GLOSSARY OF STAMP COLLECTING TERMS Throughout this guide, you’ll find many of the following terms. Knowing about them will be helpful as you begin your stamp-collecting adventure. Adhesive: A gummed postage stamp intended for affixing on letters and other mail. Airmails: Stamps issued specifically for use on airmail letters. Catalog Designation: C. See page 9. American Bank Note Co.: Company printing US stamps from 1879 until 1894, as well as the 1940s Overrun Countries series and others. Approvals: Stamps sent to collectors by dealers for purchase or return after examination. (Mystic’s free at-home service is one of the easiest, most convenient ways to build a great collection. And you get to pick and choose before you buy!) Booklet: Pane of stamps attached to a card cover which is bound together by stitching, staples, or glue. Booklet Pane: Small stamp sheets printed, cut, and sold in booklet form. Block: Usually four stamps attached in a block and referred to as a “block of four.” Bureau of Engraving & Printing (BEP): Printer of nearly every US stamp issued from 1894 until 2005. The BEP no longer prints postage stamps. Cancellation: Mark on stamp to show it has been postally used. Good Centering Fine Centering Cinderella: A stamp- like label not valid for postage. Christmas Seals and some revenue and old local post stamps are Cinderellas. Coil: Stamps issued in rolls, rather than sheets. Coil stamps have straight edges on two opposite sides. Commemorative: Stamps honoring persons, events, or themes. Sold for a limited time only. See page 9. Compound Perforations: More than one gauge of perforation on the same stamp, such as 11 x 10. See page 13 for info on perforations. Condition: Quality of a stamp regarding its centering, color, gum, and if used or mint. Continental Bank Note Co.: Company which held the contract for printing US postage stamps from 1873 to 1879. Controlled Mail: System where mail is sent bearing specific stamps, with the intention of the canceled stamps being returned to sender. Convertible Booklet: A small pane of self- adhesive stamps manufactured so it can be folded into a booklet. C.T.O.: Canceled to Order stamps have been cancelled, but have not been through the mail. Definitive: Regular-issue stamps produced for several years. Usually smaller than commemoratives and they may be re-issued. Die: A small flat piece of soft steel used in the printing of a stamp. The stamp design is engraved on the die, which in turn prints it on the stamp. Die Cut: Cut by a metal device to produce perforation-like wavy lines for separating stamps. Self-adhesive stamps are die-cut. Very Fine Centering Centering: The way the design on a stamp is positioned in relation to its margins. 24 Error: Stamp with a mistake in color, perforations, or design. This is Scott #1204.
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