Inside Linn’s: Flora and Fauna $2 Bobcat saw regular use on mail

By Charles Snee

The May 4 issue of Linn’s Stamp News just landed on the presses and goes in the mail to subscribers Monday, April 20. And if you subscribe to Linn’s digital edition, you’re at the head of the line with early access Saturday, April 18. While you wait for your issue to hit your mailbox, enjoy these three previews of exclusive content available only to subscribers. 

Flora and Fauna $2 Bobcat saw regular use on mail

In Dollar-Sign Stamps, Charles Snee takes on another of his favorite high-denomination issues: the $2 stamp from 1990-2002 Flora and Fauna series that features a bobcat stretched along a tree branch. “Overall the design is visually appealing without being too flashy,” Snee writes. Postal historians will appreciate Snee’s overview of three covers that demonstrate representative domestic and international uses of the stamp. Just one error of the $2 Bobcat is known. Read to the end of the column to learn what it is.

Plate numbers printed on U.S. booklet stamps

During 1996-2001, the United States Postal Service issued a small number of booklet stamps that have a plate number printed on the stamp instead of the selvage. In a feature article that is sure to become a handy reference, booklet and plate number coil specialist Rob Washburn lists the 19 known plate number combinations that exist on booklet stamps. He also points out the plate numbers that are particularly scarce. Try hunting for them in dealers’ stocks the next time you go to a stamp show.

Creating album pages with Affinity Publisher

The coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic has given stamp collectors infusions of time to work on their stamp collections. If you would like to learn how to make your own album or exhibit pages, be sure to check out Computers and Stamps columnist William F. Sharpe’s informative review of the desktop publishing program Affinity Publisher. Using screen shots from the program, Sharpe walks you through the steps to create an attractive album page. Affinity Publisher costs $50 but a full trial version is available for a limited time.

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