Glossary Of Common Philatelic Terms

Air Letter – Stationery made from lightweight paper which is prestamped (indicia printed on the item)

Blocks – Four or more stamps taken from two or more rows of a larger sheet of stamps.

Booklet Panes – Small panes of stamps specially printed for inclusion in commemorative and definitive stamp booklets.

Cancellation (or postmark, franking)  – The postal marking on a used stamp that prevents it from being used more than once.

Catalogue Value – The valuation of a stamp in a stamp catalogue. Values vary according to condition and the catalogue used, and are guides rather than fixed prices.

Centering – The placement of a stamp design in relation to its perforations.

Commemorative Stamps – Special stamps issued to honour a person, organization, event or anniversary. They are issued in limited quantities and available only for a certain period of time.

Cover – An envelope sent through the mail with cancelled stamps on it.

Definitive or Regular Stamps – The common type of stamps, used for an unspecified period of time in commonly used denominations.

Souvenir Sheet – A small sheet of stamps containing one or more different designs or values with a commemorative inscription.

First Day Covers – An envelope carrying stamps cancelled on the first day they were issued.

Hinge – A small piece of gummed paper used to mount stamps in albums.

Imperforate – A stamp without perforations. Early stamps had to be separated with scissors or a knife.

Inscription Block – A block of four or more stamps with printing on the selvedge. Canadian issues normally include the printer's and designer's names, along with plate numbers for engraved stamps, or colour codes for those printed by lithography.

Line Perforation – The simplest form of perforation, stamps can be identified by the fact that perforation holes rarely if ever match precisely at the corners.

Lithography – A common method of printing stamps and cachets in which the design is transferred from a smooth plate by selective inks which wet only the design portion of the printing plate.

Mint – The condition of a stamp as sold by a post office-unfaded with full perforations and original gum intact and unused to mail a letter.

Mounts – Clear plastic holders with a sticky strip that holds the stamp on the album page. They protect the gum on the back of mint stamps from being damaged.

Official First Day Cover – A cover or postal stationery item cancelled on the first day of release, offered by Canada Post.

Pane – A sheet of postage stamps or a page from a stamp booklet.

Prestamped Stationery – Envelopes and Air Letters bearing printed postage stamps or indicias, issued by Canada Post.

Roll Stamps – Stamps issued in rolls (or coils), and in the case of Canadian stamps, perforated on two sides only.

Selvedge – The gummed border around a stamp pane that is usually discarded after the stamps have been used.

Se Tenant – Postage stamps of different designs, colours or value printed side-by-side in the same pane.