June 2026 (About Stamps)

For our third month, we have 10 challenging questions about philately from club member, Fran! Thank you and enjoy the challenge everyone!

  1. What body of water is commemorated on the US 10 cent stamp in the Panama Pacific Exposition issue of 1913?
  2. What is the shape of the US stamp on the 8 cent airmail envelop of 1965?
  3. The German word, Flugpost, mean?
  4. In what year were the first United Nations stamps issued?
  5. What is the difference between a Miniature Sheet (MS) and Souvenir Sheet (SS)?
  6. There are two types of luminescent material used in tagging stamps. What is the technical difference between phosphorescent and fluorescent types of luminescent material?
  7. What does OHMS mean on the perforated official stamps of Canada?
  8. The overprinted O.H.M.S. on Canadian official stamps lasted for how many years?
  9. US coil stamps are collected in pairs or strips. Coil line pairs are usually collected in pairs. How many coil stamps are collected in the plate number strip?
  10. There are three categories of major stamp errors:
    • Stamps lacking perforations
    • Multicolor stamps lacking one or more colors that normally have been present
    • What is the third major type of error?

May 2026 (About Stamps)

For our second month, we have 10 challenging questions about philately from club member, Fran! Thank you and enjoy the challenge everyone!

  1. When were the 1st Canal Zone stamps issued without the overprint ‘Canal Zone’?
  2. The 1st US astronomy related stamp was issued in 1948. What was depicted on the stamp?
  3. The 1st US tagged stamp, an 8 cent airmail, was released to the public in August 1963. What two objects were depicted on the stamp?
  4. The Canadian stamp that was supposed to be issued on December 25, 1898, was printed with 10 million blue oceans and 10 million green oceans. What was the denomination of the stamp?
  5. In the US, the earliest use of the official ‘First Day of Issue’ wording was in a machine cancel used on July 13, 1937. What was the denomination of this ‘Ordinance of 1787’ stamp?
  6. What is tagging?
  7. The first US semipostal stamp was issued in what year?
  8. The face value of the stamp in (7) was 32 cents. What did you pay for it?
  9. What is deltiology?
  10. Would the stamp below fit the definition of “Fine” centering? Why or why not?
May 2026 – Image for question 10
May Answers
  1. 1928
  2. Observatory
  3. Jet & Capital
  4. 2 cents
  5. 3 cents
  6. Coating stamp or paper with luminescent material which now can be detected under ultraviolet light
  7. 1998
  8. 40 cents
  9. Postcard Collecting
  10. No, because the perfs cut into the design on at least one side of the stamp. This definition changes if stamps were issued from 1847-1898, 1901-1934, or 1935 to present.

April 2026 (US Stamps)

For our first month, we have 10 challenging questions about US philately from club member, Fran! Thank you and enjoy the challenge everyone!

  1. What is the denomination of the stamp with the famous inverted plane?
  2. What does the abbreviation “CTO” mean?
  3. Who appears on the five dollar stamp of the 1938 definitive series?
  4. What occupation is depicted on the one cent U.S. Parcel Post Stamp of 1912?
  5. What is the name of the Russian spacecraft shown on the 1975 U.S. ten cent stamp?
  6. In what year was the Alaska statehood airmail issued?
  7. What two people are shown on the four dollar Columbian series stamp?
  8. What country was honored on the first stamp in the Overrun Countries series?
  9. How many stamps appear on the 1956 FIPEX sheet?
  10. Three Thomas A. Edison stamps were issued in 1929. How can you tell them apart?
April Answers
  1. 24 cents
  2. Cancel to Order
  3. Calvin Coolidge
  4. Postal Clerk
  5. Soyuz
  6. 1959
  7. Queen Isabella & Columbus
  8. Poland
  9. 2
  10. Perf. 11; Perf. 11 x 10½; and Horizontal Coil