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Extra fine (EF) or extremely fine (XF) is a perfectly centered stamp with wide margins. Very fine (VF) is a well centered stamp with ample margins. Fine (F) is a stamp that is significantly offset but still has four margins. Average (Avg.) is a stamp that has no margin on at least one side with a portion of the design trimmed off or cut into by ...
An oddity is something that is within the bounds of usability for the stamp, but still has a distinctive appearance. The usual sort of oddity is misregistration on a multi-colored stamp, which can result in shirts apparently with two sets of buttons, eyes above the top of a person's head, and so forth.
The "perforation gauge" of a stamp specifies the number of perforation holes that appear in a two-centimeter span along its edge. [1] The finest gauge ever used is 18 on stamps of the Malay States in the early 1950s, and the coarsest is 2, seen on the 1891 stamps of Bhopal. Modern stamp perforations tend to range from 11 to 14.
The first self-adhesive stamp was issued by Sierra Leone in 1964, and by the 1990s these stamps came into wide use. These are inevitably diecut, meaning that the stamps themselves are cut entirely apart, held together only by the backing paper. At first the backing paper was itself solid, but in a repeat of history, is now slightly rouletted so ...
Fine tears develop along the round areas of the perforation edges because of this process. Also, when the stamps are torn to separate them from the sheets, fine tears along the perforation tips develop. These fine tears from perforating and tearing render tiny hairs descending from the edge of the stamp.
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The postmarks bore the initial of the particular post office or handling house it was sent from along with a separate time stamp. Postage was prepaid and the postmark was applied to the mailed item by means of an inked hand-stamp. Some historians also consider these postmarks to be the world's first postage "stamps". [3]
Image credits: National Geographic #5. The 'Spanish Flu' actually likely got its start in Kansas, USA. It's only called the Spanish Flu because most countries involved in WWI had a near-universal ...