Inside Linn’s: Colorful dollar-sign stamps on certified mail covers

By Charles Snee

The June 7 issue of Linn’s Stamp News just landed on the presses and goes in the mail to subscribers Monday, May 24. And if you subscribe to Linn’s digital edition, you’re at the head of the line with early access Saturday, May 22. While you wait for your issue to arrive in your mailbox, enjoy these three brief summaries of exclusive content available only to subscribers. 

Colorful dollar-sign stamps on certified mail covers

Dollar-Sign Stamps columnist Charles Snee enjoys hearing from readers. In early April, Lee Peters of New Mexico wrote a kind note to Snee and included a pleasant surprise: eight covers that Peters sent from his business to clients. “All of the covers were sent via certified mail with a return receipt requested,” Snee explains. Each cover is franked with one dollar-denominated stamp in combination with other lower denomination stamps to pay the required postage and certified mail and return receipt fees. One of the two covers that Snee discusses in his column is shown here. It was mailed in early December 2015 to one of Peters’ clients in Anthony, N.M. “Leading the seven-stamp franking packed close together on the right side of the cover is a $5.15 Sunshine Skyway Bridge (Scott 4649), followed by three 2014 nondenominated (49¢) Circus Posters (4899, 4903 and 4905), a pair of the 2008 1¢ Tiffany Lamp coil (3758A) and a 2003 10¢ American Clock (3757),” Snee writes. Dig into the entire column to learn more about this cover and the other one Snee highlights.

Much information available on Stampboards.com

In Computers and Stamps, William F. Sharpe revisits Stampboards.com, the chat board and forum about stamps that he mentioned in his column in the May 3 issue of Linn’s. Sharpe encourages new users to explore the introductory pages that provide guidance on how to “search the thousands of messages and post their own messages.” Sharpe draws attention to the enormous amount of content on the site: “The general stamp discussion area includes more than 270,000 posts in almost 8,000 topics, so there’s a lot to cover. A separate post from the moderators indicates that there have been over 7 million total posts since the site became active.” The site provides high-quality images of Australian stamps and links to numerous philatelic resources in the area devoted to reference books and catalogs. Among the many threads on the site is one called “Stamps that put a smile on your face.” Cartoon characters are the main subject of this entertaining thread. There is much more to Stampboards.com. If you have not visited the site, Sharpe’s column will help you get started.

Linn’s puzzle: U.S. stamp subjects beginning with the letter N

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 puzzle features 24 United States stamps that picture subjects beginning with the letter N. “The clues include stamps showing people (both real and fictional), places and things,” Rubin writes. One of the stamps is a 2001 34¢ commemorative honoring the centennial of the Nobel Prize. The prize is named for Alfred Nobel (1833-96), the inventor of dynamite. If you’re looking for a pleasant diversion, grab your pencil and give Rubin’s puzzle a try.

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