Inside Linn’s: Two new Christmas seal EKUs discovered

By Charles Snee

The Jan. 5 digital-only issue of Linn’s Stamp News will be available to subscribers Saturday, Dec. 20. While you wait for your issue to arrive in your inbox, enjoy these three quick glimpses of exclusive content available only to subscribers.

Two new Christmas seal earliest-known uses discovered

U.S. Stamp Notes columnist John M. Hotchner alerts readers to the discovery of new earliest-known uses of the United States 1916 and 1934 Christmas seals. “Longtime readers of this column will recall that for about 20 years, ending in 2021, I reported on new EKU dates for 1908-35 national Christmas seals,” Hotchner explains. “These are the years when seals were issued without a stated first day. Establishing a new EKU for these years might be the equivalent of determining the number of angels that can dance on the head of a pin, but the EKU dates are important to those of us who collect in this area.” Hotchner credits fellow Christmas seal collector George Painter for the two new EKU finds.

Word search puzzle: goddesses on stamps

Linn’s regularly publishes three games to entertain readers: Trickies, a word scramble puzzle by Joe Kennedy; a word search puzzle by D.E. Rubin; and a crossword puzzle by David Saks. In this week’s issue, Rubin serves up a fun word search focused on worldwide stamps picturing goddesses. Shown with the puzzle is a 2003 stamp from Uruguay that features the water goddess Iemanja. Get your pencil sharpened and enjoy finding all 19 goddesses in the grid.

Kitchen Table Philately: 50 stamps from Croatia

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 50-stamp assortment of stamps for Croatia offered by a dealer from Virginia. Overall, Rawolik VI was satisfied with the mixture. “Not only did I enjoy my kitchen table tour of Croatia, but I was also pleased by the stamps and the value received.” Enjoy the full review in this issue.

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