Zeppelins

The stamps issued for, or in honor of, zeppelin flights. Cacheted covers carried on such flights are Zeppelin covers.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Zemstvo

A local stamp issued by Russian municipal governments or zemstvos, in accordance with an imperial edict of 1870.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Wrapper

A flat sheet or strip open at both ends that can be folded and sealed around a newspaper or periodical. Wrappers can have an imprinted stamp or have a stamp attached.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Wove paper

A paper showing few differences in texture and thickness when held to light. In the production of wove paper, the pulp is pressed against a very fine netting, producing a virtually uniform texture. Wove paper is the most commonly used paper in stamp production.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Wing margin

Early British stamps from the side of a pane with selvage attached. British sheets printed before 1880 were perforated down the center of the gutter, producing oversized margins on one side of stamps adjacent to the gutter. Such copies are distinctive and scarcer than normal copies.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Watermark

A deliberate thinning of paper during its manufacture to produce a semitranslucent pattern. Watermarks appear frequently in paper used in stamp printing or envelope manufacture. See also Batonne.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Water-activated adhesive

Stamp gum designed to adhere to envelope paper only if the gum is moistened. All gummed stamps before 1963 used water-activated adhesive.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Want list

A list of needed stamps or covers, identified by catalog number or some other description, submitted by a collector to a dealer, usually including requirements on condition and price.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Vignette

The central part of a stamp design, usually surrounded by a border. In some cases the vignette shades off gradually into the surrounding area.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Variety

A variation from the standard form of a stamp. Varieties include different watermarks, inverts, imperforates, missing colors, wrong colors and major color shifts. See also Freak, Error.

Popularity: 1% [?]