| ARMS |
Name for early issues of Russia (1858-1917?) picturing coat of
arms. |
| BARQUITO |
Name for 1858-1859 issues of Buenos Aries, Argentina picturing a
steamship. |
| BABY ZEPPELIN |
"Baby Zeppelin" or "Baby Zep," the 50¢ green Graf Zeppelin airmail
stamp, U.S. Scott
C18 |
| BASIL DOVE |
First issue of Basil (1845), a canton of Switzerland, picturing a
dove. |
| BASLERTAUBCHEN |
see BASIL DOVE |
| BEAVER |
Early issues of Canada (1851-1859) picturing a
beaver. |
| BIG HEAD |
see BLACK JACK |
| BLACK JACK |
1863 2 cent USA issue picturing Andrew Jackson. Also called "big head"
due to the portrait taking up most of the
design. |
| BLACK SWAN |
Black 1 pence first issue of Western Australia (1854) picturing a
swan. |
| BLUE BOY |
United States, Alexandria, Va., postmaster"s provisional 5¢ black
on blue paper, United States Scott 1X2. A unique
stamp. |
| BOMBA HEADS |
Name for the 1859 issue of Sicily picturing king Ferdinand. He was called
"bomba" because he used military force ("bomb") to control his
subjects. |
| BRITANNIA |
Design used for British Commonwealth issues of Mauritius 1859-1862, Barbados
1852-1878, and Trinidad 1851-1872
issues. |
| BULL |
see MOLDAVIAN BULL |
| BULL'S EYE |
First three issues of Brazil 1843 (see also goats"s
eye) These
stamps are all imperf. |
| CAMEOS |
Name for 1869-1898 embossed Queen Victoria issues of
Gambia. |
| CAPE TRIANGLE |
Triangular 1853-1864 issues of Cape of Good
Hope. |
| CHALON HEAD |
Queen Victoria portrait used for Canada 1851 12d, Bahamas 1859-1862,
Greneda 1861-1883, Natal 1860-1875, New Brunswick 1860-1863, New Zealand
1855-1872, Nova Scotia 1851-1863, Prince Edward Island 1868-1870, Queensland
1860-1886, and Tasmania 1855-1868. Alfred Chalon painted the portrait.
  |
| COTTONREELS |
First issues of British Guiana
1850-1851 |
| DAWK |
see SCINDE DAWK |
| DOLLAR ERROR |
Name for Jamaica 1860-1863 1 shilling issue error. A vertical line went
through the "S" in shilling made it look like a dollar "$" sign. This error
occurred once per sheet. |
| DOUBLE GENEVA |
First issue of Geneva (1843), a canton of Switzerland. Called "double
Geneva" because there are two identical designs on the
stamp. |
| EPAULETTES |
First issue of Belgium (1849) picturing Belgium's king in a military
uniform. An "epaulet" is an "ornamental fringed shoulder pad" worn on a military
uniform. |
| FULL FACES |
Name for "Chalon Head" issues of New Zealand. see CHALON HEAD |
| GOAT'S EYES |
Brazil Scott no. 7-13
 (Vertical
pair, imperf.) |
| HALF LENGTHS |
First issue of Victoria (1850), Australia picturing upper half of Queen
Victoria. |
| HAWAIIAN MISSIONARIES |
first issues of Hawaii
1851-1852 |
| HERMES HEAD |
Name for 1861-1882 issues of Greece picturing the Greek good Hermes.
Hermes is the messenger and herald of the Greek Gods.
 Block
of four (Imperf.) |
| HIDALGO |
Early issues of Mexico picturing Miguel Hidalgo.
 |
| INCLINADO |
Second issues of Brazil 1844-1846. Called "inclinado" because the
denomination numbers are slanted/inclined.
(same
stamp as goat's eyes)
Vertical. pair |
| INTERINSULAR |
Name for early Bahamas issues (1859-1898) used for inter-island
("interinsular") mail. |
| INVERTED JENNY |
A United States postage stamp of 1918 in which the airplane in the center
of the design was accidentally printed upside-down. Only 100 of the inverts
were ever found, making this error one of the most prized in all philately;
as of 2005 the Scott catalogue vales is $170,000.00 for a hinged copy
and $200,000.00 for a never hinged copy.
This block of four is valued at $750,000.00 (2005) |
| INVERTED SWAN |
4 pence issue of Western Australia (1854) with inverted frame. |
| LADY MCLEOD |
1847 private issue stamp for mail carried by the ship Lady McLeod between
Port of Spain, Trinidad and San Fernado, Trinidad.
