February 2017 U.S. Stamp News

NEWS & VIEWS

US Stamps & Postal History

Hot Wheels first-day cover burns up the track: Inside Linn’s

Postal Updates

Postal Service seeks changes in regulations to ease losses

World Stamps & Postal History

Cold weather stamps from Finland

Auction Updates

David Feldman auction offers worldwide in eight catalogs

Videos

Monday Morning Brief | New stamps in catalog
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February

news

Red Pears return on new 10¢ definitive stamp

February 28, 2017 02:00 PM

The new stamp will be issued in Cleveland, Ohio, and nationwide in a pane of 20. A 10¢ Red Pears coil stamp using the same design was issued in 2016.

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Two recent finds, both scarce, document invalid use of U.S. airmail stamps

February 27, 2017 07:00 PM

There is often a question with airmail postage regarding the circumstances under which its use was invalid. Let's learn some answers.

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When the USPS Northern Cardinal stamped envelope was actually issued

February 27, 2017 02:00 PM

After initially posting that the forever stamped envelope was issued on Jan. 8, 2017, the USPS revised that issue date.

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WPA Posters ceremony open to the public

February 27, 2017 11:00 AM

Ten stamps showing Depression-era artwork from posters created by the Work Projects Administration (later the Works Progress Administration) will be issued with a ceremony in Hyde Park, N.Y.

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Born Feb. 27: Alice Hamilton

February 27, 2017 03:30 AM

Described as a "crusader for industrial medicine," Alice Hamilton sought to improve dangerous workplaces while fighting for social reforms.

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What is Donald Trump saying from the White House featured on this stamp?

February 26, 2017 07:00 PM

Given that President Trump inspires strong reactions on both ends of the political spectrum, please keep your entries printable.

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Born Feb. 26: Buffalo Bill Cody

February 26, 2017 03:30 AM

Western frontiersman and adventurer Buffalo Bill Cody, a Medal of Honor recipient in 1872, later became a world-famous showman and entertainer.

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Sleuthing out the tantalizing origins of a waterlogged 1929 CAM 25 cover

February 24, 2017 07:00 PM

Nice finds are made in stamp show junk boxes. So it shouldn't be a surprise this waterlogged cover is more than something salvaged from a damp basement.

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Mystery solved: Readers explain ‘Remember S-D Day’ label

February 24, 2017 05:00 PM

What is SD Day? Thirty-five Linn’s readers responded to that question posed by John Hotchner after he came across a label promoting it.

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Counterfeit United States 2014 Flag and Fireworks coil stamps have surfaced

February 24, 2017 01:00 PM

On March 3, 2014, the Flag and Fireworks stamp was issued. It didn’t take counterfeiters long to start cranking out realistic fakes.

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Explaining the $1 black violet Eugene O’Neill stamp, seeing Hillary as president on Liberia sheet: Week’s Most Read

February 24, 2017 07:47 AM

Also this week, we looked at the market for Amelia Earhart stamps 80 years after the famed pilot's disappearance.

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Born Feb. 24: Gen. John Burgoyne

February 24, 2017 03:30 AM

Following his success against the Continental Army in Quebec, Gen. John Burgoyne was forced to surrender to Gen. Horatio Gates at Saratoga in 1777.

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A set of Philippines overprints that is a great buy at Scott value

February 23, 2017 07:00 PM

The stamps commemorated the arrival of the London-Orient flight of a squadron of British seaplanes. Only 6,000 complete sets of the stamps were issued.

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The story behind a postal card offering a reward for a missing wife

February 22, 2017 07:00 PM

Postal cards publicizing missing horses and stolen cars are nothing too far out of the ordinary. But a missing wife? That's unusual.

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When new Depression-era WPA poster art stamps will debut

February 21, 2017 05:00 PM

The Work Projects Administration employed some eight and a half million people, with some constructing and repairing roads, bridges, and airports.

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Nonprofit USA Star coil stamp of 2017 offers new version of a recent design

February 21, 2017 09:00 AM

The new stamp’s central design is a little smaller than that of the earlier issue, and a blue frame has been added on all sides.

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2016 Flag coil stamps without die cuts and color surface

February 20, 2017 09:00 AM

A plate number strip is lacking all die cuts, and which also shows dramatic color variations that transition between adjacent stamps on the strip.

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Mystery behind a ‘Fight Bureaucracy!’ postal label solved

February 19, 2017 07:00 PM

Who was behind the label and what was the reason for it? John Hotchner assumed it was a label from the United States, but he was wrong.

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80 years after Amelia Earhart’s disappearance, there’s demand for her 1963 U.S. stamp

February 19, 2017 09:00 AM

If you have holdings of mint panes of 50 of the 8¢ Amelia Earhart stamp, now is a good time to offer them for sale.

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Patience and a good microscope reveal numerous Overrun Countries varieties

February 18, 2017 05:00 PM

One of the first sets Keith Lichtman ever owned was the 1944 5¢ Overrun Countries. It was later that he learned about the set's reverse printings.

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Diaries that reveal what happened to missing WWII hero Raoul Wallenberg

February 18, 2017 08:00 AM

The end of Raoul Wallenberg's story can now be told, courtesy of the granddaughter of Ivan A. Serov, the head of the Soviet KGB from 1954 to 1958.

