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Tips for the Beginner
 Mourning Stamps
Nicknames of famous stamps
TASCO Educational Booklets
TASCO Non-booklet items: advertising covers, cinderellas, approval sheets, etc
World Records in Stamps
Write an Article or Tell us About Your Collection
Ten Low Cost Ways to Start Collecting Stamps

Albums - Glassine Interleaving
Acid_Paper_and_Album_Pages
Buying Stamps - Kiloware and Mixtures
Buying & Using Sheet Protectors
Buying Stamps - New Issues
Great Deals are Often Not What They Seem
 Glues, Gums, and Adhesives
How to Tell a Revenue Usage When You See One
Inventories or Keeping Track
Learning About Your Hobby
Mount Stamps
Not Your Run-of-the-Mill Cancellations
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Select An Album
Soaking Stamps
Soaking II
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Save Time
Tools of the Trade
Tools -Cleaning Up
Tools - Stockbooks, Stockpages and Stockcards
Tag Stamps --Safety
Watermark Stamps 
What Condition Your Condition Is In
Specializing and Specialty Groups
What are and How to --Perforations---
What is My Collection Worth?
 “Unlisted Watermarks” and More
Used Catalogs and Stamp Books

Artcraft FDC's
My Other World
U.S. Revenues - I Love them!
What to Collect

Donations

On To The Fun Page

Stamp Glossary "P"

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Pair of Stamps Two un-separated stamps, joined horizontally or vertically as originally issued.

Pane Part of a sheet of stamps, usually separated by ‘gutter’ margins.

Paquebot (‘Packet Boat’). Term given to letters posted on board ships at sea and to the form of postmark used.

Paper Error Stamps printed on a paper of the wrong colour or type than was actually intended.

Parachute Mail Messages that have been dropped by parachute usually onto remote areas or small islands.

Patriotic Cover Unofficial envelopes printed and used during the American Civil War, bearing patriotic pictures and slogans.

Pen-cancelled Stamp officially cancelled or postmarked using a pen and which has been postally used.

Perf abbreviation for Perforation

Perfin A perfin is a postage stamp that has been perforated with distinctive marks such as initials (hence the contraction perfin from perforated initials) to discourage theft by employees. The practice ceased with the introduction of postal meters.

Perforation A series of holes punched between stamps in the sheet to ease separation.

Perforation Error Stamps perforated of a different gauge than that specified for the issue.

Perforation Guage An instrument designed to measure the number of peaks or valleys in the perforating in any given 2cm space.

Phosphor Stamps are overprinted, inked or impregnated with phosphorescent or ‘fluorescent’ substances for use in electronic letter-facing and postmarking machines.

Pigeon Post The first official pigeon post was inaugurated during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-2. Microfilmed messages were carried by pigeons in sealed tubes. In modern times pigeons have been used by the armed forces, especially in time of war; also, other unofficial services are in use from time to time, items carried being of a ‘philatelic souvenir’ nature.

Plate-numbers Numerals and/or letters inscribed on sheets of stamps, usually in the margins at the foot or sides, indicating the plate or plates used in the printing of the stamps on a flat-bed press. (as opposed to a rotary press-see ‘Cylinder-numbers’).

Plate Proofs Plate-maker or printer impressions from the plate, etched cylinder or ‘stone’ before printing commences.

Postage Due Stamps Used by the post office to frank postal articles for the sums to be collected on delivery of un-stamped letters, or those which are insufficiently prepaid.

Postal Fiscals Fiscal or revenue stamps authorized for postal use.

Postal Forgery Forged stamps used to defraud the postal authorities.

Postal Stationery All forms of postal envelopes, cards, wrappers etc. which have impressed or imprinted stamps.

Postmark Any mark, hand struck, machine-applied or in manuscript form, used on postal items in order items in order to cancel the stamps and/or record the date and origin of their transit through the mail services. (see Cancellation).

Precancels  Precanceled postage stamps, or precancels, may be defined broadly as stamps that have been canceled before being affixed to mail matter. Long ago, someone recognized that canceling 100 stamps in a sheet would take less time than precanceling individual stamps on 100 pieces of mail. Thus was born the idea of making stamps already canceled available to mailers of large amounts of printed matter, usually advertising.

Precancel Device is any handstamp, printing plate, arrangement of movable type, mimeograph stencil, or other implement designed to imprint the prescribed information (usually town and state) on each stamp before it is separated from adjacent stamps in sheet or coil form.

Precancel Type is an imprint clearly distinguishable from other imprints carrying this information. Usually each subject on a device shows the same type and, with few exceptions, each device furnished to a given post office, however applied, represents one type for that office.

Pre-Stamp Cover Covers that were used before the advent of stamps.

Printer’s Waste Defective, malformed or misprinted stamps which are normally discarded and burned by the printer.

Private Controls Inscriptions overprinted on stamps or printed on the backs of stamps by private firms or institutions to prevent unauthorized usage or prevent theft from their stocks of postage stamps.

Propaganda Labels Labels, which are pasted on the letters. In the text contain the political slogans (Finlandish labels against Tcar Russia politics1900, Balticum lambles against USSR, USSR propaganda labels ).

Propaganda Stationary It was used in USSR as printed slogans From the obverse and return party of post envelopes.

Provisional A stamp, usually overprinted or surcharged, issued for temporary use.