Inside Linn’s: Factors influencing a dollar-sign cover’s desirability

By Charles Snee

The Jan. 8 issue of Linn’s Stamp News just landed on the presses and goes in the mail to subscribers Tuesday, Dec. 26. And if you subscribe to Linn’s digital edition, you’re at the head of the line with early access Saturday, Dec. 23. While you wait for your issue to arrive in your mailbox, enjoy these three quick glimpses of exclusive content available only to subscribers.

Factors influencing a dollar-sign cover’s desirability

“When casting about for new dollar-sign cover acquisitions, whether online or at a show, I focus first on the franking, then the destination (the more uncommon, the better), followed by the indication of services such as insurance or registration,” explains Charles Snee in Dollar-Sign Stamps. Other factors that Snee considers include auxiliary markings, the presence of original contents and a notable sender and/or recipient. To make his points clear, Snee pictures and discusses two registered letters with original contents that were mailed in 1989. One of the two covers came from a business run by an accomplished violin maker.

Kitchen Table Philately: worldwide stamps from 1928 to 2011

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 looks over a one-third sample of 81 stamps from a larger assortment of worldwide stamps that were issued from 1928 to 2011. Germany and Australia were well represented, with 19 stamps and 10 stamps, respectively. Rawolik points out that a topical collector would be pleased with the reviewed sample. “There were 11 stamps showing flowers, seven birds, eight transportation, four animals (other than birds), three sports and two science,” Rawolik writes. Enjoy the full review in this issue.

Crossword puzzle: translating philatelic Portuguese into English

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, Saks offers up his sixth crossword focused on translating philatelic Portuguese into English. Hint: a number of the clues deal with numbers.

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