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Born Feb. 18: Wendell Willkie

February 18, 2017 03:30 AM

A successful attorney and business executive, Wendell Willkie secured the Republican nomination to run against Franklin Roosevelt in 1940.

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The $1 black violet Eugene O’Neill stamp, explained

February 17, 2017 07:00 PM

Sometime in the early 1970s, the BEP inadvertently printed a small quantity of the Eugene O’Neill stamp in the wrong color.

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Which cause should benefit from future U.S semipostal stamps?

February 17, 2017 03:00 PM

Semipostals are stamps sold at a price greater than the postal value of the stamp. The additional charge is designated for a specific purpose or cause.

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Born Feb. 17: Maj. Gen. John Sullivan

February 17, 2017 03:30 AM

John Sullivan commanded Continental Army troops during the American Revolution and led a 1779 expedition against Indians allied with loyalists.

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Born Feb. 15: Harold Arlen

February 15, 2017 03:30 AM

The man who wrote the music for Over the Rainbow, Stormy Weather and many other classic hits was Harold Arlen, born Feb. 15, 1905, in Buffalo, N.Y.

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When and where the Nebraska Statehood forever stamp ceremony is taking place

February 14, 2017 07:00 PM

The photograph used for the Nebraska Statehood stamp design shows sandhill cranes flying low to scout for shelter from nighttime predators.

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Here is the funniest caption for a 1922 special delivery stamp

February 14, 2017 05:00 PM

Pizzas! That’s what many Linn’s readers thought of when they looked at the delivery being made on the the cartoon contest stamp for January.

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Born Feb. 14: Frederick Douglass

February 14, 2017 03:30 AM

A prominent and respected abolitionist who wrote about his life in slavery, Frederick Douglass was honored on two U.S. stamps issued 28 years apart.

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Tracing the history of FDCs from 1939 to 2015

February 13, 2017 07:00 PM

With thousands of issues since the first ArtCraft cover in 1939, the cachet line is fertile ground for a specialized collection or exhibit.

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The long history of counterfeit U.S. stamps

February 12, 2017 07:00 PM

The “highly convincing counterfeits” that recently surfaced on eBay are certainly not the first stamp fakes.

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When to expect the latest Fruit definitive stamp

February 12, 2017 05:00 PM

An advisory provided by the Postal Service at the beginning of the year indicates that the new stamp will be issued without a first-day ceremony.

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Born Feb. 12: Abraham Lincoln

February 12, 2017 03:30 AM

The 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, led the nation through its turbulent Civil War and proclaimed freedom for those in slavery.

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Mail from the radio station on Great Swan Island in the Caribbean

February 11, 2017 05:00 PM

This station on the uninhabited island was inaugurated in May 1960 with the objective of broadcasting anti-Castro content.

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Counterfeit 2015 U.S. Love stamps have been discovered

February 10, 2017 07:00 PM

Highly convincing counterfeits of the 2015 United States Love stamps are being sold on eBay.

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A hard-to-find Official stamp that’s easily misidentified

February 10, 2017 01:00 PM

Collectors need to pay close attention to color and paper when trying to figure out if they have this stamp that's valued at $190 in unused condition.

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Three new U.S. Postal Service items receive Scott catalog numbers

February 09, 2017 01:00 PM

Having these numbers handy will allow you to easily locate these stamps in the catalogs and learn about their production and values.

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Born Feb. 9: C. Alfred “Chief” Anderson

February 09, 2017 03:30 AM

Denied the opportunity to take flying lessons because of his race, C. Alfred “Chief” Anderson taught himself, earning his pilot's license in 1929.

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Born Feb. 8: Chester Carlson

February 08, 2017 03:30 AM

On the 50th anniversary of his invention of xerography, Chester Carlson was honored on a U.S. stamp, and with a day of public remembrance.

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How hotels helped transport guest mail to the post office

February 04, 2017 02:00 PM

In the 1840s and 1850s, people used many different ways to get mail to the post office.

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Born Feb. 4: Mark Hopkins

February 04, 2017 03:30 AM

A longtime president of Williams College, Mark Hopkins (1802-87) was also a prominent lecturer and writer addressing religious and moral themes.

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When you should consider resubmitting a previously expertized stamp

February 03, 2017 07:00 PM

John Hotchner has discussed resubmitting stamps that have come back with no, or negative, opinions, but a recent article prompted him to dig deeper.

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Born Feb. 3: James A. Michener

February 03, 2017 03:30 AM

James A. Michener, acclaimed author of The Bridges at Toko-Ri and Tales of the South Pacific, was honored on a 59¢ definitive stamp in 2008.

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A Canal Zone overprinted stamp set that is tough to find

February 02, 2017 01:00 PM

The stamps that were issued for the Canal Zone from 1904 to 1979 are of interest to collectors of the United States, Panama, and Latin America.

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Henry Louis Gates Jr. steps down from CSAC following 12 years of service

February 01, 2017 04:45 PM

Gates, who says he loves stamps, championed a number of Black Heritage stamps through the approval process during his tenure on the CSAC.

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Born Feb. 1: Clark Gable

February 01, 2017 03:30 AM

American film star Clark Gable was born in Ohio in 1901. He won an Oscar for his role in It Happened One Night, and later starred in Gone with the Wind.