List of philatelic topics
Encyclopedia

A

Acknowledgement of receipt
Acknowledgement of receipt
Acknowledgment of receipt Acknowledgment of receipt Acknowledgment of receipt (equivalent terms include avis de réception (UPU term), Aviso de Recibo, advice of receipt, advice of delivery (UK and much of the Commonwealth), return receipt requested/required/wanted/demanded (US), Rückschein...


– Adhesive (stamp gum)
Admirals
Admirals (philately)
In philately the Admirals are a series of definitive stamps issued by three countries of the British Commonwealth which show King George V, King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and the British Dominions. The stamps are referred to as the Admirals because King George is depicted in his...


Aerogram
Aerogram
An Aerogram, Aérogramme or Air Letter is a thin lightweight piece of foldable and gummed paper for writing a letter for transit via airmail, in which the letter and envelope are one and the same. Most postal administrations forbid enclosures in these light letters, which are usually sent abroad at...


Aerophilately
Aerophilately
Aerophilately is the branch of philately that specializes in the study of airmail. Philatelists have observed the development of mail transport by air from its beginning, and all aspects of airmail service have been extensively studied and documented by specialists.- Scope :The scope of...


Affixing machine
Affixing machine
An Affixing Machine is a machine that affixes postage stamps to an envelope, postcard or wrapper. The first affixing machines appeared in the 1850s but were not widely used until the early 20th century. There were also much larger floor models produced for this purpose. Stamp affixer machines were...


Airmail
Airmail
Airmail is mail that is transported by aircraft. It typically arrives more quickly than surface mail, and usually costs more to send...


Airmail etiquette
Airmail etiquette
An airmail etiquette, often shortened to just etiquette, is a label used to indicate that a letter is to be sent by airmail. The term is from French étiquette "label, sticker" , from which also English etiquette "rules of behavior".- Use :Because the etiquettes are just instructions to postal...


Airmail stamp
Airmail stamp
An airmail stamp is a postage stamp intended to pay either an airmail fee that is charged in addition to the surface rate, or the full airmail rate, for a piece of mail to be transported by air....


– Alexandria "Blue Boy" Postmaster's Provisional (ru)
– Arrow block
Asian philately
Asian philately
Asian philately, or Far-Eastern philately, is a specialized area of philately which focuses on the stamps of China, Japan, Hong Kong and neighboring countries. Stamp collectors and stamp dealers often specialize in a particular aspect of Asian philately, and many stamp auctions are devoted to this...


Astrophilately
Astrophilately
Astrophilately is the area of philately connected with astronomy and efforts to reach outer space, both manned and unmanned.- Scope :Topics of interest include postage stamps, cancellations, and covers connected to various projects...


Auction (Philatelic)
Philatelic auction
A philatelic auction, or stamp auction is a sale of stamps, covers and other philatelic material usually run by stamp dealers or specialist collectibles auctioneers, such as, David Feldman, Christie's and Sotheby's, where prospective purchasers place bids in an attempt to obtain the desired...


B

Balloon mail
Balloon mail
Balloon mail refers to the transport of mail carrying the name of the sender by means of an unguided hydrogen or helium filled balloon. Since the balloon is not controllable, the delivery of a balloon mail is left to good fortune; often the balloon and postcard are lost...


Bicycle mail
Bicycle mail
Bicycle Mail - The topic of Bicycle Mail can cover two separate and distinctive areas. It can be used to describe the Thematic collecting and or study of stamps bearing the image of bicycles, or more commonly used to describe a specific category of Special Delivery, where mail was delivered by...


Bisect
Bisect (philately)
Bisects and splits refer to postage stamps that have been cut in part, most commonly in half, but also other fractions, and postally used for the proportionate value of the entire stamp, such as a two cent stamp cut in half and used as a one cent stamp....


– Bogus postal markings
– Bogus stamp issue
Booklet
Postage stamp booklet
A postage stamp booklet is a booklet made up of one or more small panes of postage stamps in a cardboard cover. Booklets are often made from sheets especially printed for this purpose, with a narrow selvedge at one side of the booklet pane for binding. From the cutting, the panes are usually...


British Guiana 1c magenta
British Guiana 1c magenta
The British Guiana 1c magenta is regarded by many philatelists as the world's most famous stamp. It was issued in limited numbers in British Guiana in 1856, and only one specimen is now known to exist....


Bulk mail
Bulk mail
Bulk mail broadly refers to mail that is mailed and processed in bulk at reduced rates. The term does not denote any particular purpose for the mail; but in general usage is synonymous with "junk mail."...


C

Cachet
Cachet
In philately, a cachet is a printed or stamped design or inscription, other than a cancellation or pre-printed postage, on an envelope, postcard, or postal card to commemorate a postal or philatelic event. There are official and private cachets. They commemorate everything from the first flight...


