Part 1

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Peeps at Postage Stamps.

by Stanley Currie Johnson.

INTRODUCTION

Every boy and girl--and, we might add, man and woman--should collect stamps. Our reasons for making this statement are many.

First, stamp-collecting is a highly fascinating pursuit, which helps to while away countless pleasant hours. On this score alone it is worth following.

Secondly, it encourages methodical habits. We examine our stamps carefully, we discriminate between the good and the bad specimens, we keep a watch for minor varieties, we marshal our treasures in correct order, and so on.

Thirdly, a vast amount of geography is learnt by collecting. The stamps bring all sorts of out-of-the-way countries to our notice, whilst the postmarks make us conversant with various towns.

Fourthly, we get to know of hundreds of interesting facts concerning the currency and language used in every corner of the globe. The inscriptions on the specimens teach us these matters.

Fifthly, stamp-collecting a.s.sists us to gain a real knowledge of history. Ask any collector when Columbus discovered America? Who was Prince Henry the Navigator? Over what country did King Amadeus reign?

What form of government is possessed by Paraguay? His answers will be far more intelligent than those given by a non-collector.

But the foregoing are not the only matters which our stamps teach us.

What is the difference between an engraving and a lithograph, between cream-laid paper and wove paper, between magenta and cerise? These and a thousand other questions the stamp collector can answer correctly and without hesitation.

Surely a pastime which can help us to gain so much valuable knowledge is worth the attention of every boy and girl, as well as man and woman.

CHAPTER I

PHILATELIC TERMS EXPLAINED

ADHESIVE.--A stamp which is kept in position by moistening the gummed under-surface. Most stamps are adhesives. Postcards, envelopes, and wrappers which have the stamp printed on them, are not adhesives.

BLOCK.--A number of stamps not torn apart. A strip of stamps and a number of stamps forming an odd shape are, however, not considered as blocks.

CHALK-SURFACE.--A surface given to stamps by means of a preparation of chalk, in order that obliterations may not be cleaned out.

COMMEMORATIVE STAMPS.--Stamps issued to remind people of bygone events.

CONTROL LETTERS.--Letters on the margin paper of sheets of stamps, for official purposes of control.

ENTIRE.--A postcard, wrapper, or envelope complete as it has pa.s.sed or would pa.s.s through the post--_i.e._, not the stamp cut from it.

ERROR.--A stamp which contains some faulty workmanship, of whatever kind.

FACSIMILE.--See Forgery.

FORGERY.--An unofficial stamp, one made in order to cheat. In cases where a real stamp is given an unauthorized overprint (which see), the stamp const.i.tutes a forgery.

HINGES.--The papers gummed on one surface used for fixing stamps to the alb.u.m.

IMPERFORATE.--Stamps that are not provided with perforated margins to facilitate separation.

LABEL.--Another name for a stamp.

LOCAL STAMPS.--Stamps which are available for use in some town or special area. There are none in England at the present time. Russia and Morocco are probably the only areas where they still exist, though Switzerland, Turkey, Germany, China, and the United States recognized them until within recent years.

MINT.--A term applied to an unused stamp in perfect condition, including the gum on the back.

MOUNTS.--See Hinges.

OBLITERATION.--Marks placed on a stamp by the authorities to denote that it has gone through the post.

OBSOLETE.--A stamp that is no longer issued by the postal authorities.

OFFICIAL STAMPS.--Those printed for use in Government offices--_i.e._, the obsolete Inland Revenue officials of Great Britain.

OVERPRINT.--An inscription printed on the face of a stamp to alter in some way its original use.

PERFORATED.--A frame of small holes around a stamp made in order to facilitate separation from its neighbour.

PERFORATION, COMPOUND.--Exists when the holes are not of the same size and distance apart around the four sides of a stamp.

PERFORATION GAUGE.--An instrument for measuring the perforations of a stamp. Usual cost about 6d.

PHILATELIST.--Not merely a stamp collector, but one who "loves" ([Greek: philos=a lover) his stamps.

PLATE NUMBERS.--Usually spoken of in connection with the line-engraved stamps of Great Britain. They serve to indicate the plate from which any particular stamp was printed.

PROVISIONALS.--Stamps which are intended for temporary use whilst a permanent issue is being prepared.

REMAINDERS.--Genuine stamps left over after the particular issue has become obsolete. There is no objection to remainders as there is to reprints.

REPRINTS.--Stamps printed from dies after they have become obsolete.

Many countries sell their obsolete dies, with the result that more or less inaccurate reprints are made from them. Reprints, for philatelic purposes, should be cla.s.sed with forgeries.

ROULETTED.--The presence of a frame of small slits around a stamp in order to facilitate separation from its neighbour.

SPECULATIVE STAMPS.--Postage stamps issued by an unscrupulous Government for philatelic, rather than postal, purposes.

STRIP OF STAMPS.--A row of stamps joined together (compare Block).

SURCHARGE.--An overprint placed on a stamp to alter its face value.

VARIETY.--A term to describe a stamp that differs from another in some slight way.