To make your buying experience as easy and enjoyable as possible at 1818 Auctioneers, our specialist valuer, Andy has compiled this helpful guide to the philatelic terms used by collectors and dealers.
It aims to help you if you need more clarity in identifying some of the terms we use in our Lot descriptions. This list is not exhaustive, but Andy has identified some of our more commonly used terms.
Adhesive: A stamp that is gummed, more modern stamps do see items on backing paper, these are referred to self adhesives.
Airmail Stamps: Issued to prepay the postage of mail carried by air, not really seen until 1920‘s.
Albino: Stamp design impression without any colour.
Bisect: Describes part of a stamp cut in two for separate use, usually during an era of stamp shortages.
Blind perforation (Blind perf): A perforation which has not been fully punched out and has left some paper where the perforation holes should be.
Block: A group of four or more unseparated stamps, which form a square or rectangle.
Blunt perforation (Blunt perf): A stamp with a perforation which is shorter than would usually be expected
Cachet: A commemorative marking, illustration, or description on an envelope explaining the commemorative purpose when mailed. It is usually applied with a rubber stamp. This is particularly common on first flight or event covers.
Cancellation: Applied by the postal authority to stamps to prevent its reuse.
Catalogue Number (Cat No) Refers to the identifying number of the stamp. We generally use Stanley Gibbons numbers (SG), Scott, Michel (Mi), and other relevant authoritative literature.
Chalky paper: Stamp paper coating with a chalky solution for security purposes to prevent the attempted removal of a postmark,
Cinderella: A label resembling a stamp but not valid for postal purposes.
Circular date stamp (CDS): A circular cancellation mark, which usually includes the date and place name or location.
Coil join: A tab which joins two sections from a roll of stamps
Coil Stamps: Stamps which were produced in rolls for use in vending machines and can often be identified by a pair of straight edges on opposite sides. – Stamps of Canada see many of these types.
Die: A small, flat piece of soft steel which is used to print stamps, an engraving plate impresses the design onto the paper.
Disturbed gum: When the gum of a stamp has been damaged in some way.
Doctor blade: A steel blade used to remove surplus ink from a printing cylinder in the press. Can leave a line where excessive ink is not removed.
Essay: A trial stamp design which sometimes differed from the actual issued stamps.
Face value (F/v): The denomination or value of a stamp, which is expressed on its face.
First Day Cover (FDC): An envelope or card which has been postmarked and used on the first day of issue.
Gum bend, Gum crease or Gum wrinkle: A natural occurrence in flat-plate printed stamps where the paper has shrunk and the gum did not shrink at the same rate, causing the stamp to wrinkle.
Gutter: The blank margins of narrow space dividing a sheet of stamps into panes and permitting perforation. Also can be called traffic light gutters when colour cylinder markings are shown.
Handstamp: A postmark or overprint which has been applied by hand, to the stamp.
Hinged: The gum surface has had a hinge applied to it, also known as Mounted mint.
Imperforate (Imperf): Stamps which have been deliberately printed without perforations, so that they bear straight edges on all four sides
Imprint: When the name of the printer or issuing authority is inscribed. This is generally to the margin of the stamp sheets.
Machin: A common name given to GB definitives, first issued in 1967, which had the Queen’s head designed by Arnold Machin, now barcoded.
Mounted Mint (M/M): In the state as it was issued by the Post Office, including good gum and fully complete perforations, but with hinge marks on the back, see also Hinged.
Non Value Indicator (NVI): A stamp with no monetary value on it, but with its postage class (1st, 2nd) shown instead.
Phosphor stamps: Stamps which have been overprinted or coated with phosphorescent materials so they can be recognised by automatic letter sorting machinery. For collectors a phosphor lamp is usually needed to see them.
Plate number: This is when the letters and numerals in a sheet margin identify the printing plate, also commonly used on 1d reds with numbers to the margins of stamps.
Postal Stationery: Postcards, envelopes, cards or any other covers which bear imprinted or impressed stamps on them, valid for postal use.
Pulled perf: A stamp where the perforation tip is missing or is much shorter than it should be.
Re-gummed: A stamp which has had new gum applied in place of the original. Stamps can feel thicker than they should if re-gummed.
Roulette: When slits or cuts have been used between stamps to separate them instead of perforations
Selvedge: Also referred to as the margin, this is the unprinted paper around a pane of stamps
Se-Tenant: When adjoining stamps differ from each other in some aspect, such as their design or denomination, in larger sheetlets this then can form a composite design.
Spacefiller: A heavily defective stamp with considerable faults which sells for a greatly reduced price
Specimen: A sample stamp which has the words ‘specimen’ perforated or overprinted onto it.
Surcharge: When a stamp has an overprint with a new value this changes its previous value.
Tête-bêche: A stamp which is inverted in relation to the adjoining stamp in a pair
Thin: A ‘thin’ stamp gets its name from having an area where some of the paper is thinner than the remainder of the stamp, this will reduce the value of the stamp.
Unmounted Mint (U/M): A stamp in its original unused condition, as issued by the Postal authority, with good gum that has never been hinged and complete perforations. Also known as unused never hinged or mint never hinged. (MNH)
Used on piece: A stamp which has been kept on part of the original cover to completely preserve its postmark, or with earlier items to stop the colours running on the stamp.
Vignette: The central portion of a stamp’s design which has been printed separately within the frame
Watermark: The distinctive design or pattern formed in paper by ‘thinning’ it during the manufacturing process to protect against forgery. A very popular security measure until the 1970s era.
Wing margin: When a wide margin occurs on one side of a stamp because of the central perforation of the sheet gutter margin.