Inside Linn’s: 2013 Jenny Invert pane on 2024 Leap Day cover

By Charles Snee

The May 13 issue of Linn’s Stamp News just landed on the presses and goes in the mail to subscribers Monday, April 29. And if you subscribe to Linn’s digital edition, you’re at the head of the line with early access Saturday, April 27. While you wait for your issue to arrive in your mailbox, enjoy these three quick glimpses of exclusive content available only to subscribers. 

2013 Jenny Invert pane takes flight on 2024 Leap Day cover

Charles Snee, in Dollar-Sign Stamps, shows off to readers an eye-catching 2024 Leap Day registered cover that he mailed Feb. 29 to his sister-in-law in Oregon, who then returned the cover to him so he could add it to his collection. As Snee explains, his sister-in-law is “somewhat of a rarity in my philatelic world: a noncollector who understands my hobby passion and enjoys using stamps on her mail.” Snee discusses the advance preparation he did before taking the letter to his post office, which involved affixing the 2013 $2 Jenny Invert pane of six (Scott 4806) to leave enough room for the required labels and additional postage that were added. The mailed cover is pictured above.

The holy grail of rural free delivery collecting

A somewhat nondescript, slightly tattered cover mailed in May 1899 takes center stage in Wayne L. Youngblood’s The Odd Lot column. According to Youngblood, the cover “appears to be the earliest-known rural free delivery postmark of any type that shows ‘R.F.D.’ in the marking. However, no one seems to know for certain.” He then shares some of the challenges associated with trying to confirm the cover’s status, including reaching out to roughly a dozen notable collectors and dealers of postal history. “Not one was able to share any significant information regarding the earliest identified markings related to RFD,” Youngblood explains. “There are, I believe, two primary reasons for this.” You will have to read the column for the answer.

Kitchen Table Philately: stamps from 18 different countries

In each weekly issue of Linn’s, either E. Rawolik VI or E. Rawolik VII dissects the contents of a stamp mixture offered to collectors. E. Rawolik is a pseudonym that is also the word “kiloware” (a stamp mixture) spelled backward. This week, E. Rawolik VII reviews a one-third sample of 61 stamps from 18 countries taken from a worldwide mix offered by a seller in New Mexico. The oldest stamps, issued in 1889, came from Germany, while the most recent stamp was issued by Jersey in 2010. Enjoy the full review in this issue.

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