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.

Air Cards

Pre-stamped cards devised by Royal Mail in 1993 for airmail use.

Air Covers

Envelopes bearing cachets or airmail stamps or other evidence of their being carried by aeroplane etc.

Air Hole Flaw

Technical term for an uncoloured area, usually circular, which appears accidentally in a coloured portion of a stamp design.

Air Letter Forms

Special letter forms impressed with a sixpenny stamp issued in GB in 1943 to facilitate the writing and handling of air mail letters.

Airgraph

Special letter form used by GB during the Second World War for forces mail overseas which was microfilmed and then reproduced on arrival at destination.

Airmail

Any form of correspondence transmitted by air.

Airmail Labels

Member countries of the UPU adopt a standardised blue label for affixing to correspondence sent by air to facilitate easy recognition, also known as etiquettes (q.v).

Airmail Letter Card

A folded letter sheet for British Armed Forces in WW2.

Airmail Stamps

Postage stamps expressly provided for prepayment of postage on air-borne mail.

Airstream

A service of the British Post Office introduced in 1986 for the bulk posting of airmail packets using a postage paid impression and a distinctive label.

Airway Letter Stamps

Stamps issued by British European Airways since 1951 and also for a while by Cambrian Airways, for the carriage of letters between airports and for posting on arrival.

Albino Impression

A colourless (uninked) impression of either a stamp (usually embossed) or of an overprint or surcharge.

Album

Book designed to house stamps etc.

ALF

Automatic Letter Facing machine that prepares mail for automatic cancelling.

All Up Service

A scheme introduced in 1937 whereby all letter mail sent from the UK to Commonwealth Countries was sent by air at no additional cost to surface rates of postage.

All-Over Watermark

A single device or pattern covering the whole sheet of paper.

Alpha and Beta Flaws

Terms to describe flaws in lithographed stamps. An Alpha Flaw is one which builds up on the litho stone during the early processes of stamp production. A Beta flaw is one which occurs later because of wear on the stone.

Alphabet

Great Britain's first line engraved issues had letters printed in the bottom corners. These, over time, came from four sets of hand punches having distinctive type faces, known as Alphabets I, II, III, IV (q.v Check Letters).

Ambulant

Postmark denoting a Travelling Post Office.

Anaglyph

Printing in two colours to give a three-dimensional effect.

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