Inside Linn’s: Combination FDC options for the 2024 U.S. stamp program

By Charles Snee

The Nov. 27 issue of Linn’s Stamp News just landed on the presses and goes in the mail to subscribers Monday, Nov. 13. And if you subscribe to Linn’s digital edition, you’re at the head of the line with early access Saturday, Nov. 11. While you wait for your issue to arrive in your mailbox, enjoy these three quick glimpses of exclusive content available only to subscribers. 

Combination FDC options for the 2024 U.S. stamp program

“As an inveterate combination collector and servicer of first-day covers, I eagerly await the announcement of the following year’s United States stamp program,” writes Lloyd de Vries in his First-Day Covers column. After looking over the announced subjects for next year’s stamps that were published in the Nov. 13 issue of Linn’s, de Vries serves up a hearty plate of options for collectors of combination FDCs. He begins his list with the forthcoming Year of the Dragon stamp, noting that Lunar New Year stamps provide easy combinations. The U.S. Postal Service’s first Year of the Dragon stamp debuted in 2000. Three more Year of the Dragon stamps followed, with the most recent issued in 2012.

White Russian stamps remnants of 1917-23 Russian Civil War

In the final installment of Stamps of Eastern Europe, Rick Miller introduces readers to the stamps of the Army of the Northwest and the Army of the North, both of which are back-of-the-book listings for Russia in the Scott catalogs. According to Miller, “the Army of the Northwest and Army of the North stamp issues are listed under Russia, presumably because they were issued by a military organization within Russia rather than for a geographic area in outlying areas of the Russian Empire.” Miller begins his fascinating history of these stamps with a Soviet Union 10-kopeck stamp from a set of seven issued in 1938 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Workers and Peasants Red Army. And in case you were wondering, Miller will continue to co-author Stamp Market Tips with Henry Gitner.

Kitchen Table Philately: high praise for $4 worldwide mixture

In each weekly issue of Linn’s, either E. Rawolik VI or E. Rawolik VII 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 sings the praises of a sample of 50 stamps from a mixture of 100 worldwide stamps purchased for $4 from a dealer in Colorado. After removing one faulty stamp, Rawolik found that the earliest stamp was a 1910 issue from Argentina, and the most recent was a Netherlands stamp issued in 2015 that pictures King Willem-Alexander. Rawolik also found one United Nations stamp that appears to be postally used. Read the column to discover which U.N. stamp.

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