Philatelic terminology

small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage

thumb|right|225px|A specimen sheet of the Trajan (typeface)|Trajan typeface, which is based on the letter forms of or [[Roman square capitals used for the inscription at the base of Trajan's Column, from which the typeface takes its name]] thumb|right|225px|Movable type being assembled on a [[composing stick using pieces that are stored in the type case shown below it]]

thumb|Example of a court card, postmarked 1899, showing Robert Burns and his cottage and monument in [[Ayr]] alt=Postcard depicting people boarding a train at the Shawnee Depot in Colorado, late 1800s.|thumb|Postcard depicting people boarding a train at the Shawnee Depot in Colorado, late 1800s

thumb|upright=1.35|Two types of modern-day conventional metal tweezers with pointed tips thumb|upright=1.35|A pair of bronze tweezers attributed to the Minoan civilization, Tweezers are small hand tools used for grasping objects too small to be easily handled with the human fingers. Tweezers are thumb-driven forceps most likely derived from tongs used to grab or hold hot objects since the dawn of recorded history. In a scientific or medical context, they are normally referred to as just "forceps", a name that is used together with other grasping surgical instruments that resemble pliers, pinc

thumb|Machine-made watermark on a 19th century letter A watermark is an identifying image or pattern in paper that appears as varying shades of light and dark when viewed by either transmitted light or reflected light. These patterns are created from variations in the thickness or density of the paper. Watermarks have historically been used on postage stamps, currency, and other official documents to discourage counterfeiting. There are two primary methods of producing watermarks in paper: the dandy roll process and the more complex cylinder mould process.

numeric postal code used in the United States and its territories

thumb|Postmark used on United States Navy|U.S. Navy ship

postmark on a cover, postal card or stamped envelope franked on the first day the issue is authorized for use

adhesive label used to collect taxes or fees

thumb|GB Christmas Aerogram (one of two issued in 1967) An aerogram, aerogramme, aérogramme, air letter or airletter is a thin lightweight piece of foldable and gummed paper for writing a letter for transit via airmail, in which the letter and envelope are one and the same. Most postal administrations forbid including items inside these light letters, which are usually sent abroad at a preferential rate, and enclosing items may cause the mail to go at the higher letter rate.

thumb|Standing Helvetia on obverse of a Swiss 2-Coins of the Swiss franc|franc coin

postal service

value of a coin, stamp or paper money, as printed on the coin, stamp or bill itself by the minting authority

collecting of postage stamps and related objects

one postage stamp or a small group of postage stamps still attached to the sheet on which they were printed

stationery item with imprinted stamp

book for storing a collection of postage stamps

holding service for mail

coupon that can be exchanged for postage stamps

catalog of postage stamps

postage stamp issued to raise money for a particular purpose

means by which postage stamps in a sheet are separated from each other

right|200px|thumb|Tête-bêche pairs of the Swiss "William Tell's son" design of 1910 are relatively common. right|200px|thumb|Tête-bêche layout required that the 1921 overprints of Switzerland were arranged to match. In philately, tête-bêche (French for "head-to-tail", lit. "head-to-head") is a joined pair of stamps in which one is upside-down in relation to the other, produced intentionally or accidentally. Like any pair of stamps, a pair of tête-bêches can be vertical or horizontal. In the case of a pair of triangular stamps, they cannot help but be linked "head-to-tail".

a postcard with a postage stamp placed on the picture side of the card where the stamp and card match or are in maximum concordance (similarity)

postage stamp that is part of the regular issue of a country's stamps

accelerated mail delivery service

right|300px|thumb|This 1932 Canadian "first official flight" cover, Great Bear Lake to Rae (now [[Behchoko), includes both a special cachet and a surcharged airmail stamp.]] Aerophilately is the branch of philately that specializes in the study of airmail. Philatelists have observed the development of mail transport by air from its beginning, and all aspects of airmail service have been extensively studied and documented by specialists.

stamp issued during the Christmas season

mail sent with insufficient postage

the study of postal systems and how they operate and, or, the study of the use of postage stamps and covers and associated postal artifacts illustrating historical episodes in the development of postal systems

Franking comprises all devices, markings, or combinations thereof ("franks") applied to mails of any class which qualifies them to be postally serviced. Types of franks include postage stamps (both adhesive and printed on postal stationery, whether uncanceled or precanceled), impressions applied via postage meter (via so-called "postage evidencing systems"), official use "Penalty" franks, Business Reply Mail (BRM), and other permit Imprints (Indicia), manuscript and facsimile "franking privilege" signatures, "soldier's mail" markings, and any other forms authorized by the 192 postal administra

made up of one or more small panes of postage stamps in a cardboard cover

printed material produced by printers or publishers

postal stationery product

a philatelic tool used to measure perforations

small, rectangular piece of paper used to affix a stamp onto an album page

250px|thumb|Overprinted Iranian banknote with the seal of the Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, which was printed after the [[1979 revolution in Iran]] thumb|right|An 1897 Chinese Red Revenue stamp overprinted with small "one dollar" characters was sold for HK$ 6.9 million in 2013. thumb|right|Postage stamps and postal history of France|France, 1929: Commemorative overprint for the Philatelic Exposition in [[Le Havre]]

impression made by a postage meter machine that indicates that postage has been paid

the collecting of postage stamps relating to a particular subject or concept

thumb|right|A piece of curtain fabric showing its selvedge, i.e. the self-finished edge in the foreground

postal marking to deface a stamp and prevent its re-use

postal service

stamp issued for purposes other then providing postage

labels (not stamps) placed on mail during Christmas; issued by private organisations

the release of stamps or postal stationery by two or more countries to commemorate the same topic, event or person

philatelic term

revenue stamp affixed to some goods to indicate that the required excise tax has been paid

post transported with gas ballons

thumb|right|A traditional stockbook with 10 horizontal strips for stamps Stockbooks are storage books used by stamp collectors for storage of postage stamps placed in pockets, on pages, for easy viewing. Other philatelic items, such as plate blocks, miniature sheets, covers, lettersheets, etc., can be stored in stockbooks.

postage stamp that can be personalised with an image or text of the purchaser's choosing

upright=1.35|thumb|A maximum card for the birth bicentenary of Nikolai Gogol where the card, stamp and first day of issue postmark are in concordance Maximaphily is a branch of philately involving the study and creation of maximum cards. It is one of eleven classifications of philately recognised by the Fédération Internationale de Philatélie (FIP) and therefore has its own FIP Commission.

postal stationery which pays the cost of the delivery of a newspaper or a periodical

the space between panes of postage stamps that creates configurations of "gutter pairs" or "gutter blocks"

right|thumb|A 1951 perfin stamp of the UK (used by Her Majesty's Stationery Office|HMSO) showing front (top) and reverse (bottom) right|thumb|A postal stationery envelope used from London to Düsseldorf in 1900, with additional postage stamp perfinned "C & S" identifying the user as "Churchill & Sim" per the seal on the reverse shown on inset right|thumb|An unusual curved perfin INVENTION from Patent Agents G.F. Redfern & Co. of London, whose telegraphic address was also INVENTION right|thumb|A large block of United States perfin stamps right|thumb|A 1955 Canadian stamp with a CPR (Canadian Pac

outside of an envelope or package with an address and typically postage stamps that have been cancelled

type of postage stamp issued to pay for the mailing of newspapers

type of postage stamp

thumb|Heavy foxing on the title page of an 1832 [[textbook]]

face value of a stamp