Types of Collections

Types of Stamp Collections

Mint Collections

"Mint" stamps have never been used. Traditionally, collectors of "mint" stamps buy new stamps from the post office and place the stamps directly within an album.

These stamps are distinguished by the lack of cancellation marks and the unblemished gum/adhesive on the rear side.

photograph of various mint United States stamps, including 5470a American Gardens block, 1310 Sixth International Philatelic Exhibition, C76 First Man on the Moon, 1474 Stamp Collecting, 1369 American Legion, 1499, Harry S. Truman, 1484 George Gershwin, 1267 Salvation Army, 1245 John Muir

Postally Used/Canceled Collections

"Used" or "canceled" stamps have been postally used to delivery an envelope or package. Once their intended purpose is complete, the collector gathers the stamps for placement within an album

These stamps are easily distinguished by the ink marks called "cancellations" that the postal service applies while processing the envelope.

photograph of various canceled United States stamps, including 466 or 696 Statue of Liberty, 1520 Jefferson Memorial, 3978 Flag & Lady Liberty, 2280 Flag & Yosemite, 812 Andrew Jackson, 707 George Washington, 1035 Statue of Liberty, 1560 Salem Poor, 919 Austria, 2014 International Peace Garden, 741 Grand Canyon, 2300 Tiger Swallowtail, 2069 Nordic Skiing, 2349 Friendship with Morocco, 1711 Colorado, 2418 Ernest Hemingway, 1156 Fifth World Forestry Congress

Worldwide

Countries around the world issue postage stamps. A worldwide collection potentially includes stamps from each and every country from Aden to Austria to Cambodia to Cyprus to Gabon to Haiti to Jamaica to Macao to Namibia to Pitcairn Islands to San Marino to Thailand to the United States and to Zimbabwe. The United Nations also issues postage stamps.

Nation-Specific

Nation-specific collections focus on just one or small number of countries. Some collections specialize in "dead countries," which are countries that no longer exist. An example is "South Vietnam."

Often a collection is specific to the country in which it is located, such as the United States, plus countries in which the collector has relatives.

First Day Cover

When a country issues (releases) a new stamp, a "first day ceremony" might be conducted. Envelopes with the new stamp that are canceled on that exact date are considered "first day covers."

If there is not a "first day ceremony" and no "issue date" is announced, then collectors typically seek stamps canceled on the date of "first known use."

More information: American First Day Cover Society

Topical or Thematic

When a collector seeks stamps containing only specific depictions, it is a topical collection. Perhaps the collection is specific to royalty pictured on stamps, trains on stamps, birds on stamps, flowers on stamps, or any other topic.

Expanding upon topical collecting, thematic collecting seeks stamps that either depict the concept OR have an indirect connection to the concept. For example, a collection of birds that could potentially be found in Minnesota.

More information: American Topical Association

photograph of Christmas topical stamps, including 3004 Santa on Chimney, 3536 Madonna & Child by L. Costa, 3107 or 3112 Madonna & Child by Paolo de Matteis, 1507 Madonna & Child, 1508 Christmas Tree, 1384 Christmas Winter Sunday, 2245 Christmas greetings village, 1551 Christmas

Plate Number Coil

When a coil (aka roll) of stamps is printed, roughly 1-3% of the stamps include the "plate number," which is a notation made by the printing shop. This number is typically positioned at the bottom of the stamp. It can be a single digit or series of digits. Since the mid-1990's, a single letter prefix identifies the printing company.

More information: Plate Number Coils Collector Club

Plate Numbers on Selvage

When stamps are printed on sheets or in booklets, the plate number is typically printed on the selvage, which is the perimeter of unused paper. Collectors of these plate numbers typically save the selvage while also keeping it in-tact with a single stamp or block of stamps.

More information: The American Plate Number Single Society

photograph of plate blocks, including 1257a Christmas, 1763a Wildlife Conservation

Perfin

When the owner of a stamp punctures a unique pattern of tiny holes in the stamp, this branding is called a "perfin." This prevents theft of stamps by corporate employees. This practice disappeared in the 1980's as meter machines became more predominant.

