Regulations stymie postmark hand-back service, postcard takes 16,000-mile trip: Week's Most Read

By Joe O'Donnell

It’s time to catch up on the week that was in stamp-collecting insights and news.

Linn's Stamp News is looking back at its five most-read stories of the week.

Click the links to read the stories. Here they are, in reverse order:

5. Uniform penny post of 1840 brought more than adhesive stamps in its wake: As stamp collectors, we naturally tend to focus on the immediate tangible results of Hill’s uniform penny postal system: the world’s first adhesive stamp, the 1-penny stamp depicting Queen Victoria, known as the Penny Black.

4. Two stamps from Monaco honor Princess Charlene: Designed by Stefanie Van Zyl and engraved by Elsa Catelin, the €1.60 stamp will show a portrait of the princess with a bouquet of proteas, the national flower of South Africa in the background.

3. Imperforate 1919 2¢ George Washington undervalued in Scott: The value for a mint never-hinged stamp is about right, but the stamp is undervalued in both unused hinged condition and used condition.

2. Postcard odyssey: four 1¢ stamps buy a 16,000-mile journey: The postcard started out with just the 1¢ Benjamin Franklin stamp at right. Another unused stamp was added at each stop to pay the onward charge.

1. Confusing regulations stymie postmark hand-back service for wedding postcard: Have you ever gone into a post office and asked to have a mailpiece or cover canceled and returned to you? Many collectors can and do tell stories about how they were treated.

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