This glossary defines those terms most frequently encountered by stamp collectors and cover collectors. Precise definitions for many philatelic terms do not exist. One collector, dealer or society may define a term in one way, while others will use the term in a slightly different way.
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Railway Post Office (RPO) -- Portable mail-handling equipment for sorting mail in transit on trains. The last official U.S. RPO ran June 30, 1977. See also Mobile Post Office.
Receiving Mark -- A postmark or other postal marking applied by the receiving, rather than the originating, post office. See also Backstamp.
Redrawn -- A stamp design that has been slightly altered yet maintains the basic design as originally issued.
Re-engraved -- A stamp with an altered design made by changing a transfer roll from an original die.
Regional -- Stamp sold or valid in a specific part of a stamp issuing-entity. Great Britain has issued stamps for the regions of Guernsey, Jersey, Isle of Man, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Regionals are usually sold only in a given region but are often valid for postage throughout a country.
Registered Mail -- First-class mail with a numbered receipt, including a valuation of the registered item, for full or limited compensation if the mail is lost. Some countries have issued registered mail stamps. Registered mail is signed by each postal employee who handles it.
Registration Labels -- Adhesive labels indicating the registry number and, usually, city of origin for registered articles sent through the mail.
Reissue -- An official reprinting of a stamp from an obsolete or discontinued issue. Reissues are valid for postage. See also Reprint.
Remainders -- Stocks of stamps remaining unsold at the time that an issue is declared obsolete by a post office. Some countries have sold remainders to the stamp trade at substantial discounts from face value. The countries often mark the stamps in some way, usually with a distinctive cancel. Uncanceled remainders usually cannot be distinguished from stamps sold over the counter before the issue was invalidated.
Repaired Stamp -- A damaged stamp that has been repaired in some way to reinforce it or to make it resemble an undamaged stamp.
Replica -- A reproduction of a stamp or cover. In the 19th century, replica stamps were sold as space-fillers. Replica stamps are often printed in one color in a sheet containing a number of different designs. Replicas can sometimes deceive either a postal clerk or collectors.
Reprint -- A stamp printed from the original plate, after the issue has ceased to be postally valid. Official reprints are sometimes made for presentation purposes or official collections.They are often distinguishable in some way from the originals: different colors, perforations, paper or gum. Private reprints, on the other hand, are usually produced strictly for sale to collectors and often closely resemble the original stamps. Private reprints normally sell for less than original copies. Reprints are not valid for postage. See also Reissue.
Retouch -- The minor repairing of a damaged plate or die, often producing a minor, but detectable, difference in the design of printed stamps.
Revenues -- Stamps representing the prepayment or payment of various taxes. Revenues are affixed to official documents and to merchandise. Some stamps, including many issues of the British Commonwealth, were inscribed "Postage and Revenue" and were available for either use. Such issues are usually worth less fiscally canceled than postally used. In some cases, revenues have been used provisionally as postage stamps.
Rocket Mail -- Mail flown in a rocket, even if only a short distance. Many rocket mail experiments have been conducted since 1931. Special labels, cachets or cancels usually note that mail was carried on a rocket.
`Roos -- The nickname of the first Australian issue (1913). The design features a kangaroo on a map of Australia and was used as late as 1945.
Rotary Plate -- A curved or cylindrical printing plate used on a press that rotates and makes continuous impressions. Flat plates make single impressions.
Rouletting -- The piercing of the paper between stamps to make their separation more convenient. No paper is actually removed from the sheet, as in perforating. Rouletting has been made by dash, sawtooth or wavy line.
Rural Free Delivery (RFD) -- System for free home delivery of mail in rural areas of the United States, begun just prior to the turn of the 20th century.
Rust -- A brown mold, resembling the rust in iron. Rust affects stamp paper and gum in tropical regions.
SASE -- A self-addressed, stamped envelope. An unused envelope bearing address of sender and return postage. Sent to make answering easy.
Secret Marks -- Reference area in a stamp's design to foil attempts at counterfeiting and to differentiate issues.
Seebeck -- The nickname for various Latin American issues produced 1890-99 in contract with Nicholas Frederick Seebeck, the agent for the Hamilton Bank Note Company of New York. Seebeck agreed to provide new issues of stamps and stationery each year at no charge, in return for the right to sell remainders and reprints to collectors. The resulting furor destroyed Seebeck and blackened the philatelic reputations of the countries involved.
