Championship Stamp Supply Definitions of Philatelic Terms

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B Press	This all-intaglio printing press, acquired by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in 1973 (and began use in 1976), was capable of producing three-color intaglio stamps. It was the workhorse for most of the Transportation coil and Great Americans series stamps. The press was officially designated as Press 701.
Baby	The name given to the early key type (1889-1900) used in Spain and its colonies, featuring a portrait of a young King Alphonso XIII.
Baby Zepp	Applies specifically to the 50-cent United States airmail stamp released for the 1933 Chicago World's Fair, which pictures the Graf Zeppelin (Minkus #A19, Scott #C18). Because the stamp is not part of the Graf Zeppelin set released in 1930, but does picture the dirigible and is a similar-sized stamp, it received the fondly given name Baby Zepp.
Back-of-the-Book	The term given to all stamps that appear in stamp catalog listings beyond those of general issues. This area includes, but is not limited to airmails, postage dues, revenues, postal stationary, late fee, registry, Christmas seals, locals, newspaper stamps and semi-postal's. Scott and Krause-Minkus catalogs list regular & commemorative issues in the front of their catalogs and the back-of-the-book issues are the special function stamps that follow, including airmails, postage due stamps, official stamps and many others.
Backprint	Refers to any type of printing or type that appears on the backside of a stamp. This can include everything from advertising, such as can be found on early stamps of New Zealand, to the printing on the back of U.S. Duck stamps. Backprint also is one of several unofficial terms used to describe some of the stamps that have been printed on the backs of other previously printed material, such as unfinished banknotes and maps. In 1919-29, the backs of unfinished sheets of banknotes were used for the production of postage stamps to save paper in Latvia. As a result, the backs of individual stamps show parts of engraved designs intended for currency.
Backstamp	A postmark applied to the back of an envelope. The primary purpose of a backstamp is to document the date, time, and receiving location of a specific mail piece. The practice of backstamping is still occasionally encountered but was officially abandoned in the United States early in the 20th century.
Bank Mixture	On-paper mixture supposedly collected from the incoming mail of various banks and financial institutions. By their nature, bank mixtures tend to contain large numbers of definitive or regular issues, but can also contain the odd high-value stamp as well. If advertised as a worldwide bank mixture, such items can contain a wide variety of worldwide stamps.
Bank Note Stamps	In 1919-21, Latvia used the reverse side of old, unfinished currency and maps to print its stamps. Thus, the back sides of these stamps show partial bank notes.
Bantam	Describes versions of regular-size miniature stamps from different countries, particularly the war-effort and war tax stamps of South Africa.
Bar Code	An encrypted series of long and short vertical lines (essentially using the binary system), applied to envelopes by an ink-jet printer to allow high-speed computerized machinery to read a five-, nine-, or 11-digit ZIP code. Such markings also may be printed on the envelopes by private mailers.
Bar Tagging	A printed form of defacement sometimes used as a way to change a stamp's denomination or design. In some cases, stamps that are remaindered are defaced with bar markings before being sold to stamp dealers. In other cases, bar markings are used to obliterate an old denomination or unwanted design element prior to overprinting stamps with the new information.
Battleship Revenue	Battleship revenues are two series of documentary and proprietary revenue stamps released in 1898, during the Spanish-American War. The name comes from the stamp design that pictures the Maine, which was sunk in Havana Harbor and kicked off the war.
Battone	A type of paper upon which stamps have been occasionally printed. Battone resembles laid paper, except the lines are further apart and there are crossing lines as well at regular intervals.
Beer Stamps	A complicated group of special-purpose stamps released between 1866 and 1951. These stamps were affixed to kegs and barrels of beer and, later, fermented malt liquor. Like many revenue stamps affixed to items, instead of paper, damaged copies are the rule rather than the exception.
Benzine	A form of solvent used for many years by collectors to view the watermarks on stamps; however, benzine is extremely flammable, its fumes are harmful, and it damages certain types of stamps (such as those printed by photogravure).