– Camel mail
– Cancellation
– Cancelled to order
– Caribou mail
Carrier's stamp
Carrier's stamp
Carrier's stamp is a type of postage stamp used by private mail carriers to deliver mail directly to an addressee from the post office.-History:...


Censored mail
Postal censorship
Postal censorship is the inspection or examination of mail, most often by governments. It can include opening, reading and total or selective obliteration of letters and their contents, as well as covers, postcards, parcels and other postal packets. Postal censorship takes place primarily but not...


– Center line block
Certified mail
Certified Mail
Certified Mail is a type of Special Service mail offered by the United States Postal Service and other postal services that allows the sender proof of mailing, as well as proof of delivery. Certified Mail also provides the sender with a copy of the recipient's signature, which is obtained at the...


– Charity stamp
– chinese new year stamps
Christmas seal
Christmas Seal
Christmas Seals are labels placed on mail during the Christmas season to raise funds and awareness for charitable programs.They have become particularly associated with lung diseases such as tuberculosis, and with child welfare...


Christmas stamp
Christmas stamp
Many nations of the world issue Christmas stamps, postage stamps with a Christmas theme and intended for use on seasonal mail such as Christmas cards. These stamps are regular postage stamps, unlike Christmas seals, and are usually valid for postage year-round...


Cigarette tax stamp
Cigarette tax stamp
A cigarette tax stamp is any adhesive stamp, metered stamp, heat transfer stamp, or other form or evidence of payment of a cigarette tax . A cigarette tax stamp is a specific example of a revenue stamp....


Cinderella stamp
Cinderella stamp
In philately, a cinderella stamp has been defined as "Virtually anything resembling a postage stamp, but not issued for postal purposes by a government postal administration..." The term also excludes imprinted stamps on postal stationery.- Types :...


– Circular delivery mail
Classic stamp
Classic stamp
A classic stamp is a postage stamp of a type considered distinctive by philatelists, typically applied to stamps printed in the early period of stamp production, e.g., before about 1870. However, as L. N. Williams puts it, "the term has never been satisfactorily defined"...


Coil stamp
Coil stamp
A coil stamp is a type of postage stamp sold in strips one stamp wide. The name derives from the usual handling of long strips, which is to coil them into rolls, in a manner reminiscent of adhesive tape rolls...


– Color guide
– Color trial
– Combination cover
– Commemorative issue
Commemorative stamp
Commemorative stamp
A commemorative stamp is a postage stamp, often issued on a significant date such as an anniversary, to honor or commemorate a place, event or person. The subject of the commemorative stamp is usually spelled out in print, unlike definitive stamps which normally depict the subject along with the...


– Concentration camp mail
– Consular fee stamp
– Control mark
– Counterfeit stamps
Courier mail
Courier Mail
Courier Mail can refer to:* The Courier-Mail, an Australian newspaper* Courier Mail Server, a mail-server software suite* Courier , e-mail client software...


Cover
Cover (philately)
In philately, the term cover pertains to the outside of an envelope or package with an address, typically with postage stamps that have been cancelled and is a term generally used among stamp and postal history collectors. The term does not include the contents of the letter or package, although...


Crash cover
Crash cover
A crash cover is a philatelic term for a type of cover, meaning an envelope or package that has been recovered from a fixed-wing aircraft, airship or aeroplane crash, train wreck, shipwreck or other accident...


Crown agent
Crown Agent
Crown Agent may refer to:*The Crown Agent, principal legal advisor to the Scottish Lord Advocate on prosecution matters*A member of a Crown Agency...


Cut square
Cut square
In philately, a cut square is an imprinted stamp cut from an item of postal stationery such as a stamped envelope, postal card, letter sheet, letter card, aerogram or wrapper in a square or rectangular shape. An alternative use of the term is simply any stamp, from sheets or postal stationery, cut...


D

Damaged mail
Dead letter mail
Dead letter mail
Dead letter mail or undeliverable mail is mail that cannot be delivered to the addressee or returned to the sender. This is usually due to lack of compliance with postal regulations, an incomplete address and return address, or the inability to forward the mail when both correspondents move before...


– Definitive issue
– Definitive series
– Delayed mail
– Design error
– Die proof
– Diplomatic pouch mail
– Dirigible mail
Disinfected mail
Disinfected mail
Disinfected mail or fumigated mail is mail that has had some form of disinfection or fumigation applied to it by postal authorities, with the intention of preventing the spread of epidemics via letters sent from infected areas....


– Dog mail
Dogsled mail
Dogsled mail
Dogsled mail or dog team mail is mail carried by dogsled. This form of animal mail transport saw limited use in the northern parts of Alaska, Canada and Russia during the first half of the 20th century....


– Dummy stamp

E

Earliest known use (EKU)
– Embossing
– Engraver's mark
Engraving
Engraving
Engraving is the practice of incising a design on to a hard, usually flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an intaglio printing plate, of copper or another metal, for printing...


