Philatelic Glossary

This glossary has been compiled from various different sources. Some of the terms have been reproduced with kind permission from the Stanley Gibbons Philatelic Terms Illustrated by James Mackay. If you think a term is missing please e-mail us.

Damaged Mail

Mail damaged in transit including crash and wreck covers. (q.v. crash covers).

Dandy Roll

Hollow wire surfaced cylinder of a paper-making machine, which bears pressure on the partly formed paper to determine its texture and variations in thickness for watermarks (q.v).

Datapost

Name used by British Post Office for an express service guaranteeing next day delivery anywhere in the United Kingdom.

Date Cuts

Breaks in the "jubilee lines", namely the solid band of colour around a pane of stamps.

Dated Corner

See Coin Daté.

Dated Stamps

Stamps which incorporate the year date of production in their design.

Day of the Stamp

Day set aside by many issuing authorities for postal and philatelic publicity.

Découpage

French term denoting a means of adjusting the pressure of the printing plate by "cut outs" from parts of the printed design taking the form of a composite layer of sheets of cut outs to obtain lighter or deeper impression from the plate as required.

De La Rue

One of the world's leading firms of security printers. De La Rue has been producing British postage stamps since 1855. They have a particular expertise in the gravure printing process. De La Rue also produce bank notes and secure documents such as passports and driving licences.

Dead Country

Term for a country that has ceased to issue stamps.

Dead Letter

Letter which cannot be delivered to the addressee because it bears an incorrect or inadequate address.

Dead Letter Office

Where dead letters (q.v) are held by the Post Office.

Deckle Edge

The natural rough edge of paper as it leaves the paper making machine.

Deep Edge

Excessive colour along the edge of a stamp design printed in relief, caused by over inking.

Deep Etching

Additional etching in photo-engraving to emphasise lines.

Defaced Plates

A stamp printing plate, whose surface has been deliberately scored to ensure that it is not used again.

Deferential Cancellation

Postmark designed so that when the stamp was cancelled the effigy of the ruler was not defaced e.g. Sicily 1859.

Definitive Stamp

Postage stamps intended for everyday use over a substantial period of time, distinguished from commemorative stamps (q.v).

Delacryl

Name invented by De La Rue to signify a printing process developed specifically for stamp production (similar to lithography).

Delayed Mail

Mail held up in transmission through the post and thus indicated by means of a label (q.v Interrupted Mail).

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