More information: The Perfin Society

Meter Mail

A "meter" is a private machine that prints postage on a sticker or directly upon an envelope, bypassing the need for postage stamps. The machine provides for detailed accounting of how much was used by the company, perhaps tracking usage by corporate departments or specific employees.

More information: The Meter Mail Stamp Society

Photograph of various meter markings, including Pitney Bowes, Datapac, Neopost, Hasler, and United States Postal Service retail.

Precancel

When corporations send bulk quantities of mail, it was easier for the postal service to cancel the stamps prior to being affixed to the envelope or package. This is called precanceling. This practice disappeared with the introduction of meter machines and other postage accounting practices.

More information: The Precancel Stamp Society

Post Mark

The postal service process of cancelling a stamp results in an ink "post mark" being overprinted upon the cover (aka envelope and stamp). A variety of postmark styles exist, such as the fancy cancels. Post marks can be applied by hand or machine.

More information: Post Mark Collectors Club, Universal Ship Cancellation Society, The International Machine Cancel Society

Photograph of a RPO (railway post office) cancellation. It reads K.C. & Aluq. M.D., TR 20, SEPT 16, 1938, R.P.O. which means Kansas City & Albuquerque M.D., Train 20, September 16 1938, Railway Post Office. The stamp is Scott #632 1¢ Benjamin Franklin.

Air Mail, and other "Back of the Book"

Postal service agencies print stamps dedicated to a variety of specialty services. Such stamps are typically documented in the back of stamp catalogue books, deriving the nickname "Back Of Book" stamps. Amongst these are "air mail" stamps, which the United States discontinued in 2001. Other B.O.B. stamps are semi-postals, postage due, special delivery, and parcel post.

More information: American Air Mail Society

Revenue, including Duck Stamps

Though not postage stamps, revenue stamps are government-issued stamps to acknowledge the payment of various taxes and fees. These fees or taxes can include duck hunting, automotive, potato, cigar, playing cards, and much more.

More information: The American Revenue Association

Photograph of several Revenue stamps, including RW2 Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp, RV42 Federal Use Tax on Motor Vehicles, RE37 or RE65 Wines series of 1916, R636 Internal Revenue Documentary series of 1953, R240 or R276 Internal Revenue Documentary, R24 Internal Revenue Certificate, R164 Internal Revenue Documentary, RF28 Playing Cards with KEM Cards cancel.

Postal Stationary

In addition to postage stamps, the postal service prints postage directly upon postal cards, envelopes, and aerogram stationary. This "back of the book" material can be collected as entire envelopes or as "cut squares."

More information: United Postal Stationary Society

Postcards

Though not stamp collecting, the hobby of postcard collecting is closely connected to stamp collecting because used postcards have stamps attached. Therefore, the hobbies overlap. A person who collect postcards is a "deltiologist."

More information: Twin City Postcard Club

Errors, Freaks, & Oddities

In philatelic terminology, an "error" is when several stamps have the same consistent flaw, such as an inverted picture or the wrong text. A "freak" is a one-time flaw such as a small group of stamps folding in the printing process. An "oddity" is when several stamps have similar flaws, but the flaw is not consistently identical across all affected stamps, such as misaligned colors.

More information: Errors, Freaks & Oddities Collectors' Club

Photograph of various error, freak, or oddity (EF) stamps including 2131 Stutz Bearcat with an apple core in front of the vehicle, 2280 Flag over Yosemite with burnt trees, 1856 Sinclair Lewis imperforate pair, 1115 Lincoln-Douglas Debates with severely misregistered perforations, 1299 Thomas Jefferson with misregistered die cut, 219D or 220 George Washington with misregistered perforation, 3¢ George Washington with misregistered die cut, 2¢ George Washington with misregsitered perforation, 37¢ Flag with flawed ink, 37¢ Flag with imperfect serpentine die cut, FOREVEr Liberty Bell with misregistered colors, FOREVER Lady Liberty with misregistered colors.

Cinderellas

A "cinderella" is something that has similarities to a postage stamp, but is not a valid postage stamp. This includes revenues (mentioned above), Christmas seals, Red Cross stamps, merchant trading stamps, forgeries, bogus stamps, and other non-postage lookalikes.

More information: Cinderella Stamp Club