BIA	See USSS.
Bicentennial	Stamps released to celebrate the 200th anniversary of an event. The most well known of these is the extensive series of stamps released by numerous countries during the United States' 1976 bicentennial celebration.
Bicolor	Refers to a stamp printed in two colors.
Bicycle Mail	Any mail carried or delivered by bicycle. The most well-known bicycle mail was carried by Arthur C. Banta in 1894, during the San Francisco mail strike. Special adhesives were issued for the service as well, and these stamps (and covers) are quite rare and desirable. Lesser-known bicycle mail also was carried in Australia, which was established to transport mail between Kalgoorlie and the nearby gold mines.
Bilingual	Single stamps bearing the inscriptions of more than one language, such as those of Canada (English and French).
Bilingual Pair	An un separated pair of stamps inscribed in two languages. The best known of these are the numerous issues of South Africa and Southwest Africa, where the languages are English and Afrikaans.
Bisect	A stamp that has been cut in half horizontally, vertically, or diagonally to pay a rate for which no stamp is available, usually through a shortage of stamps at the post office. Both halves of bisected stamps are used. For example, a 10-cent stamp may be bisected to create two 5-cent stamps. Such items are created out of need and often are scarce. Due to their nature, however, bisects are considered valid only when tied by cancel to a cover or piece representing the proper rate. Bisects are no longer legal in the United States, although they are occasionally done as novelties, usually by collectors.
Bishop Mark	Describes the earliest postmark, devised by Englishman Henry Bishop, considered to be the first Restoration Postmaster General. These markings indicated the day and month a mail piece was received at a post office. Although it is not known exactly when Bishop introduced this revolutionary marking, the earliest-known examples date from May 1661. Bishop was well aware of the importance of his marking. He wrote: "A stamp is invented that is putt upon ever letter shewing the day of the month that every letter comes to the office, so that no Letter Carryer may dare detayne a letter from post to post; which before was unusual."
Bit	In the papermaking process, a bit is the small piece of wire or metal on the dandy roll that creates the watermark. The term also refers to a currency unit of the Danish West Indies from 1855-1917.
Black Blot	One of several forms of universally failed attempts at philatelic censorship. The name Black Blot, which is now used generically, has been used several times. The motive behind such programs is pure, but the effort itself is fundamentally flawed. The Black Blot program, most recently attempted by the APS during the 1960s and '70s, identified stamp issues and countries felt to be speculative or bogus in nature. The goal was to then shun these stamp issues to keep collectors from "throwing away" their money; however, if the program were ever successful, such black-blotted issues would become scarce and, later, costly and desirable. If the effort fails, these programs do little more than to publicize the very issues they wish to squelch.
Blackjack	A form of postal marking used in Canada during World War II as a security measure. Affected machine cancel town marks had the town name removed to conceal mailing locations, particularly for post offices with military personnel near either coast. Example of a "Blackjack"
Blanket	Currently refers to the rubber surface upon which an offset image is transferred from the printing plate prior to being applied to the stamp paper.
Bleute	A French term related to the bluish paper found on early British issues. (See Ivory Head)
Blind Perfs	A freak in which perforation holes are not completely punched through the stamp paper. This condition ranges from partially penetrated holes to cases in which there is no visible evidence of perforations other than perf pin indentations on the front or back. In some cases, blind perfs may affect only one or two holes on a stamp, but in more severe cases, blind perfs can give the impression of a completely imperforate or imperforate-between error. Blind perfs are not to be confused with missing perf errors, in which absolutely no traces of the perforation process are present. Stamps with blind perfs are collected by those who specialize in errors, freaks, and oddities and sell for significantly less than true imperforate errors.