Selvage -- The unprinted marginal paper on a sheet or pane of stamps.
Semipostal (Charity Stamp) -- Stamp sold at a surcharge over postal value. The additional charge is for a special purpose. Usually recognized by the presence of two (often different) values, separated by a "+" sign, on a single stamp.
Series -- A group of stamps with a similar design or theme. A series may be planned or may evolve.
Set -- A unit of stamps issued for a common purpose, either at one time or over an extended period, embracing a common design or theme.
Se-tenant -- French for "joined together." Two or more unseparated stamps of different designs, colors, denominations or types.
Shade -- The minor variation commonly found in any basic color. Shades are usually accorded catalog status when they are very distinctive.
Sheet -- A complete unit of stamps as printed. Stamps are usually printed in large sheets and are separated into two or more panes before shipment to post offices.
Ship Letter -- Letter carried by private ship.
Short Set -- An incomplete set of stamps, usually lacking either the high value(s) or one or more key values.
Sleeper -- Stamp or other collectible item that seems to be underpriced and may have good investment potential.
Sleeve -- A seamless cylindrical printing plate used in rotary intaglio printing.
Soaking -- Removal of stamps from envelope paper. Most stamps may be safely soaked in water. Fugitive inks, however, will run in water, and chalky-surfaced papers will lose their designs entirely, so some knowledge of stamps is a necessity. Colored envelope paper should be soaked separately.
Souvenir Card -- A philatelic card, not valid for postage, issued in conjunction with some special event.
Souvenir Sheet -- A small sheet of stamps, usually including one value or a set of stamps. A souvenir sheet usually has a wide margin and a commemorative inscription.
Space-Filler -- A stamp in poor condition used to fill a space in an album until a better copy can be found.
Special Delivery -- A service providing expedited delivery of mail. Also called express.
Special Handling -- A U.S. service providing expeditious handling for fourth-class material.
Special Printing -- Reissue of a stamp of current or recent design, often with distinctive color, paper or perforations.
Specialist -- A stamp collector who intensively studies and collects the stamps and postal history of a given country or area, or who has otherwise limited his collecting field.
Specimen -- Stamp or stationery item distributed to UPU members for identification purposes and to the philatelic press and trade for publicity purposes. Specimens are overprinted or punched with the word "SPECIMEN" or its equivalent, or are overprinted or punched in a way to make them different than the issued stamps. Specimens of scarce stamps tend to be less valuable than the actual stamps. Specimens of relatively common stamps are more valuable.
Speculative Issue -- A stamp or issue released primarily for sale to collectors, rather than to meet any legitimate postal need.
Splice -- The repair of a break in a roll of stamp paper, or the joining of two rolls of paper for continuous printing. Stamps printed over a splice are usually removed before the normal stamps are issued.
Stamp -- A postal adhesive. Initially used as a verb, meaning to imprint or impress, that is, to stamp a design.
Stampless Cover -- A folded sheet or envelope carried as mail without a postage stamp. This term usually refers to covers predating the requirement that stamps be affixed to all letters (in the United States, 1856).
Stock Book -- A book containing rows of pockets to hold unmounted or duplicate stamps.
Straight Edge -- Flat-plate or rotary-plate stamps from the margins of panes where the sheets were cut apart. Straight-edge stamps have no perforations on one or two adjacent sides. Sometimes straight-edge stamps show a guideline.
Strip -- Three or more unseparated stamps in a row, vertically or horizontally.
Surcharge -- An overprint that changes or restates the denomination of a stamp.
Surface-Colored Paper -- Paper colored on the surface only, with a white or uncolored back.
Sweatbox -- A closed box containing a wet sponge-like material, over which stuck-together unused stamps are placed on a grill. Humidity softens the gum, allowing separation of stamps.
T -- Abbreviation for the French "Taxe." Handstamped on a stamp, the T indicates the stamp's use as a postage due. Handstamped on a cover, it indicates that postage due has been charged. Several countries have used regular stamps with a perforated initial T as postage dues.
