April stamps, topical features and more

New United States postage rates will go into effect May 11, including the 44¢ first class letter rate. The Postal Service will start issuing new rate-change stamps in April, with even more planned for May.

What is the best way to buy these stamps for your collection? In this edition of Linn's newsletter we look at several different ways collectors can obtain new mint stamps from the United States and other countries.

Is topical collecting one of your interests? We have information about Ras al Khaima, which issued dozens of topical stamp sets in the 1980s, and we also take a look at living people who have been honored on postage stamps from around the world.

A preview of a new Scott Stamp Monthly article on Somalia rounds out this month's offering, with information about how you can read up on this region's turbulent stamp-issuing history.

Jay Bigalke
Linn's Online Editor

New U.S. stamps and postal stationery for April meet May 11 rates

The United States stamps and postal cards that will be issued during April all fulfill new postage rates that take effect May 11. (More...)

There are many ways
to collect new stamps

Are you interested in collecting new mint stamps from the United States or some other country?

When it comes to obtaining those new stamps, several options are available. Some methods offer tremendous convenience, while others may offer a wide selection of specialized options. (More...)

Linn's Stamp News provides nearly 400 stamp images that you can use as computer desktop wallpaper. This month's new wallpaper image shows Poland's 1993 Legend of the White Eagle souvenir sheet engraved by Czeslaw Slania. (Click Here)

Stamps of Ras al Khaima

On Jan. 24, it snowed in Ras al Khaima, a member state of the United Arab Emirates, for only the second time in recorded history. Snow began to fall in the evening as temperatures fell below freezing and continued until about midnight. (More...)

Stamps are for the living

Living people are not commemorated on United States stamps. The rule is that an individual has to be dead for five years or more before he or she is honored on a stamp. An exception is made for a U.S. president, who is usually honored with a memorial stamp on the first birth anniversary following death. (More...)

From pirates to postage:
the story of Somalia's history

"Bloody clan wars, turmoil, famine and political chaos attract worldwide attention to Somalia," editor Donna Houseman writes in the May issue of Scott Stamp Monthly.

Somalia is located on the Horn of Africa, along the continent's eastern coast where the Gulf of Aden meets the Indian Ocean. (More...)