| Glossary |
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| The following glossary contains definitions for most philatelic expressions. |
Part 2: D to O |
| Embossing: The process of giving relief to paper by pressing it with a die. Embossed designs are often found on the printed stamps of postal stationery (usually envelopes and wrappers). Selected stamps of certain countries have been embossed. |
| Encased: A stamp inserted into a small coin-size case with a transparent front or back. Such stamps were circulated as legal coins during periods when coins were scarce. |
| Entire: An intact piece of postal stationery, in contrast to a cut-out of the imprinted stamp. This term is sometimes used in reference to an intact cover or folded letter. |
| Error: A major mistake in the production of a stamp or postal stationery item. Production errors include imperforate or imperforate-between varieties, missing or incorrect colors, and inversion or doubling of part of the design or overprint. Major errors are usually far scarcer than normal varieties of the same stamp and are highly valued by collectors. |
| Essay: The artwork of a proposed design for a stamp. Some essays are rendered photographically. Others are drawn in pencil or ink or are painted. Most essays are rejected. One becomes the essay for the accepted design. |
| Europa: The "United Europe'' theme celebrated annually on stamps of western European nations since 1956. The original Europa stamps were issued by the nations in the European coal and steel association. Today, European nations that are members of the postal and telecommunications association (CEPT) issue Europa stamps. |
| Expertization: The examination of a stamp or cover by an acknowledged expert to determine if it is genuine. As standard procedure, an expert or expertizing body issues a signed certificate, often with an attached photograph, attesting to the item's status. |
| Exploded: A stamp booklet is said to be exploded when it has been separated into its various components for purposes of display. This usually refers to booklets held together by staples. Modern glued booklets usually cannot be exploded without damaging the individual booklet panes. |
| Express Mail: Next-day mail delivery service. |
| Face: The front of a stamp; the side bearing the design. |
| Face Value: The value of a stamp as inscribed on its face. For letter-denominated stamps, the understood postal value of the stamp. |
| Facsimile: A reproduction of a genuine stamp or cover. Such items are usually made with no intent to deceive collectors or postal officials. Catalogue illustrations may also be considered facsimiles. |
| Fake: A stamp, cover or cancel that has been altered or concocted to appeal to a collector. In a broad sense, fakes include repairs, reperforations and regummed stamps, as well as painted-in cancels, bogus cancels or counterfeit markings. Sometimes entire covers are faked. |
| Fancy Cancel: A general term to describe any pictorial or otherwise unusual obliterating postmark. More specifically, the term is used to describe elaborate handmade pictorial cancels of the 19th century, such as the Waterbury "Running Chicken" of 1869 or the many intricate geometric shapes used during that period in post offices around the country. |
| Fast Colors: Inks resistant to fading. |
| FDC: First-day cover. A cover bearing a stamp tied by a cancellation showing the date of the official first day of issue of that stamp. |
| Field Post Office: A military postal service operating in the field, either on land or at sea. |
| Find: A new discovery, usually of something that was not known to exist. It can be a single item or a hoard of stamps or covers. |
| First-Day Cover: A cover bearing a stamp tied by a cancellation showing the date of the official first day of issue of that stamp. |
| Fiscal: A revenue stamp or similar label denoting the payment of tax. Fiscals are ordinarily affixed to documents and canceled by pen, canceller or mutilation. Because of their similarity to postage stamps, fiscals have occasionally been used either legally or illegally to prepay postage. See also Postal fiscal, Revenues. |
| Flat Plate: A flat metal plate used in a printing press, as opposed to a curved or cylindrical plate. |
| Flaw: A defect in a plate that reproduces as an identifiable variety in the stamp design. |
| Fleet Post Office: An official United States post office for use by U.S. military naval units abroad. |
| Forerunner: A stamp or postal stationery item used in a given location prior to the issuing of regular stamps for that location. Turkish stamps before 1918 cancelled in Palestine are forerunners of Israeli issues. So are the various European nations' issues for use in Palestine, and the subsequent issues of the Palestine Mandate. The term "forerunner" is also used to describe a stamp issued before another stamp or set, if the earlier issue may have influenced the design or purpose of the later issue. |
| Forgery: A completely fraudulent reproduction of a postage stamp. There are two general types of forgeries: those intended to defraud the postal authorities (see also Counterfeit), and those intended to defraud the collectors (see also Bogus). |
| FPO: See Field Post Office or Fleet Post Office. |
