US Stamps

Inside Linn's: An unusual international parcel post rate discrepancy

Jan 21, 2022, 8 AM
In Dollar-Sign Stamps in the Feb. 7 issue of Linn’s Stamp News, Charles Snee highlights a rather unusual insured international parcel post cover mailed to Sweden in 1972. Images courtesy of Soren Andersson.

By Charles Snee

The Feb. 7 issue of Linn’s Stamp News just landed on the presses and goes in the mail to subscribers Monday, Jan. 24. And if you subscribe to Linn’s digital edition, you’re at the head of the line with early access Saturday, Jan. 22. While you wait for your issue to arrive in your mailbox, enjoy these three quick glimpses of exclusive content available only to subscribers. 

An unusual international parcel post rate discrepancy

The 1972 insured international parcel post cover shown here captured the attention of Dollar-Sign Stamps columnist Charles Snee when he recently spotted it on an online philatelic chat board. “I was drawn to the cover because of the two $1 Eugene O’Neill stamps (Scott 1294) that were used in combination with a 6¢ Flag Over White House (1338), a 5¢ Washington (1283B) and an 11¢ Jet Plane airmail stamped envelope (UC43),” Snee writes. With the help of the owner of the cover and postal historian Tony Wawrukiewicz, he goes on to explain why the $2.22 franking represented an overpayment during a time when international parcel post rates where much more complicated than they are today. Dig into the entire column for the rest of the details.

British stamp website lives up to its name

In Computers and Stamps, William F. Sharpe reviews the All About Stamps website that was launched in 2008 by Warners Group Publications, the publisher of Britain’s monthly Stamp Collector magazine. Sharpe explains how to find various sections on the site. One section, titled “Collector’s Corner,” “offers the most choices of interest to collectors,” according to Sharpe. “Clicking on ‘Quizzes & Puzzles’ in that section will display puzzle questions and answers from Stamp Collector magazine. Most of these questions refer to British stamps, as expected,” he writes. There’s much more to explore on this entertaining website, as the rest of the column reveals.

Collectors’ Forum: 29¢ Louis Armstrong anomaly

The intent of the Collectors’ Forum column is the publication of letters and requests for the exchange of information within the hobby. Linn’s editors give answers or partial answers when known. This week a collector asks about a 20-stamp pane of the United States 1995 32¢ Louis Armstrong stamp (Scott 2982) with what he thinks is an error on one of the stamps. Specifically, the “U” in “LOUIS” is missing from the third stamp in the top row. Is the collector correct, or is there another explanation? Read the editors’ response to find out.

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