Entire
Entire
*In philately, see Cover*In mathematics, see Entire function*In animal fancy and animal husbandry, entire indicates that an animal has not been desexed, that is, spayed or neutered...


Envelope
Envelope
An envelope is a common packaging item, usually made of thin flat material. It is designed to contain a flat object, such as a letter or card....


– Errors and varieties
Errors, freaks, and oddities
Errors, freaks, and oddities
In philately, "errors, freaks, and oddities" or "EFO" is a blanket term referring to all the kinds of things that can go wrong when producing postage stamps...

 (EFO)
Essay
Essay (philately)
In philately, an essay is a design for a proposed stamp submitted to the postal authorities for consideration but not used, or used after alterations have been made. By contrast, a proof is a trial printing of an accepted stamp....


Expert
Europa postage stamp
Europa postage stamp
Europa stamps have been issued annually since 1956. First sets representing the founding 6 members of the ECSC, European Coal and Steel Community, then by the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations in 1959, and by PostEurop since 1993...


Expertization
Expertization
Expertization is the process of authentication of an object, usually of a sort that is collected, by an individual expert or a committee of experts.The expert committee will examine the collectible and issue a certificate typically including:...


– Express company
Express mail
Express mail
In most postal systems express mail refers to an accelerated delivery service for which the customer pays a surcharge and receives faster delivery. Express mail is a service for domestic mail and is governed by a country's own postal administration...


F

Famous stamps
Fancy cancel
Fancy cancel
A fancy cancel is a postal cancellation that includes an artistic design. Although the term may be used of modern machine cancellations that include artwork, it primarily refers to the designs carved in cork and used in 19th century post offices of the United States.When postage stamps were...


– Favor cancel
– Favor sheet
– Fee paid mail
Field post office
Field post office
A Field Post Office is a post office set up during time of war or when a military unit is on manoeuvres. It is set up 'in the field', hence the name, however, FPOs may be on land or at sea. Their use pre-dates the introduction of postage stamps....


– First day ceremony
– First day cover
First day of issue
First day of issue
A First Day of Issue Cover or First Day Cover is a postage stamp on a cover, postal card or stamped envelope franked on the first day the issue is authorized for use within the country or territory of the stamp-issuing authority. Sometimes the issue is made from a temporary or permanent foreign or...


– First flight
First issue
First Issue
First Issue is a post-punk album by Public Image Ltd released in 1978 by Virgin Records.-"Public Image":...


– Fiscal cancellation
– Fiscal issue
– Flat plate press
– Floor sweepings
Forerunner
Forerunner (stamp)
In philately, a forerunner is a postage stamp used before a region or territory issued stamps of its own. The term also includes stamps of the political predecessors of a country...


– Forged stamps
– Forwarding agent
– Fractional currency
Franchise stamp
Franchise stamp
In philately a franchise stamp or frank stamp is a stamp given to an individual or organisation to enable them to send mail without charge. Typical recipients include charities, refugees and soldiers on active service ....


– Franking privilege
Free frank
Free Frank
A Free Frank was a mark applied by means of a hand-stamp to parliamentary mail in Britain to indicate that the mailed item did not require postage...


– Fumigated mail

G

Graphite lined stamp
Graphite lined stamp
A graphite lined stamp is a postage stamp on which vertical lines of electro-conductive graphite are printed on the reverse. Graphite lined stamps were used in the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1960 as an experiment in the automation of mail sorting....


Grill
Grill (philately)
A grill on a postage stamp is an embossed pattern of small indentations intended to discourage postage stamp reuse. They were supposed to work by allowing the ink of the cancellation to be absorbed more readily by the fibers of the stamp paper, making it harder to wash off the cancellation.- In the...


– Guide line
– Guide line pair
Gum
Postage stamp gum
In philately, gum is the substance applied to the back of a stamp to enable it to adhere to a letter or other mailed item. The term is generic, and applies both to traditional types such as gum arabic and to synthetic modern formulations...


Gutter block
Gutter (philately)
The philatelic use of the word gutter is the space left between postage stamps which allows them to be separated or perforated. When stamps are printed on large sheets of paper that will be guillotined into smaller sheets along the gutter it will not exist on the finished sheet of stamps...


Gutter pair
Gutter (philately)
The philatelic use of the word gutter is the space left between postage stamps which allows them to be separated or perforated. When stamps are printed on large sheets of paper that will be guillotined into smaller sheets along the gutter it will not exist on the finished sheet of stamps...


H

Handstruck stamp
Health stamp
Health stamp
Health stamps are a long-running series of charity stamp issued by New Zealand which include a premium for charitable causes in addition to the charge for postal service.-History:...


Highway post office
Highway Post Office
Due to the continual withdrawal of so many Railway Post Office trains, the Post Office Department decided to experiment with the distribution of mail on large buses, equipped somewhat like RPO cars. On February 10, 1941, experimental service started on the Washington, DC & Harrisonburg, Virginia...


