you shouldn't have much of a problem with this, but make sure you remove any excess moisture immediately.




That's it - now you know how to use stamp hinges to mount stamps into an album. It actually sounds a bit more complicated than it is, and once you get the hang of it - which should only take a few times - you'll hinge like a pro!

Collecting Stamps From Dead Countries




A dead country used to issue stamps, but no longer exists as a separate stamp-issuing entity. Countries come and go throughout history, and many countries were born - and later "died" - during the 19th and 20th centuries. Some dead countries are now provinces or regions of larger countries, having been absorbed into those countries, and the stamps used in those absorbed areas are the stamps of the larger countries of which they are now a part. Other dead countries merged together to form a completely new, larger country, and their stamps are now those of the new "combined" country. And still other dead countries used to be a single country that split into two or more separate countries.



For example, many countries were killed off by the Russian Revolution and the subsequent absorption of those dead countries into the USSR, which as of 1991 is now itself a dead country and no longer issues stamps as the Soviet Union. Some of the dead countries in the area that was formerly ruled by the USSR were very short-lived and include the Far Eastern Republic, the Trancaucasian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic, the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic and Siberia.



The USSR is now itself a dead country, despite being one of the world's most prolific issuers of stamps while it existed. The same is true for Czechoslovakia, a dead country which split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, two stamp-issuing countries that came into being in 1992.



If you're confused by all this geopolitical re-arranging, you're not the only one. But dead countries present a somewhat unique opportunity for stamp collectors. A person who collects dead country stamps knows, for a fact, that he or she has a finite number of stamps to locate: only those stamps that were issued up until the date the country "died." No more will be issued in the future for that country. So there's no need to constantly buy new issues or try to keep up with the plethora of stamps being issued nowadays. Dead countries represent a finite beginning and a finite end.

Some Food For Thought On Collecting Stamps




Where is philately headed? Are postal administrations going to kill off the postage stamp as being too expensive to produce? Will the value of collectible stamps go through the roof because of this? Will philately itself become extinct? Where will philately be in 50 years?




Our thoughts are that stamp collecting will be around for a long time, even if stamps are no longer produced sometime in the future.




1. Adhesive postage stamps have existed for almost 170 years - since 1840. Millions of collectible stamps from the 1800s still exist, and many stamp collectors still avidly desire stamps that were produced 100 or more years ago. We believe that will still be the case even if countries stop printing new stamps in the future.



2. If new stamps are no longer produced, this may well make existing postage stamps even more desirable than they are now. If that occurs, the values of collectible stamps will rise as a function of supply and demand.



The main problem for stamp collectors going forward is that nowadays, stamps rarely turn up on letters and parcels any more, as post offices prefer to stick cheaper, computer-generated labels on them when the people mailing them bring them in to the post office to be franked and mailed. And in many cases, when stamps are used, they are the same definitives over and over again. Commemorative stamps are just as attractive as they ever have been, but hardly anyone uses them. Another problem for collectors are the peel-and-stick self-adhesive stamps. Some are almost impossible to soak off paper, while the better ones are merely difficult.



Does anyone have an opinion on this situation?

US Mail Delivery Cutbacks?




The Washington Post reports, "In testimony before a Senate subcommittee ... , Postmaster General John 'Jack' Potter said the post office may be forced to cut back to five-day delivery for the first time in the agency's history, citing rising costs and an ongoing decline in mail made worse by the global recession. The potential move, which would have to be approved by Congress and postal officials, could mean the elimination of mail on either Saturdays or Tuesdays, the system's slowest days, postal officials said."



Washington Post reporter Dan Eggen writes, "For much of its early history, the post office delivered mail seven days a week, including twice-a-day stops in some cities. The switch to six-day service came in 1912, when the agency eliminated Sunday delivery due to objections from Christian groups."



We think that the USPS would do better by cutting their expenses rather than cutting their services. Have you ever thought about how much money the USPS spends every day by giving out free priority mail and express mail envelopes, boxes, tape and labels? Or by giving out the elaborate packages that they provide for use when a person moves to a different address? There are other examples of what we would call "inefficiencies" or even "waste" at post offices.
Maybe the USPS should cut back on those rather than reducing its services.

Stamp Perforation Varieties



Two stamps may appear to be identical, but small differences between them - some of which are tiny enough to require a magnifying glass to see - can lead to a big difference in the identification and values of the stamps. A perforation guage, which is a small tool that's somewhat similar to a ruler, measures stamp perforations and can help you identify and distinguish between some of these differences.



Perforations are the small holes surrounding each stamp on a pane or on two or three of the sides of booklet stamps or coil stamps. They allow one or more stamps to be cleanly separated from the surrounding stamps, either for use in the mail or for placement in a stamp album by a stamp collector. Many stamp catalogs include information about stamp perforations in their listings for perforated stamps.



As always, scarcity plays an important role in the value of perforation varieties. Some perforation varieties exist in relatively few stamps of a particular design, making them far more valuable than their more common cousins.



A stamp's perforations are described as the number of teeth or holes that are found within a space equalling two centimeters. So, for example, a stamp that is "perf 10" indicates that there are ten teeth or holes in a space of two centimeters all the way around the edges of the stamp (both horizontally and vertically). Some stamps have compound perforations, where the horizontal perforations measure differently than the vertical perforations. Just one example of this type is a stamp that's perf 11 1/2 x 11 - meaning there are 11 1/2 perforation teeth or holes within a 2 centimeter space of the horizontal stamp edges but 11 within a 2 centimeter space of the vertical stamp edges. Compound perforations aren't necessarily a perforation variety, as many stamps were intentionally perforated this way. Yet some stamps with compound perforations, just like some stamps with simple perforations, do have perf varieties. With compound perforations, the horizontal measurement is always listed first and the vertical perforations are always listed second.



Many stamps, from countries throughout the world, have perforation differences between otherwise identical stamps. Finding them is both easy and challenging, but it's always an important part of identifying your stamps and their values.

Stamp Catalogs and Their Value




Hard to believe, but stamp catalogs can identify nearly every postage stamp that's ever been issued throughout the entire world. Not just recent stamps, but all the way back to the first stamp, issued in 1840 by Great Britain. There are so many stamps - probably around 500,000 or so - that Scott, a popular stamp catalog publisher and the accepted stamp catalog authority in the US, requires 6 very large volumes to list and describe all of the stamps. Each volume contains stamp listings for countries that are arranged in alphabetical order, by country name. Many other catalog publishers arrange their catalogs in the same way - alphabetically by country - but there are also specialized catalogs that identify only the stamps of one particular country, such as Japan or Great Britain. And still other catalogs list and identify stamps by topic or theme, which is obviously extremely helpful to topical stamp collectors.



Catalogs assign what is called a "catalog number" to each stamp, and those catalog numbers are then used by stamp collectors. For example, you may see something like Scott US no. 285. That particular stamp can be identified by Scott catalog users as the 1 cent Trans-Mississippi Exposition commemorative stamp. Or another example: Stanley Gibbons (SG) Great Britain no. 671-678 is the Battle of Britain stamp set issued by Great Britain. Other stamp catalogs, such as Michel, Yvert, the JSDA, etc. also use catalog numbers, although they're not interchangeable (they all use different numbering systems).



In addition to describing and listing stamps by their catalog number, stamp catalogs also provide estimates of values for the stamps. In general, the value listed for a specific item approximates what a stamp dealer would normally charge a customer who wanted to buy that stamp or stamp set.



Specialized catalogs provide more detailed information than standard catalogs. They list more known varieties and errors as well as providing additional information about stamp issues. The US Specialized Catalog also provides information about plate numbers on coil and booklet stamps.