| Frama: A general name used for an automatic stamp, derived from the name of the Swiss firm, Frama AG, an early producer of such issues. Automatic stamps are produced individually by a machine on demand in a denomination selected by the customer. There normally is no date on the stamp, as there is on a meter stamp. Also called ATM, from the German word Automatenmarken. |
| Frame: The outer portion of a stamp design, often consisting of a line or a group of panels. |
| Frank: An indication on a cover that postage is prepaid, partially prepaid or that the letter is to be carried free of postage. Franks may be written, hand-stamped, imprinted or affixed. Free franking is usually limited to soldiers' mail or selected government correspondence. Postage stamp and postage meter stamps are modern methods of franking a letter. |
| Freak: An abnormal, usually non repetitive occurrence in the production of stamps that results in a variation from the normal stamp, but falls short of producing an error. Most paper folds, over inking and perforation shifts are freaks. Those abnormalities occurring repetitively are called varieties and may result in major errors. |
| Front: The front of a cover with most or all of the back and side panels torn away or removed. Fronts, while desirable if they bear unusual or uncommon postal markings, are less desirable than an intact cover. |
| Fugitive Inks: Printing inks used in stamp production that easily fade or break up in water or chemicals. To counter attempts at forgery or the removal of cancellations, many governments have used fugitive inks to print stamps. |
| Ghost Tagging: The appearance of a faint image impression in addition to the normal inked impression. This is caused by the miss registration of the phosphor tagging in relation to the ink. Sometimes, a plate number impression will have an entirely different number from the ink plate, giving the impression of an error: one dark (normal) number and one light (ghost) number. |
| Glassine: A thin, semitransparent paper that is moderately resistant to the passage of air and moisture. Envelopes made of glassine are commonly used for temporary stamp storage. Glassine is also used in the manufacture of stamp hinges. |
| Goldbeater's Skin: A thin, tough, translucent paper. The 1886 issue of Prussia was printed in reverse on goldbeater's skin, with the gum applied over the printing. These stamps are brittle and virtually impossible to remove from the paper to which they are affixed. |
| Granite Paper: A paper with small colored fibers added when the paper is made. This paper is used as a deterrent against forgery. |
| Gravure: A printing process utilizing an intaglio printing plate created by photographic and chemical means, rather than by hand engraving. See also Intaglio. |
| Grill: A pattern of parallel lines (or dots at the points where lines would cross) forming a grid. A grill is usually: 1) the impressed breaks added to stamps as a security measure (United States issues of 1867-71 and Peru issues of 1874-79); or 2) a grill-like cancelling device used on various 19th-century issues. |
| Gum: The mucilage applied to the backs of adhesive postage stamps, revenue stamps or envelope flaps. Gum is an area of concern for stamp collectors. It may crack and harm the paper of the stamp itself. It may stain or adhere to other stamps or album pages under certain climatic conditions. Many collectors are willing to pay extra for 19th- and some 20th-century stamps with intact, undisturbed original gum. |
| Gutter: The selvage separating panes on a sheet of stamps. The gutter is usually discarded during processing. The gutter may be unprinted, or bear plate numbers, accounting or control numbers, advertising or other words or markings. |
| Gutter Snipe: One or more stamps to which is attached the full gutter from between panes, plus any amount of an adjoining stamp or stamps. This term is typically used in reference to U.S. stamps. Gutter snipes are freaks caused by miss registration of the cutting device or paper fold over. |
| Hairlines: Fine lines across the face of a stamp caused by plate cracks. |
| Handstamp: Cancellation or overprint applied by hand to a cover or to a stamp. |
| Highway Post Office (HPO): Portable mail-handling equipment for sorting mail in transit on highways (normally by truck). The last official U.S. HPO ran June 30, 1974. |
| Hinge: Stamp hinges are small, rectangular-shaped pieces of glassine paper, usually gummed on one side. Folded with the gummed side out, the hinge is used to mount stamps. Most modern hinges are peelable. Once dry, they may be easily removed from the stamp, leaving little trace of having been applied. |
| Imperforate: Refers to stamps without perforations or rouletting between the individual stamps in a pane. The earliest stamps were imperforate by design, but after about 1860 most stamps were perforated. Modern imperforates are usually errors or are produced specifically for sale to stamp collectors. |
| Impression: Any stamped or embossed printing. |
| Imprimatur: Latin for "let it be printed.'' The first sheets of stamps from an approved plate, normally checked and retained in a file prior to a final directive to begin stamp production from a plate. |