– History of philately
Hotel post
Hotel post
Hotel Post was a service offered by remote Swiss hotels for the carriage of mail to the nearest official post office.- Origins :In the nineteenth century, Switzerland developed an important tourist industry. Guests enjoyed Alpine air and spas at hotels in remote areas that were not serviced by the...


– Hovercraft mail

I

Illegal stamps
Illegal stamps
Illegal stamps are postage stamp-like labels issued in the names of existing independent countries or territories used to defraud postal administrations, stamp collectors, and the general public. Often, but not always, a member nation of the Universal Postal Union will have asked the UPU to issue...


– Illustration law
– Imitation stamp
– Imperforate
Imprint
Imprint
In the publishing industry, an imprint can mean several different things:* As a piece of bibliographic information about a book, it refers to the name and address of the book's publisher and its date of publication as given at the foot or on the verso of its title page.* It can mean a trade name...


– Imprint block
– Postage stamp ink
– Inscription
– Inscription block
– Institutional collection
– Insured mail
– International mail
International reply coupon
International reply coupon
An international reply coupon is a coupon that can be exchanged for one or more postage stamps representing the minimum postage for an unregistered priority airmail letter of up to twenty grams sent to another Universal Postal Union member country...


Inverted Jenny
Inverted Jenny
The Inverted Jenny is a United States postage stamp first issued on May 10, 1918 in which the image of the Curtiss JN-4 airplane in the center of the design was accidentally printed upside-down; it is probably the most famous error in American philately...


Inverted Swan
Inverted Swan
The Inverted Swan, a 4-pence blue postage stamp issued in 1855 by Western Australia, was one of the world's first invert errors. Technically, it is a "frame invert"....


Philatelic investment
Philatelic investment
Philatelic investment is investment in collectible postage stamps for the purpose of realizing a profit. Philatelic investment was popular during the 1970s but then fell out of favour following a speculative bubble and prices of rare stamps took many years to recover. Investing in rare stamps...


Irradiated mail
Irradiated mail
Irradiated mail is mail that has been deliberately exposed to radiation, typically in an effort to disinfect it. The most notable instance of mail irradiation occurred in response to the 2001 anthrax attacks; the level of radiation chosen to kill anthrax spores was so high that it often changed the...


– Interrupted mail

J

James Chalmers
Joint issue
Joint issue
A joint issue is the release of stamps or postal stationery by two or more countries to commemorate the same topic, event or person of relevance to both countries...


– Joint line
– Joint line pair

L

Label
– Late fee stamp
Letter carrier
Mail carrier
A mail carrier, mailman, postal carrier, postman, postwoman , postman/postwoman , letter carrier or postie is an employee of the post office or postal service, who delivers mail and parcel post to residences and businesses...


– Letterpress
Letter sheet
Letter sheet
In philatelic terminology a Letter sheet, often written lettersheet, is nowadays an item of postal stationery issued by a postal authority. It is a sheet of paper that can be folded, usually sealed , and mailed without the use of an envelope...


Line pair
Line pair
A line pair can be more than one thing.-In philately:A line pair in philately is a coil pair of postage stamps bearing an inked line between the two stamps. There are at least two kinds of these:*A guide line pair has a guide line between the stamps...


Linn's Stamp News
Linn's Stamp News
Linn's Stamp News an American publication, is the largest weekly newspaper for stamp collectors, with a paid circulation of just over 46,000 Circulation peaked at almost 92,000 in 1978 and has declined ever since because fewer new collectors are subscribing to replace those who subscribed in the...


– List of entities that have issued postage stamps
List of philatelic topics (deliberate self-link)
List of philatelists
– List of notable postage stamps
List of stamp catalogues
– List of stamp collectors
– List of stamp dealers
List of United States airmail stamps
Lithography
Lithography
Lithography is a method for printing using a stone or a metal plate with a completely smooth surface...


Local post
Local post
A local post is a mail service that operates only within a limited geographical area, typically a city or a single transportation route. Historically, some local posts have been operated by governments, while others, known as private local posts have been for-profit companies...


– Luminescent issue

M

Mail delivery by animal
Mail delivery by animal
Mail delivery by animals has been used in many countries throughout history. It used to be the only way to quickly transport large bundles of letters over long distances, until motorised vehicles became more widespread...


– Mail fraud
Mail robbery
Mail robbery
Mail robbery is a type of robbery involving the theft of money or high-value goods from postal transport, normally trains.In the USA, the period immediately following the First World War witnessed a large number of mail robberies...


– Mailman
Marcophily
Marcophily
Marcophily, occasionally called Marcophilately, is the specialised study and collection of postmarks, cancellations and postal markings applied by hand or machine on mail that passes through a postal system and applied by the postal operator through whose domain they pass...


– Marginal marking
– Marine insurance stamp
– Maritime mail
Maximaphily
Maximaphily
Maximaphily is a branch of philately involving the study and creation of maximum cards. It is one of eleven classifications of philately recognised by the Fédération Internationale de Philatélie and therefore has its own FIP Commission....