Block	A multiple of four or more un separated stamps that forms a square or rectangle. Unless the size of a block is specifically indicated the term applies to a block of four. Blocks are collected in plain, with no selvage, or with various marginal markings or imprints. These are usually referred to by name, such as plate or inscription blocks. Although the preference is for clean, even (symmetrical) blocks, odd numbered or ragged blocks are collected for scarce classical material. Example of a "Block" of four stamps
Block Tagging	A form of phosphorescent tagging, also known as block-over-vignette. Block tagging involves the application of individual squares of taggant over the stamp design area done to protect perforating and processing equipment from the abrasive nature of taggant material. (see also Selective Block Tagging)
Bluish Paper	In 1909, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing experimented with paper containing 35 percent rag stock instead of all wood pulp. Several stamp, including the 1909 Lincoln commemorative and several values of the Washington-Franklin series, were printed on this paper. The resulting appearance of the stamps is a pale bluish color. All bluish paper stamps are scarce and should be expertised before purchasing.
Boardwalk Margins	Term used to explain the abnormally large-sized margins that appear on some stamps. Named after the old style of wide sidewalk, boardwalk margins are created unintentionally by wide settings of perforation.
Boating Stamps	Boating stamps were used during the early 1960s on applications for the certificate number of 10-horsepower and larger motorboats.
BOB	The often-confusing abbreviation for back-of-the-book, which includes everything from airmails to revenues (all material usually physically listed in the back of stamp catalogs, beyond the postage listings).
Bogus	Describes stamp-like items from real or imagined countries, usually created by those who hope to sell them to unwary collectors as genuine postal issues. Such stamps can bear a very close resemblance to real issues, whereas others are pure fantasy. In some cases, bogus values have been added to legitimate sets of postage stamps.
Booklet	Stamps bound or folded within stiff covers, giving the appearance for which it is named. Small panes of stamps sewn, stapled or glued between relatively stiff, thick covers (or increasingly with recent self-adhesive stamps, on tough backing paper that may be folded into a booklet when the stamps are purchased). Stamp booklets were devised as a convenience to stamp users for easy parrying of stamps. In 1895, Luxembourg became the first country to release stamp booklets by breaking sheets down into individual panes and forming them into booklets. Other countries, including the United States in 1900, soon followed suit. Over the years, booklets have taken many forms, ranging from stapled panes to the aforementioned foldable self-adhesive booklets. Booklet covers typically enclose one or more booklet panes, which may or may not have non-postal labels se-tenant with the stamps. Older booklets may also have paper or glassine interleaving, or protective pages, with or without text, between each booklet pane of stamps. In most cases, each booklet pane is attached to the booklet by a binding stub at one edge of the pane. Such stubs may be stapled, attached with their own adhesive or bound by other means. A booklet carefully dismantled and displayed to show all of its parts - the covers, the panes, the interleaving, and the binding, if any is called an exploded booklet. Most booklets contain more than one small pane of stamps.
Booklet Number Singles	Until recently, plate numbers on U.S. booklet stamps could be collected only on the binding stub. But in early 1997, beginning with the Yellow Rose, the USPS began releasing some booklets with plate numbers printing on the stamp itself. This makes those stamps design-different and collectible. In the case of the Yellow Rose, the number singles are distinguishable between 15- and 30-stamp booklets by virtue of their straight edges.
Booklet Pane	A single page, or pane of stamps from a complete booklet of stamps. Panes may be collected separately from booklets. Such panes are said to be from an exploded booklet. Depending upon how they are produced, booklet panes may have staple holes or folds and many may be found either or without binding stubs. Panes missing binding stubs generally are worth far less than those with stubs. On earlier issues, particularly from the United States, plate numbers are found only on certain positions from the printing sheet and command a premium over standard value. Example of a "Booklet Pane"
Bootlegged Cover	A letter carried outside the official mail stream. Sometimes, especially in early postal history, this would happen for many reasons. If a friend was going to another country, for example, it might be cheaper to have your friend take your letter and put it into the mail when he reached his destination. The cover would be datelined with the country of origin but would have the domestic postage of the country that received it into the mail. Therefore, it would be written from Russia in 1850 but have a 3-cent United States stamp for postage and have a New York CDS.