Very Rare
 |
| LARGECENTS |
1868-1876 issues of Canada. |
| LAUREATED QUEEN |
1852 issue of New South Wales, Australia picturing Queen Victoria wearing
a laurel wreath crown ("laureated"). |
| LINE ENGRAVED |
Early engraved issues of Great Britain
 |
| MEDALLIONS |
Second issue of Belgium (1849-1850) picturing Belgium's king. |
| MISSINGVIRGIN |
Name for 1867-1868 British Virgin Islands 1 shilling error. The central
portrait of the virgin is missing. |
| MISSIONARIES |
see HAWAIIAN MISSIONARIES |
| MOLDAVIAN BULL |
Name for 1858-1859 issues of Moldavia picturing a bull. Moldavia and
Walachia joined together to form Romania in 1859. |
| MONTEVIDEO SUN |
1858-1860 issues of Uruguay. Montevideo is the capital city of Uruguay. |
| MOURNING STAMP |
A stamp issued in mourning of a recently deceased person, lost colony,
etc. 1866 Abraham Lincoln
stamp. |
| ONE CENT BLACK ON MAGENTA |
Unique, 1856 issue of British Guiana. |
| PENNY BLACK |
1840 1 penny black issue of Great Britain. Considered to be the first
postage stamp. |
| PENNY RED |
1841 1 penny red issue of Great Britain
 |
| PEROT |
First issue of Bermuda"s postmasters stamps (1848). Issued by Hamilton,
Bermuda postmaster William
Perot. |
| PERSION RUG |
The United States $200 and $500 US revenue stamps, Scott R132 and R133
 Small
Persion Rug R132
Large R133 |
| POSTHORN |
Norway's long running series of stamps picturing a post horn. The first
post horn series was issued in
1872-1875. |
| POSTMASTERS |
First issues of Bermuda 1848-1854 (see PEROT) |
| QUEEN ENTHRONED |
Second issue of Victoria (1852), Australia picturing full portrait of
Queen Victoria seated on the throne. |
| QUEEN'S HEAD ISSUES |
1883-1884 issue of Trinidad picturing a sideways view of Queen Victoria"s
head. |
| RAYONS |
1850-1852 issues of Switzerland bearing the inscription "RAYON I", "RAYON
II", or "RAYON
III". 
Rayon I
Rayon III |
| RED MERCURY |
Red 6 kreuzer 1856 newspaper stamp of Austria picturing the Roman god
Mercury (messenger to the gods and god of science and
commerce). |
| SAINT LOUIS BEARS |
1846 postmaster provisional stamps issued by the Saint Louis, Missouri,
USA postmaster that pictured three bears
 |
| SCHWARTZER EISNER |
The 1 kreuzer stamp of Bavaria's first issue (1849). "Schwartzer eisner"
translates as "the black
one". (Block of Four)
(Imperf) |
| SCINDE DAWK |
1852 issue of Scinde District Post, an area of India.
 |
| SMALLCENTS |
1870-1893 issues of Canada. |
| SMALL EAGLE |
see SMALL GENEVA EAGLE |
| SMALL GENEVA EAGLE |
Second issue of Geneva (1845-1848), a canton of Switzerland, picturing
an eagle.  |
| SPHINX AND PYRAMID |
Name for 1867-1906? Issues of Egypt picturing a pyramid and a sphinx.
 (Block
of Four) |
| ST. LOUIS BEARS |
see SAINT LOUIS BEAR |
| STRUBBELIS |
1854-1862 issues of Switzerland picturing Helvetia. "Strubbelis" means
"tousel haired" (i.e., tangled hair)
 |
| SYDNEY VIEWS |
First few issues of New South Wales, Australia 1850-1851 picturing the
city of Sydney, Australia. |
| TRESKILLING YELLOW |
2.27 million for Sweden's three Skilling Banco color error auctioned
in Switzerland on November 8, 1996.
 |
| TETE DE SINGE |
Name for poorly printed(?) issues of Mauritius. These are also called
"monkeys head". |
| TRINACRIA |
Name for 1858-1860 issues of Naples showing the Naples coat of arms.
It pictured medusa with three legs, the horse of Naples, and the fleur-de-lis
of the ruling Bourbon family. |
| TWOPENCE BLUE |
1840 2 pence blue issue of Great
Britain.
(Marginal block of four) |
UGANDA COWRIES |
First stamps of Uganda, produced on typewriter.
 |
| VERVELLE FRANCS |
Unissued, 1 franc first issue of France (1849-1850) printed in orange.
The stamps were issued in red. In 1895, a French stamp dealer named Vervelle
bought a sheet of the 1 franc orange after it was found with the printer's
papers
. (Shown
in red color) |
| WOODBLOCKS |
1861 triangular issue of Cape of Good Hope.
 The plates where
made locally and composed of clinhes of wood. Scott nos.7 and 9. |
A Brief History of stamps