Maximum Card
Maximum card
In philately a maximum card is a postcard with a postage stamp placed on the picture side of the card where the stamp and card match or are in concordance. In most cases, the cancel is also related to the image on the front of the card and the stamp.The collecting of maximum cards is known as...


– Metered mail
Michel catalog
Michel catalog
The Michel catalog is the largest and best-known stamp catalog in the German-speaking world. First published in 1910, it has become an important reference work for philately, with information not available in the English-language Scott catalog.The catalog started out as a price list for the dealer...


Military mail
Military mail
A primary feature of military mail systems is that normally they are subsidized to ensure that military mail posted between duty stations abroad and the home country does not cost the sender any more than normal domestic mail traffic...


Millennium stamp
Millennium Stamp
A Millennium stamp is a postage stamp issued by a postal administration commemorating a millennium associated with that country's history but several countries issued stamps for the beginning of the 3rd millennium in same cases depicting some of their country's achievements over the preceding...


Miniature sheet
Miniature sheet
A souvenir sheet or miniature sheet is a small group of postage stamps still attached to the sheet on which they were printed. They may be either regular issues that just happen to be printed in small groups , or special issues often commemorating some event, such as a national anniversary,...


– Minipack
– Missing Virgin (ru)
Mixed franking
Mixed franking
In philately, a mixed franking is an occurrence of postage stamps of more than one country or issuing entity on a single cover — or the occurrence of postage stamps of more than one currency of a country or issuing identity on a single cover...


Mobile post office
Mobile post office
Mobile post offices deliver mail and other postal services through specially equipped vehicles, such as trucks and trains.-United Kingdom:The United Kingdom pioneered the modern use of what it calls the Travelling Post Office , a railway service that operated for the first time in 1838...


Money order
Money order
A money order is a payment order for a pre-specified amount of money. Because it is required that the funds be prepaid for the amount shown on it, it is a more trusted method of payment than a cheque.-History of money orders:...


Mr. Zip
Mr. ZIP
Mr. ZIP, informally "Zippy", is a cartoon character used in the 1960s by the United States Post Office Department, and in the 1970s by its successor, the United States Postal Service, to encourage the general public to include the ZIP code in all mailings....


N

Nassau Street (Manhattan)
Nassau Street (Manhattan)
Nassau Street is a street in the Financial District of the New York City borough of Manhattan, located near Pace University and New York City Hall. It starts at Wall Street and runs north to Frankfort Street at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge, lying one block east of Broadway and east of Park Row...


– Naval cover
– Naval mail
Navigation and Commerce issue
Navigation and Commerce issue
The Navigation and Commerce issue is a definitive series of French postage stamps issued for the colonial territories of France. It was designed by Louis-Eugène Mouchon....


– New issue
Newspaper stamp
Newspaper stamp
A newspaper stamp is a special type of postage stamp used to pay the cost of mailing newspapers and other periodicals. Although many types were issued in the 19th century, typically representing rates reduced from regular mail, they generally fell out of use in the mid-20th century, as mail...


Newspaper wrapper
Wrapper (philately)
In philately a wrapper is a form of postal stationery which pays the cost of the delivery of a newspaper or a periodical. The wrapper is a sheet of paper, large enough to wrap around a folded or rolled newspaper and with an imprinted stamp to pay the cost of postage...


Nicholas F. Seebeck
Nicholas F. Seebeck
Nicholas Frederick Seebeck was a stamp dealer and printer, best known for his stamp-printing contracts with several Latin American countries in the 1890s.-Life in USA:Seebeck emigrated to the United States at the age of 9...


O

Occupation stamp
– Offices abroad
Official mail
Official mail
Official mail is mail sent from, or by an authorised department of government, governmental agency or international organization and normally has some indication that it is official; a certifying cachet, return address or other means of identity, indicating its user...


Offset printing
Offset printing
Offset printing is a commonly used printing technique in which the inked image is transferred from a plate to a rubber blanket, then to the printing surface...


Overprint
Overprint
An overprint is an additional layer of text or graphics added to the face of a postage stamp or banknote after it has been printed. Post offices most often use overprints for internal administrative purposes such as accounting but they are also employed in public mail...


P

Packet letter
– Packet mark
Postage stamp paper
Postage stamp paper
Postage stamp paper is the foundation or substrate of the postage stamp to which the ink for the stamp's design is applied to one side and the adhesive is applied to the other...


– Paquebot
Parcel post
Parcel post
Parcel post is a service of a postal administration for sending parcels through the post. It is generally one of the less expensive ways to ship packages that are too heavy to be sent by regular letter post and is usually a slower method of transportation....


– Paste-up pair
– Penalty mail
Pen cancel
Pen cancel
thumb|A pen cancel on a Russian [[postage stamp]].In philately, a pen cancel is a cancellation of a postage or revenue stamp by the use of a pen, marker or crayon.- Usage :...