Border	The outer printed edge of a stamp or pane design. A border may be as simple as a frame line surrounding the inner design or as complex as ornately engine-turned engraving.
Bourse	Any organized meeting of stamp dealers or collectors where stamps are bought and sold. Bourses may be part of a stamp exhibition, where collections are competitively shown, or they may be independently held.
Boxed Postmark	A postmark printed with a frame surrounding the text. Boxed postmarks may be single-, double-, or triple-lined, have one or more lines of text, and be extremely ornate or very plain.
Branding	See Perfins.
Bridge	The paper between perforation holes that holds a multiple of two or more stamps together.
Broken Set	Any group of stamps from an issued set that is missing one or more values. A broken set, when advertised as such, usually means that all inexpensive stamps from the set are present, but not the scarce or expensive ones. (See also Short set).
Buggy Whip	A popular plate variety found on the 4.9-cent Buckboard stamp of the United States Transportation coil series. The variety is a plate crack caused by the grippers that held the curved plate onto the press. When the plate cracked, it did so extending from the seat of the Buckboard upward. As a result, ink gathered in the crack and printed out on the finished stamps. The name refers to the appearance of the crack, which resembles a buggy whip. Because the crack is a constant plate variety, all stamps from that plate in that position show the crack.
Bulk Mail	Type of mail commonly referred to as "junk mail." Bulk mail is sorted, bundled, and processed at various levels by the mailer in exchange for reduced postage rates. The classification encompasses numerous forms, including several mail classes, different levels of presorting, and non-profit status. Although all bulk mailers receive discounted postage rates, they earn those discounts. Many of these different rates are represented by fractional-denomination postage stamps. Many collectors save bulk mail stamps and study the postal history connected with them. (See also Fractional-Denomination and False Franking)
Bull's Eye	Also known as socked-on-the-nose. Refers to canceled stamps with the circular portion of a hand stamps or machine cancel nearly perfectly centered on the design area of the stamp itself. Bull's-eye cancels may be collected by date, type, town and many other ways. Many collectors of bull's-eye canceled stamps form calendar collections with a stamp for each day of the year. The term also applies to early issues of Brazil that somewhat resemble a bull's eye.
Bull's-Eye first-Day Cancel	A stamp with the entire circular-dated portion of the cancel appearing in the design area. The date of the cancel of such an item is the first-day release date of the stamp. The collecting of Bull's-Eye first-day canceled stamps is a specialty.
Bureau Issues Association	See USSS.
Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP)	The BEP is a branch of the Unites States Treasury Department and has been the primary printed of U.S. Stamps since 1894. During most of those years, the BEP was the only printer, but contract printers began taking work from the bureau as early as the 1970s, escalating throughout the 1980s and 1990.
Bureau Precancel	As it relates to stamps of the United States, this type has been precanceled at the source by the stamp printer, usually the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (see above). These are set off primarily because the cancellation has been applied by one of the color stations on the stamp printing press. The superior quality of the printing usually distinguishes bureau precancels from local precancels.
Burelage	A fine regular pattern of lines, dots, or other graphics printed on the face or the back of a stamp as a security device to help discourage cancellation removal or counterfeiting. If the burelage is printed on the back of a stamp, it is usually done before gumming, but if it is on the face, it usually is applied before printing and appears under the printed stamp design.
Burr	A raised bit of metal on a die or plate, a burr can be caused by an engraving tool or by damage to a printing plate. If a burr is not properly removed from the plate before printing, it can become visible as a constant plate variety.
Butterfly Postmark	A type postmark used on the first issues of Victoria. The marking shows a double, concave line on two sides (resembling a butterfly's wings), a post office number forming the letter head, and the letter "V" forming the tail. These cancels are highly prized by specialists.

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

Definitions taken from © Copyright All About Stamps, written by Wayne L. Youngblood, used with permission. Championship Stamp Supply wishes to thank Wayne L. Youngblood and Krause Publications for their kind support and permission in using © Copyright All About Stamps for our online definitions of philatelic terms.