| India Paper: A thin, tough opaque printing paper of high quality used primarily for striking die proofs. |
| Indicium: The stamp impression of a postage meter or the imprint on postal stationery (as opposed to an adhesive stamp), indicating prepayment and postal validity. Plural: indicia. |
| Inscription: The letters, words and numbers that are part of a postage stamp design. |
| Intaglio: Italian for "in recess.'' A form of printing in which the inked image is produced by that portion of the plate sunk below the surface. Line engraving and gravure are forms of intaglio printing. |
| International Reply Coupon (IRC): A redeemable certificate issued by member nations of the Universal Postal Union to provide for return postage from recipients in other countries. IRC's are exchangeable for postage at a post office. |
| Invert: The term generally used to describe any error where one portion of the design is inverted in relation to the other portion(s). An overprint applied upside down is also an invert. |
| Keytype: A basic stamp design utilized for the issues of two or more postal entities, usually differing in the country name and inscription of value. Many of the earlier colonial issues of Britain, France, Spain, Germany and Portugal are keytypes. |
| Kiloware: A stamp mixture consisting of miscellaneous postally used stamps on envelope corner paper from various sources. Kiloware is sometimes sold by the kilogram (about 2.2 pounds). |
| Label: Any stamplike adhesive that is not a postage stamp or revenue stamp. |
| Laid Paper: One of the two basic types of paper used in stamp printing. Laid paper is distinguished from wove paper by the presence of thin, parallel lines visible when the paper is held to light. The lines are usually a few millimeters apart. See also Batonne. |
| Letterpress: Printing done directly from the inked, raised surface of the printing plate. |
| Line Engraving: Printing done from an intaglio plate produced from a hand-engraved die and transfer roll rather than by photographic or chemical means. See also Gravure. |
| Line Pair: A pair of coil stamps with a printed line between them. Stamps produced on a flatbed press have a line from the guideline between panes. Stamps produced on a rotary press have a joint line from the space where ink collects between the sections of curved rotary plates. |
| Liner: Coated paper used as a backing for mint self-adhesive stamps. The liner allows the release of the stamp, which may then be applied with pressure to envelope paper. |
| Linerless: An experimental form of self-adhesive coil stamp that requires no liner. The mint stamps are rolled upon each other in a manner similar to adhesive tape. See United States Scott 3132, 3133. |
| Lithography: Printing from a flat surface with a design area that is ink-receptive. The area that is not to print is ink-repellent. The process is based on the principle that an oil-based design surface will attract oily ink. |
| Locals: Stamps valid within a limited area or within a limited postal system. Local post mail requires the addition of nationally or internationally valid stamps for further service. Locals have been produced both privately and officially. |
| Machin: The name given to a well-known series of British definitive stamps first issued in 1967. The design of the stamp depicts a plaster portrait of Queen Elizabeth II created by artist Arnold Machin. |
| Mail Early Block: U.S. marginal marking block with the selvage bearing the inscription "Mail Early (in the Day).'' This first appeared on U.S. marginal selvage in 1968. It was subsequently replaced by the copyright notice. ME blocks typically consist of four or six stamps. |
| Makeshift Booklets: U.S. stamp booklets manufactured using stamps normally issued in individual panes, packaged in generic blue cardboard covers and dispensed by vending machines. |
| Marcophily: Postmark collecting. |
| Margin: The unprinted border area around the stamp design. The collectible grades of stamps are determined by the position of the design in relation to the edge of the stamp as perforated or, in the case of imperforate stamps, as cut from the sheet. |
| Mat: A hard rubber plate used to apply overprints on postage stamps. |
| Maximaphily: Maximum card collecting. |
| Maximum Card: A picture postcard, a cancel, and a stamp presenting maximum concordance. The stamp is usually affixed to the picture side of the card and is tied by the cancel. Collectors of maximum cards seek to find or create cards with stamp, cancel and picture in maximum agreement, or concordance. |
| Meter: The mechanical or digital device that creates a valid denominated postage imprint known as a meter stamp. Postage is prepaid to the regulating postal authority. Meters were authorized by the UPU in 1920. They are used today by volume mailers to cut the cost of franking mail. |
| Microprinting: Extremely small letters or numbers added to the designs of selected stamps as a security feature. In most cases, 8-power magnification or greater is needed to read microprinting. |
| Miniature Sheet: A smaller-than-normal pane of stamps issued only in that form or in addition to full panes. A miniature sheet is usually without marginal markings or text saying that the sheet was issued in conjunction with or to commemorate some event. See also Souvenir sheet. |