Penny post
Penny Post
The Penny Post is any one of several postal systems in which normal letters could be sent for one penny.-London Penny Post:In England, the Post Office had a monopoly on the collection and carriage of letters between post towns but there was no delivery system until the London Penny Post was...


Perfin
Perfin
In philately, a perfin is a stamp that has had initials or a name perforated across it to discourage theft. The name is a contraction of perforated initials or perforated insignia...


– Perforation
Permit mail
Permit mail
Permit mail is anything sent through the postal service where postage is paid by a post office issued permit. No postage stamp is affixed to letters sent by permit mail....


– Phantom issue
– Philatelic agency
Philatelic cover
Philatelic cover
A philatelic cover is an envelope or post card prepared with a stamp and address and sent through the mail delivery system for the purpose of creating a collectible item. Stamp collectors began to send mail to each other and to themselves early on, and philatelic mail is known from the late 19th...


Philatelic literature
Philatelic literature
Philatelic literature is written material relating to philately, primarily information about postage stamps and postal history- Background to philatelic literature :...


Philatelic museums
Philately
Philately
Philately is the study of stamps and postal history and other related items. Philately involves more than just stamp collecting, which does not necessarily involve the study of stamps. It is possible to be a philatelist without owning any stamps...


– PHQ Cards
– Picture post card
– Pigeon mail
Pillar box
Pillar box
A pillar box is a free-standing post box. They are found in the United Kingdom and in most former nations of the British Empire, members of the Commonwealth of Nations and British overseas territories, such as the Republic of Ireland, Australia, India and Gibraltar...


Plate block
Plate block
A plate block is a block of stamps from the edge of the sheet which shows the plate or cylinder from which the stamps were printed.-Background:The numbering of printing plates has long been a part of quality control in the printing process...


– Plate marking
Plate number coil
Plate number coil
A plate number coil is a United States postage stamp with the number of the printing plate or plates printed on it. The plate number typically appears as one or more small digits in the margin at the bottom of the stamp. The plate number may be centered or, on some coil issues, located toward the...


– Printing plate
Plating
Plating
Plating is a surface covering in which a metal is deposited on a conductive surface. Plating has been done for hundreds of years, but it is also critical for modern technology...


– Plebiscite issue
– Pneumatic mail
– Polar mail
Postage due
Postage due
Postage due is the term used for mail sent with insufficient postage. A postage due stamp is a stamp added to an underpaid piece of mail to indicate the extra postage due.- Background :...


Postage stamp booklet
Postage stamp booklet
A postage stamp booklet is a booklet made up of one or more small panes of postage stamps in a cardboard cover. Booklets are often made from sheets especially printed for this purpose, with a narrow selvedge at one side of the booklet pane for binding. From the cutting, the panes are usually...


Postage stamp color
Postage stamp color
The colors of postage stamps are at once obvious, and among the most difficult areas of philately. Different denominations of stamps have been printed in different colors since the very beginning; as with their successors, postal clerks could distinguish the Penny Black and Two pence blue more...


Postage stamp reuse
Postage stamp reuse
In the earlier days of the postage stamp, postal officials worried much about the problem of postage stamp reuse, and invented a number of schemes to mark or deface the stamps....


Postage stamp separation
Postage stamp separation
For postage stamps, separation is the means by which individual stamps are made easily detachable from each other.Methods of separation include:# perforation: cutting rows and columns of small holes...


Postal card
Postal card
Postal cards are postal stationery with an imprinted stamp or indicium signifying the prepayment of postage. They are sold by postal authorities. In January, 1869 Emanuel Herrmann of Austria described the advantages of a Correspondenz Karte. By October, 1869 the world's first postal card was...


– Postal convention
Postal history
Postal history
Postal history is the study of postal systems and how they operate and, or, the study of postage stamps and covers and associated material illustrating historical episodes of postal systems...


– Postal laws and regulations
Postal marking
Postal marking
A postal marking is any kind of annotation applied to a letter by a postal service. The most common types are postmarks and cancellations; almost every letter will have those. Less common types include forwarding addresses, routing annotations, warnings, postage due notices and explanations, such...


– Postal route
– Postal savings
– Postal slogan
Postal stationery
Postal stationery
A piece of postal stationery is a stationery item, such as a stamped envelope, letter sheet, postal card, lettercard, aerogram or wrapper, with an imprinted stamp or inscription indicating that a specific rate of postage or related service has been prepaid...


– Postal tax
– Postal treaty
– Postal union
Postcard
Postcard
A postcard or post card is a rectangular piece of thick paper or thin cardboard intended for writing and mailing without an envelope....


Post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...


– Post Office Cards
Post Office circulars
Post Office circulars
From the introduction of the Penny Black by the British postal system, Post Office Circulars have been sent out from the main office, , to give information and examples of the new postage stamps which were coming into general use....


