Inside Linn’s: Frankings on two eye-catching covers include a total of four $5 stamps

By Charles Snee

The June 9 digital-only issue of Linn’s Stamp News will be available to subscribers Saturday, May 24. While you wait for your issue to arrive in your inbox, enjoy these three quick glimpses of exclusive content available only to subscribers.

Frankings on two eye-catching covers include a total of four $5 stamps

In Dollar-Sign Stamps, Charles Snee spotlights the frankings on two registered covers that he acquired recently. “Both feature attractive frankings and clear postmarks, and both are in excellent condition,” Snee writes. “In general, you won’t go wrong if you seek postal history featuring these attributes.” One of the covers, pictured above, bears five stamps from the popular Great Americans definitive (regular-issue) series, one of which is a favorite of Snee’s: the 1987 $5 Bret Harte. The other cover (not shown) caught Snee’s attention because it is franked with three 2012 $5 Waves of Color stamps. Dig into his column to learn more about these attractive items of postal history.

Tip of the week: United States 2016 Classics Forever pane of six

Stamp Market Tips columnists Henry Gitner and Rick Miller recommend the U.S. 2016 Classics Forever stamps that were issued in a pane of six. “The designs and frames of the six stamps were patterned after classic U.S. stamps of the 19th century,” Gitner and Miller explain. “There are images of 19th-century postmarks shown in the pane’s selvage (margin paper).” U.S. Postal Service art director Antonio Alcala designed the self-adhesive stamps, which were printed by Banknote Corporation of America.

Kitchen Table Philately: worldwide stamps from 20 different countries

In each weekly issue of Linn’s, either E. Rawolik VI or E. Rawolik VIII 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 reviews an assortment of 37 worldwide stamps from 20 different stamp-issuing entities. The stamps were issued from 1945 to 1991, with the earliest from Ethiopia and the most recent from Lithuania. “A mint surcharged and overprinted stamp from Guinea (Scott 529) is a first for this column,” Rawolik VI writes. Read the full review to find out why.

Connect with Linn’s Stamp News: 

    Sign up for our newsletter