Inside Linn’s: Austria offices in the Ottoman Empire

By Charles Snee

The June 26 issue of Linn’s Stamp News just landed on the presses and goes in the mail to subscribers Monday, June 12. And if you subscribe to Linn’s digital edition, you’re at the head of the line with early access Saturday, June 10. While you wait for your issue to arrive in your mailbox, enjoy these three quick glimpses of exclusive content available only to subscribers. 

Austria offices in the Ottoman Empire offer many opportunities

“The imperial Austrian postal service operated at least 114 post offices at various locations in the Ottoman Empire from 1748 to 1914,” writes Rick Miller in Stamps of Eastern Europe. “The stamps and postal history of these extraterritorial post offices offer a nearly limitless variety of collecting opportunities.” Miller features a number of stamps that show the vast influence of Austria in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Specialists and beginners alike will find Miller’s overview worth the read.

Unofficial-city first-day cover challenges remain

As Lloyd de Vries explains in First-Day Covers, these obstacles have their origin in a policy regarding stamp availability on the first of issue that the United States Postal Service instituted beginning in 2007. From that point on, “nearly all stamps would be available for sale at all post offices, even though first-day cities would be designated,” de Vries writes. While some viewed the change as a positive development for FDC collecting, those who collected unofficial-city FDCs were alarmed because there would no longer be any challenge associated with obtaining them. De Vries begs to differ, as you will see when you read the rest of his column, which also includes a special tribute to a beloved cachetmaker who died May 21.

Kitchen Table Philately: 100 stamps from 55 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 VI looks over a 100-stamp sample from a worldwide mixture of 600 stamps from a dealer in Michigan. Rawolik notes the precision of the seller, who sent three glassine envelopes containing exactly 200 stamps each. The envelopes were labeled British, Asia/Africa and Europe. The stamps were issued from 1902 to 2011, with the oldest from Iran and the most recent from Monaco. Enjoy the full review in this issue.

Connect with Linn’s Stamp News: 

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