Post road
Post road
For other uses, see Post Road .A post road is a road designated for the transportation of postal mail. In past centuries only major towns had a post house, and the roads used by post riders or mail coaches to carry mail among them were particularly important ones or, due to the special attention...


Precancel
Precancel
A precanceled stamp, or precancel for short, is a postage stamp that has been cancelled before being affixed to mail. Precancels are typically used by mass mailers, who can save a postal system time and effort by prearranging to use the precancels, and delivering the stamped mail ready for sorting...


– Presentation album
– Presentation book
– Price list
– Postage stamp printing
– Prisoner-of-war mail
Private cancellation
Private cancellation
Private cancellations are cancellations of postage stamps, or, in some cases, artistamps, applied by other than a government or other official stamp-issuing entity...


Private carrier
Private carrier
A private carrier is a company that transports only their own goods. Usually the carrier's primary business is not transportation but rather something else. For example, the Wegmans grocery store chain owns and operates their own private fleet to deliver produce and goods to their stores...


Private overprint
Private overprint
Private overprints, in philately, are overprints , usually rubberstamped though occasionally applied by some other method, to postage stamps used by some person or entity other than a government or other official stamp-issuing entity...


– Private post
– Stamp proof
Provisional stamp
Provisional stamp
Linn's World Stamp Almanac defines a provisional stamp as "a postage stamp issued for temporary use to meet postal demands until new or regular stocks of stamps can be obtained."...


R

Railway post office
Railway post office
In the United States a railway post office, commonly abbreviated as RPO, was a railroad car that was normally operated in passenger service as a means to sort mail en route, in order to speed delivery. The RPO was staffed by highly trained Railway Mail Service postal clerks, and was off-limits to...


– Railway mail
– Rare issue
Ration stamp
Ration stamp
A ration stamp or ration card is a stamp or card issued by a government to allow the holder to obtain food or other commodities that are in short supply during wartime or in other emergency situations...


Receiving mark
Backstamp
In philately a backstamp is a postmark on the back of a letter showing a post office or station through which the item passed in transit. The office of delivery may also backstamp a cover and this type of mark is known as a receiving mark....


– Red Cross label
Registered mail
Registered mail
Registered mail describes letters, packets or other postal documents considered valuable and need a chain of custody that provides more control than regular mail. The posted item has its details recorded in a register to enable its location to be tracked, sometimes with added insurance to cover loss...


Regummed stamp
Regummed stamp
In philately a regummed stamp is an unused stamp without gum, or without full gum, that has had new gum applied to the back to increase its value....


Reissue
Reissue
A reissue is the repeated issue of a published work. In common usage, it refers to an album which has been released at least once before and is released again, sometimes with alterations or additions....


Reprint
Reprint
A reprint is a re-publishing of material that has already been previously published. The word reprint is used in many fields.-Academic publishing:...


Remainder
Remainder
In arithmetic, the remainder is the amount "left over" after the division of two integers which cannot be expressed with an integer quotient....


– Reperforation
– Reply card
– Reply coupon
– Revenue cancellation
Revenue stamp
Revenue stamp
A revenue stamp, tax stamp or fiscal stamp is a adhesive label used to collect taxes or fees on documents, tobacco, alcoholic drinks, drugs and medicines, playing cards, hunting licenses, firearm registration, and many other things...


Rocket mail
Rocket mail
Rocket mail is the delivery of mail by rocket or missile. The rocket would land by deploying an internal parachute upon arrival. It has been attempted by various organizations in many different countries, with varying levels of success...


– Rotary press
– Rouletting
Rowland Hill
Rowland Hill (postal reformer)
Sir Rowland Hill KCB, FRS was an English teacher, inventor and social reformer. He campaigned for a comprehensive reform of the postal system, based on the concept of penny postage and his solution of prepayment, facilitating the safe, speedy and cheap transfer of letters...


S

Savings issue
– Scott catalog
– Se-tenant
– Semi-official
– Semi-postal
Separation
Postage stamp separation
For postage stamps, separation is the means by which individual stamps are made easily detachable from each other.Methods of separation include:# perforation: cutting rows and columns of small holes...


– Ship mail
– Siege mail
– Slogan cancellation
Socked on the nose
Socked on the nose
Socked on the nose , also called Bullseye cancel, in philately, refers to a cancellation of a postage stamp in which the postmark, typically a circle with the date and town name where mailed, has been applied centered on the stamp...

 (SON)
– Souvenir card
– Souvenir sheet
– Space cover
– Space mail
Special delivery
Special delivery (postal service)
Special Delivery is a postal service for urgent postal packets. Its meaning varies among postal services and is different and separate from Express mail delivery service offered by many postal administrations...


– Special handling
Specimen stamp
Specimen stamp
A specimen stamp is a postage stamp or postal stationery indicium sent to postmasters and postal administrations so that they are able to identify valid stamps and to avoid forgeries....


