Inside Linn’s: Priority Mail cover is unofficial FDC for John Lewis stamp

By Charles Snee

The Sept. 4 issue of Linn’s Stamp News just landed on the presses and goes in the mail to subscribers Monday, Aug. 21. And if you subscribe to Linn’s digital edition, you’re at the head of the line with early access Saturday, Aug. 19. While you wait for your issue to arrive in your mailbox, enjoy these three quick glimpses of exclusive content available only to subscribers. 

Priority Mail cover is unofficial FDC for John Lewis stamp

In Dollar-Sign Stamps, Charles Snee details his collaboration with Linn’s Delivering the Mail columnist Allen Abel to service and send to Snee a Priority Mail envelope from the post office in the Longworth House Building in Washington, D.C., on July 21, the official first day of the United States nondenominated (66¢) commemorative forever stamp honoring civil rights icon John Lewis. The cover, which bears two John Lewis stamps (and four 2013 $2 Jenny Invert stamps), is illustrated above.

Finding information about perfins online

Before getting to the details, William F. Sharpe, in Computers and Stamps, defines perfins as “stamps perforated through the face with initials.” In other words, perfins is an abbreviation for perforated initials. Sharpe then points readers to a number of useful articles (some previously published in Linn’s) and websites that unravel some of the mysteries behind the origins of the thousands of perfins that are known. One of the articles Sharpe highlights was penned by Kathleen Wunderly, who observes, with a dash of humor, “Generally speaking, collecting perfins is one specialty that will fill the holes in your collection with holes in stamps without leaving a hole in your budget.”

Word search puzzle: animals and plants and their colors

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 Philatelic Lexicon, a crossword puzzle by David Saks. In this week’s issue, Rubin’s word search provides 24 clues focused on stamps picturing plants or animals that feature a color in their name. Some clues are the name of the plant or animal, and others are the color. So sharpen your pencil and see how long it takes you to find all 24 words hidden in the grid. Enjoy!

Connect with Linn’s Stamp News: 

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