ARMS
Name for early issues of Russia picturing coat of arms.
BABY ZEPPELIN
“Baby Zeppelin” or “Baby Zep”, the 50 green Graf Zeppelin airmail stamp, U.S. Scott C18
BARQUITO
Name for 1858-1859 issues of Buenos Aries, Argentina picturing a steamship. ‘Barquito’ means ‘little ships’.
BASIL DOVE
First issue of Basil (1845) a canton of Switzerland, picturing a dove.
BEAVER
Early issues of Canada (1851-1859) picturing a beaver.
BLACK JACK
USA issue 2 cent picturing Andrew Jackson in (1863) and 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.
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’S EYE
First issues of Brazil in 1843.
CAMEOS
Name for 1869-1898 embossed Queen Victoria issues of Gambia.
CAPE TRIANGLE
Triangular issues of Cape of Good Hope in 1853-1864.
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 in 1850-1851.
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.
HALF LENGTHS
First issue of Victoria (1850), Australia picturing upper half of Queen Victoria.
HAWAIIAN MISSIONARIE
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.
HIDALGO
Early issues of Mexico picturing Miguel Hidalgo.
INCLINADO
Second issues of Brazil 1844-1846. Called ‘inclinado’ because the denomination numbers are slanted/inclined.
INTERINSULAR
Name for early Bahamas issues (1859-1898) used for inter-island (‘interinsular’) mail.
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.
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.
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.
PENNY BLACK
1840 – 1 penny black issue of Great Britain
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.
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.
QUEEN ENTHRONED
Second issue of Victoria (1852), Australia picturing full portrait of Queen Victoria seated on the throne.
RAYONS
1850-1852 issues of Switzerland bearing the inscription ‘RAYON I’, ‘RAYON II’, or ‘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’.
SCINDE DAWK
The first issue of Scinde District Post in 1852, an area of India.
SMALLCENTS
1870-1893 issues of Canada.
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.
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.
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
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.
WOODBLOCKS
1861 triangular issue of Cape of Good Hope.