Tagging -- Phosphor coating on stamps used to activate automatic mail-handling equipment. This may be lines, bars, letters, part of the design area or the entire stamp surface. Some stamps are issued both with and without tagging. Catalogs call them tagged or untagged.
Telegraph Stamp -- Label used for the prepayment of telegraph fees. Telegraph stamps resemble postage stamps.
Tete-Beche -- French for "head to tail." Two or more unsevered stamps, one of which is inverted in relation to the other.
Thematic -- A collection of stamps or covers relating to a specific topic. The topic is expanded by careful inquiry and is presented as a logical story. See also Topical.
Tied -- A stamp is said to be tied to a cover when the cancel extends over both the stamp and the envelope paper. Stamps can also be tied by the aging of the mucilage or glue that holds them to the paper.
Tong -- Tweezer-like tool used to handle stamps. Tongs prevent stamps from being soiled by dirt, oil or perspiration.
Topical -- 1) Stamp or cover showing a given subject. Examples are flowers, art, birds, elephants or the Statue of Liberty. 2) The collection of stamps by the topic depicted on them, rather than by country of origin. See also Thematic.
Transit Mark -- A postal marking applied by a post office between the originating and receiving post offices. It can be on the front or back of a cover, card or wrapper.
Triptych -- A se-tenant strip of three related stamps, often forming one overall design. Type -- A basic design of a stamp or a set. Catalogs use type numbers or letters to save space. Catalogs show a typical design rather than every stamp with that design or a similar design.
Underprint -- A fine printing underlying the design of a stamp, most often used to deter counterfeiting.
Ungummed -- A stamp without gum. Ungummed stamps are either stamps issued without gum or stamps thathave been stuck together and subsequently soaked apart, losing their gum in the process. Many countries in tropical climates have issued stamps without gum.
Unhinged -- A stamp without hinge marks, but not necessarily with original gum.
Universal Postal Union (UPU) -- An international organization formed in Bern, Switzerland, in 1874, to regulate and standardize postal usage and to facilitate the movement of mail between member nations. Today, most nations belong to the UPU.(See UPU section of this almanac.)
Unused -- An uncanceled stamp that has not been used but has a hinge mark or some other disturbance that keeps it from being mint. Uncanceled stamps without gum may have been used and missed being canceled, or they may have lost their gum by accident.
Used -- A stamp or stationery item that has been canceled by a postal authority to prevent its re-use on mail. In general, a used stamp is any stamp with a cancel or a precanceled stamp without gum. See also Postally Used and Philatelic Cover.
Variety -- A variation from the standard form of a stamp. Varieties include watermarks, inverts, imperforates, missing colors, wrong colors and major color shifts. See also Freak.
Vignette -- The central part of a stamp design, usually surrounded by a border. The vignette often shades off gradually into the surrounding area.
Want List -- A list of needed stamps or covers, identified by catalog number or some other description, submitted by a collector to a dealer, usually including requirements on condition and price.
Watermark -- A deliberate thinning of paper during its manufacture, to produce a semitranslucent pattern. Watermarks appear frequently in paper used in stamp printing. See also Batonne.
Wing Margin -- Early British stamps from the side of a pane. British sheets printed before 1880 were perforated down the center of the gutter, producing oversized margins on one side of stamps adjacent to the gutter. Such copies are distinctive and scarcer than normal copies.
Wove Paper -- A paper showing few differences in texture and thickness when held to light. In the production of wove paper, the pulp is pressed against a very fine netting, producing a virtually uniform texture. Wove paper is the most commonly used paper in stamp production.
Wrapper -- A flat sheet or strip open at both endsthat can be folded and sealed around a newspaper or periodical. Wrappers can have an imprinted stamp or have a stamp attached.
Zemstvo -- A local stamp issued by Russian municipal governments or zemstvos, in accordance with an imperial edict of 1870.
Zeppelin Items -- The stamps issued for, or in honor of, zeppelin flights, and the cacheted covers carried on such flights.
ZIP Block -- U.S. marginal marking block with the selvage bearing the "Mr. ZIP" cartoon character and/or the inscription "Use ZIP Code." This first appeared on U.S. marginal selvage in 1964. Typically a ZIP block is a block of four stamps.
ZIP Code -- The U.S. numerical post code used to speed and mechanize mail handling and delivery. The letters stand for Zoning Improvement Plan.