| Mint: A stamp in the same state as issued by a post office: unused, undamaged and with full original gum (if issued with gum). Over time, handling, light and atmospheric conditions may affect the mint state of stamps. |
| Mirror Image: An offset negative or reverse impression. |
| Mission Mixture: The lowest grade of stamp mixture, containing unsorted but primarily common stamps on paper, as purchased from missions or other institutions. See also Bank mixture. |
| Missionaries: The first stamps of Hawaii, issued 1851-52, considered among the great classics of philately. |
| Mixed Perforation: See Compound perforation. |
| Mixed Postage: The franking on a cover bearing the stamps of two or more stamp-issuing entities, properly used. |
| Mixture: A large group of stamps, understood to contain duplication. A mixture is said to be unpicked or picked. A picked mixture may have had stamps removed by a collector or dealer. |
| Mobile Post Office (MPO): Portable mail-handling equipment and personnel, generally in railroad cars, streetcars, trucks or buses. |
| Mount: Acetate holders, clear on the front and with some sort of adhesive on the back. Collectors use mounts to affix stamps or covers to album or exhibit pages. |
| Multiple: An un-separated unit of stamps including at least two stamps, but fewer than the number included in a full pane. |
| Native Paper: Crude, handmade paper produced locally, as opposed to finer, machine-made paper. |
| Never Hinged (NH): A stamp without hinge marks. A never-hinged (NH) stamp usually has original gum, but this is not always the case. |
| New Issue Service: A dealer service that automatically supplies subscribers with new issues of a given country, area or topic. The issues provided are determined by a prearranged standing order that defines the quantity and types of issues. |
| Newspaper Stamps: Stamps issued specifically for the prepayment of mailing rates for newspapers, periodicals and printed matter. |
| Nondenominated: A stamp with no numerical inscription designating the face value. The value of some nondenominated stamps are marked by a designated letter. Others may have a service inscription that indicates the rate the stamp fulfills. |
| Obliteration: (1) A cancellation intended solely to deface a stamp-also called a killer. (2) An overprint intended to deface a portion of the design of a stamp, such as the face of a deposed ruler. |
| Obsolete: A stamp no longer available from post offices, although possibly still postally valid. |
| Occupation Issue: An issue released for use in territory occupied by a foreign power. |
| Off-Center: A stamp design that is not centered in relation to the edges of the stamp. Generally, off-center stamps are less desirable than stamps more nearly centered in relation to the edges. Stamps that are extremely off-center may be added to collections as production freaks. |
| Offices Abroad: At various times, many nations have maintained post offices in other countries, usually because of the unreliability of the local postal system. In China and the Turkish Empire, especially, many foreign nations maintained their own postal systems as part of their extraterritorial powers. Usually, special stationery and stamps were used by these offices. Most consisted of overprints on the regular issues of the nations maintaining the offices. |
| Official: Stamp or stationery issued solely for the use of government departments and officials. In many countries such items may be available to collectors in unused condition from the postal authority. |
| Offset: (1) A printing process that transfers an inked image from a plate to a roller. The roller then applies the ink to paper. (2) The transfer of part of a stamp design or an overprint from one sheet to the back of another, before the ink has dried (also called set off). Such impressions are in reverse (see Mirror image). They are different from stamps printed on both sides. |
| OHMS: Abbreviation for On His (or Her) Majesty's Service. Used in perfins, overprints or franks to indicate Official use in the British Commonwealth. |
| Omnibus Issue: An issue released by several postal entities to celebrate a common theme. Omnibus issues may or may not share a keytype design. |
| On Paper: Stamps (usually postally used) that are affixed to portions of original envelope or wrapper. Often used to describe stamps prior to soaking. |
| On Piece: A stamp on a portion of the original envelope or wrapper showing all or most of the cancel. Stamps on piece are usually saved that way. |
| Original Gum (OG): The adhesive coating on a mint or unused stamp or envelope flap applied by a postal authority or security printer, usually before the item was issued. Upon request of stamp collectors, postal authorities have at times offered to add gum to items first issued ungummed. See also Regummed. |
| Overprint: Any printing over the original completed design of a stamp. An overprint that changes the value of a stamp is also called a surcharge. |
| Oxidation: Darkening of the ink on certain stamps caused by contact with air or light. Some inks used to print stamps, especially oranges, may in time turn brown or black. |
Continue to Part 1: A to C
Continue to Part 3: P to Z
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