American patriot George Mason was a prominent landowner who argued for greater respect of individual rights in the United States Constitution. His ideas led to the Bill of Rights in 1791.

A group of stamp collectors and postage enthusiasts from Chicago have set of goal of $17,000 to help fund the production of their stamp-focused documentary, "Freaks and Errors: A Rare Collection."

The highest face-value stamps issued by the United States to pay a postage fee are the 1895 and 1896 $100 purple Indian Maiden newspaper stamps (Scott PR113 and PR125). The stamp designs are identical, but the stamp issued in 1895 is on unwatermarked paper, while the stamp issued Jan. 23, 1896, is on paper watermarked with a double-line “USPS.”

American poet Emily Dickinson created nearly 1,800 poems, but few knew of her writings, and only a handful of her verses were published during her lifetime.

Aix-Phila of Aachen, Germany, is one of 80 to 100 active stamp-auction firms in that country. It has been run by the same team since 1987 and holds two auctions a year, in May and in November. Its Nov. 27-28, 2015, sale was previewed on the front page of Linn’s issue of Nov. 23. The standout item was a newly discovered watermark variety on a Germany 2-mark Germania definitive stamp of 1920. The normal (and quite common) 2m stamp, with a watermark consisting of a continuous pattern of lozenges, is listed in the Scott Classic Specialized Catalogue of Stamps and Covers 1840-1940 as Scott 131, with a value in unused condition of 60¢, rising to $2.25 if the gum has never been hinged.

Longtime Linn's Stamp News columnist and postal history expert Richard B. Graham has been honored on a sports card distributed in Columbus, Ohio, where Graham, lived, studied and worked. The card is one of 24 recognizing Columbus-area veterans in a 2015 promotion sponsored by the Columbus Clippers AAA baseball team and other local businesses. Graham died in 2012 at age 89. Fans attending the July 4 Clippers game against the Toledo Mud Hens received a set of the cards.

As a courtesy to its customers, the United States Postal Service provides Express Mail and Priority Mail envelopes free of charge at many of its post offices. For a number of years now, I’ve collected postally used examples of these envelopes franked, of course, with dollar-denominated stamps.

reat Britain’s Penny Black, the first stamp issued in the world, was at first printed in black. That, in itself, requires an explanation. Its creator, Sir Rowland Hill, was from the beginning worried that people could erase a cancellation and thus would be able to fraudulently reuse the stamp to prepay postage on more than one letter.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens was published Dec. 17, 1843, and in the 172 years since then the story has become a timeless classic, retold hundreds of times in a variety of films, television specials and plays, and faithfully read and re-read every year as part of many families’ holiday traditions. Another way to enjoy A Christmas Carol is by forming a topical collection of stamps that picture the characters from this story of redemption.

The American Philatelic Research Library board on Dec. 7 reviewed details of a line of credit made available for the completion of new APRL facilities.

The 1857 and 1945 Christmas Day covers shown nearby bring up an interesting question: How could they be canceled on Dec. 25, a federal holiday. In fact, Christmas has not always been a federal holiday. The June 28, 1870, legislation creating federal holidays covered four days: New Year’s, Independence Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas.

The 37¢ stamp for directing in the 2003 American Filmmaking set pictures John Cassavetes at work on the 1970 movie Husbands. Cassavetes starred in the film and was also the director.

What would be nicer for a stamp collector than a Christmas greeting in the form of a philatelic souvenir? The souvenir, probably sent by dealer J.L. Portwood to his customers, is an imperforate block of nine 1¢ yellow-green Chicago Century of Progress stamps from the American Philatelic Society issue souvenir sheet (Scott 730) mounted on red paper.

In October, Daniel F. Kelleher auctioned a sheet of six of the modern United States rarities known as the $2 upright Jenny Invert stamps. About 29 of the 100 sheets printed are known. This example, expertized and graded superb 98, sold for $67,850.

Eastern Auctions, based in Bathurst, New Brunswick, held a sale of Canada and British North America stamps and postal history on Oct. 23-24 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The sale included a lengthy run of what many consider Canada’s most beautiful stamp of all time, the 50¢ “Bluenose,” a 1929 pictorial definitive showing the schooner of that name.

The upcoming sale In New York City from Robert A. Siegel International includes stamps from the F. Christian Killien, M.D., collection.

The Smithsonian National Postal Museum in Washington, D.C., opened its new exhibit, New York City: A Portrait Through Stamp Art, on Dec. 10. A Dec. 10 Washington postmark commemorates the exhibit opening with the event logo: the Manhattan skyline and a group of theater marquees displaying the title of the exhibit.

Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries held a sale of U.S. material on Oct. 27-29, and a sale of Hawaii on Oct. 29. Both sales were previewed in Linn’s issue of Oct. 26. Siegel’s Hawaii sale featured a number of the famous early Missionary stamps, including a pair of the 13¢ issue inscribed “H.I. & U.S. Postage” (Scott 4).

The fact that there are no chimneys on the 2013 Gingerbread House Christmas stamps (Scott 4817-4820) provided a starting point for several readers entering the December cartoon caption contest featuring the Gingerbread House stamp with the red door (4817).

In 2015, the United States Postal Service issued 100 face-different stamps and postal stationery items. It was the smallest annual total since the 60 produced by the USPS in 1990. However, the year’s count rises to 162 when it includes imperforates — stamps without die cuts — from uncut press sheets of conventionally issued stamps, which the USPS offers for sale on a limited basis at face value.