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.
Back of the Book
Refers to a variety of items usually listed in the back of a specialised stamp catalogue e.g. postage dues, revenues, postal savings stamps or stamps not easily available in the country of issue etc.
Background
Lines, shading, or solid colour used as a background for an artistic feature such as a head.
Backing
Part of a printing plate made by pouring molten type metal into the non-printing side of an electro-deposited shell.
Backprint
Any printing on the reverse of a stamp (q.v. Underprint).
Backstamp
Postmark applied to the back of an envelope and other postal packets, often at places en route or at point of arrival.
Ballon Monté
Piloted balloon. Term used for letters despatched by balloon during the Siege of Paris (1870-1871).
Balloon Post
Mail carried by either a manned balloon or a free (unmanned) balloon.
Bande
(French) Newspaper Wrapper.
Bank Mixture
Stamps usually on paper gathered from incoming mail of banks.
Banknote Paper
Paper originally used for the production of banknotes, but subsequently used for the printing of stamps e.g. Latvia 1920.
Bantams
Miniature war economy stamps of South Africa were so named because of their size.
Bar Cancel
Cancellation consisting of bars in rectangular, oval or circular patterns.
Bar Cut
Groove deliberately cut into the obliterating bars of some stamps to identify the stamper.
Barcode Stamps & Labels
Barcodes are patterns of straight lines of varying thickness which are able to be read by electronic equipment.
Barred Cancel
Obliteration used either to cancel a stamp or to block out a portion of the design.
Basted Mills
Paper on which some New Zealand stamps were printed.
Bâle Dove
Swiss Cantonal stamp issue of 1845.
Bâtonné
Thin "bank" letter paper, designed for lightweight foreign correspondence and watermarked with parallel lines to facilitate neatness of writing.
Beaufort House Essays
Designs submitted by Charles Whiting of Beaufort House in the British Treasury competition of 1839.
Bed
Steel surface in a printing press on which a printing plate is laid.
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