Stamp album
Stamp album
A stamp album is a book, often loose-leafed , in which a collection of postage stamps may be stored and displayed.- Overview :...


Stamp catalog
Stamp catalog
A stamp catalog is a catalog of postage stamp types with descriptions and prices.The stamp catalog is an essential tool of philately and stamp collecting...


Stamp collecting
Stamp collecting
Stamp collecting is the collecting of postage stamps and related objects. It is one of the world's most popular hobbies, with the number of collectors in the United States alone estimated to be over 20 million.- Collecting :...


Stamp condition
Stamp condition
The condition of a stamp, used to grade postage stamps in the stamp collecting market, is superficially expressed by how well centered the stamp is and how wide the margins of the stamp are:...


– Stamp design
– Stamp exhibition
– Stamp finder
– Stamp gum
Stamp hinge
Stamp hinge
In philately stamp hinges or mounts are small, folded, transparent, rectangular pieces of paper coated with a mild gum. They are used by stamp collectors to affix postage stamps onto the pages of a stamp album.- Use :...


– Stamp mounting
– Stamp separation
– Stanley Gibbons
– Steamship issue
– Streetcar mail
– Strike mail
Study circle
Study circle
A study circle is a small group of people who meet multiple times to discuss an issue. Study circles may be formed to discuss anything from politics to religion to hobbies...


– Submarine mail
– Surcharge

T

Tax stamp
Telegraph stamp
Telegraph stamp
Telegraph stamps are stamps intended solely for the prepayment of telegraph fees. The customer completed a telegraph form before handing it with payment to the clerk who applied a telegraph stamp and cancelled it to show that payment had been made...


Test stamp
Test stamp
A test stamp, dummy stamp, or training stamp, is a label resembling a postage stamp that is used by postal authorities for testing equipment and/or training postal workers. They generally have the same size and shape as regular stamps, but with a minimal design...


Tete-beche
Tête-bêche
In philately, tête-bêche is a joined pair of stamps in which one is upside-down in relation to the other, produced intentionally or accidentally. Like any pair of stamps, a pair of tête-bêches can be a vertical or a horizontal pair. In the case of a pair of triangular stamps, they cannot help but...


– Thematic collecting
– Tin Can Mail
Topical collecting
Topical stamp collecting
Topical or thematic stamp collecting is the collecting of postage stamps relating to a particular subject or concept. Topics can be almost anything, from stamps on stamps, birds on stamps, to famous physicians, to the history of England.- Background :...


– Training stamp
– Transatlantic mail
– Transoceanic mail
– Treaty port
Treskilling Yellow
– Trinacria stamp (ru)
Triptych
Triptych (philately)
A triptych is a philatelic term which was borrowed from the art world and having the same meaning: a set of three panels hinged together...


U

Unaccepted design
– Undeliverable mail
– Undesirable issue
Uniform Fourpenny Post
Uniform Fourpenny Post
The Uniform Fourpenny Post was a short-lived uniform pre-paid letter rate in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland that lasted for only 36 days from 5 December 1839 until 9 January 1840...


_ Uniform Penny Post
Universal Postal Union
Universal Postal Union
The Universal Postal Union is an international organization that coordinates postal policies among member nations, in addition to the worldwide postal system. The UPU contains four bodies consisting of the Congress, the Council of Administration , the Postal Operations Council and the...


– Untagged
– Used abroad

V

Valentine cover
– Variety
– Varnish bars
Stamp vending machine
Stamp vending machine
A stamp vending machine is a mechanical, electrical or electro-mechanical device which can be used to automatically vend postage stamps to users in exchange for a pre-determined amount of money, normally in coin. Most SVMs were positioned in public places to provide a useful service to customers...


– View card

W

Want list
Want list
In collecting circles, a want list or wish list is simply a list of items that the collector is seeking to acquire. They are the major tool by which collectors organize the construction of a collection...


– War cover
– War issue
– War mail
– War savings issue
War tax stamp
War tax stamp
A war tax stamp is a type of postage stamp added to an envelope in addition to regular postage. It is similar to a postal tax stamp, but the revenue is used to defray the costs of a war; as with other postal taxes, its use is obligatory for some period of time.- Early Spanish issues :The first war...


Watermark
Watermark
A watermark is a recognizable image or pattern in paper that appears as various shades of lightness/darkness when viewed by transmitted light , caused by thickness or density variations in the paper...


Wrapper (philately)
Wrapper (philately)
In philately a wrapper is a form of postal stationery which pays the cost of the delivery of a newspaper or a periodical. The wrapper is a sheet of paper, large enough to wrap around a folded or rolled newspaper and with an imprinted stamp to pay the cost of postage...


Wreck cover
Crash cover
A crash cover is a philatelic term for a type of cover, meaning an envelope or package that has been recovered from a fixed-wing aircraft, airship or aeroplane crash, train wreck, shipwreck or other accident...

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