Inside Linn’s: Some album weeds are worth cultivating

By Charles Snee

The July 10 issue of Linn’s Stamp News just landed on the presses and goes in the mail to subscribers Monday, June 26. And if you subscribe to Linn’s digital edition, you’re at the head of the line with early access Saturday, June 24. While you wait for your issue to arrive in your mailbox, enjoy these three quick glimpses of exclusive content available only to subscribers.

Some album weeds are worth cultivating

Stamp collectors often look down on stamps of dubious origin, disparagingly referring to such issues as album weeds. In many cases, they are counterfeits or forgeries. But as Wayne Youngblood explains in his The Odd Lot column, some album weeds are worth saving and studying. “While some of these items were fully intended to separate collectors from as much money as possible, not all of them were so diabolical,” Youngblood writes. One such not-so-nefarious item is illustrated above: a complete set of 16 forged United States 1893 Columbian Exposition stamps that were produced by a clever fellow in Germany not long after the genuine stamps (Scott 230-245) were issued.

When postage due stamps do not indicate due collection

As Tony Wawrukiewicz explains in Modern U.S. Mail, postage due stamps on mail “almost invariably indicate payment of a fee or collection of a due amount on a short-paid or unpaid item.” Indeed, he has documented hundreds of such covers in his new book The Uses of U.S. Postage Due Stamps and Their Substitutes, 1879-2023 (co-authored with Arnold Selengut). In his column this month, Wawrukiewicz discusses a pair of notable exceptions: two covers bearing postage due stamps that do not show that a due amount was to be collected. One of those covers was the subject of a previous Modern U.S. Mail column for a different reason. Wawrukiewicz has the details.

Kitchen Table Philately: mint foreign stamps worth $200

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 VI dives into a one-fourth sample from a mixture of worldwide stamps from a seller in Illinois. According to Rawolik, “The small manila envelope was stuffed mostly with partial sheets and souvenir sheets. A few of the 290 stamps inside were from Canada, but most came from the People’s Republic of China.” Enjoy the full review in this week’s issue of Linn’s.

Connect with Linn’s Stamp News: 

    Sign up for our newsletter
    Like us on Facebook
    Follow us on Twitter