Inside Linn’s: U.S. 2013 Jenny Inverts fly right side up and upside down on registered letter

By Charles Snee

The Nov. 10 digital-only issue of Linn’s Stamp News will be available to subscribers Saturday, Oct. 25. While you wait for your issue to arrive in your inbox, enjoy these three quick glimpses of exclusive content available only to subscribers.

2013 Jenny Inverts right side up and upside down on registered letter

Dollar-Sign Stamps columnist Charles Snee spotlights one of his favorite dollar-denominated stamps: the 2013 $2 Jenny Invert issued in a pane of six. A registered letter mailed in 2014 from San Jose, Calif., to Selangor, Malaysia, shown above, captured Snee’s attention. “When I first saw the cover in an online auction, I noticed that the sender artfully arranged the six $2 Jenny Invert stamps in an alternating pattern that shows the Curtiss Jenny biplane flying right side up or upside down,” Snee explains. Snee goes on to explain the rate breakdown for the $15.63 postage on the cover. Was the franking exact? Snee answers that question in the column.

Kitchen Table Philately: $10 mixture serves up $161 in Scott catalog value

In each weekly issue of Linn’s, E. Rawolik VI dissects the contents of a stamp mixture offered to collectors. E. Rawolik is a pseudonym that is also the word “kiloware” (a stamp mixture) spelled backward. This week, E. Rawolik VI sifts through a $10 worldwide mixture of 68 stamps that yielded an impressive $161 in Scott catalog value. Five of the stamps were valued from $4.50 to $7.25. “I was not disappointed when opening the envelope,” Rawolik VI writes. “I saw plenty of old stamps, and the rest looked promising.” Enjoy the full review in this issue.

U.S. Stamp Notes: the art of the stamp

In U.S. Stamp Notes, John M. Hotchner provides an overview of his thoughts about art and stamp design as they relate to the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee on which he served from 1998 to 2010. “Most people acquainted with CSAC know that it chooses subjects for United States commemorative stamps as well as definitive issues in some cases,” Hotchner writes. “But what isn’t as well known is that CSAC is also involved in approving the art developed for virtually all new U.S. stamps.” Be sure to read the entire column. It makes for fascinating reading.

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