US Stamps

Inside Linn’s: Hidden clue provides possible dollar-sign rate breakdown

Jan 23, 2025, 8 AM
In Dollar-Sign Stamps, Charles Snee highlights an unusual 2010 insured Priority Mail cover. A clue hidden on one of the labels still affixed to the envelope helps Snee figure out a plausible rate breakdown for the $32.10 in postage.

By Charles Snee

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

Hidden clue provides possible dollar-sign rate breakdown

In Dollar-Sign Stamps, Charles Snee highlights an unusual 2010 insured Priority Mail cover. A clue hidden on one of the labels still affixed to the envelope helps Snee figure out a plausible rate breakdown for the $32.10 in postage.

The earliest photo-cachet campaign cover?

In The Odd Lot, Wayne L. Youngblood wonders if an 1860 letter featuring a small photo of Abraham Lincoln is the earliest-known photo-cachet campaign cover. “The item was originally found in a large lot of covers many years ago,” Youngblood writes. “My speculation is based on apparent evidence, rather than provenance, and its status might never be definitively confirmed.” Read the whole column to find out what Youngblood discovered.

Stamp Market Tips: Colombia-Barranquilla perforation variety

In their tip of the week, Stamp Market Tips columnists Henry Gitner and Rick Miller highlight a variety of the Colombia-Barranquilla 1903-04 1-peso violet Gen. Prospero Pinzon stamp perforated gauge 12. They also offer a word of caution. “It is not easy to get a handle on the market for stamps of Latin America,” Gitner and Miller explain. “Latin American stamps seem to be much less common and harder to acquire than European stamps of the same era.”

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