Inside Linn’s: Online beacons for lighthouse collectors

By Charles Snee

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

Online beacons for lighthouse collectors

William F. Sharpe opens his Computers and Stamps column with a close look at the Lighthouses on Stamps blog site authored by Ravindra Ratnapala of Sri Lanka. Illustrated above is the top of the home page of that fascinating resource. Read the entire column to learn more about two other websites that you can use to locate stamps picturing lighthouses.

The inexplicable Stutz Bearcat coil stamp of 1985

In Modern U.S. Mail, Richard L. Beecher sheds light on an enigmatic stamp from the popular Transportation coil series: the 1985 11¢ Stutz Bearcat. Beecher explains that the stamp was issued as part of sweeping postage rate changes that went into effect Feb. 17, 1985. “But what was the purpose of this particular stamp?” Beecher asks. He discusses two interesting covers franked with the stamp to help answer his pointed question.

Only Italy and its colonies issued authorized delivery stamps

“While a number of countries have had taxes on authorized deliveries by private delivery services, Italy and its colonies are the only postal administrations to have issued stamps specifically to show the payment of this tax,” explains Rick Miller in a special feature article. These unusual stamps are prefixed “EY” in the Scott catalogs.

Connect with Linn’s Stamp News: 

    Sign up for our newsletter
    Like us on Facebook
    Follow us on Twitter