(1) stamp pattern: refers to the face of a stamp, which generally consists of a pattern, country name, face value, explanatory text and fringe related to the purpose of stamp issuance. The early stamp patterns of all countries in the world are relatively simple. With the development of society, countries all over the world take the most representative contents of their own countries in politics, economy, national defense, science and technology, culture and art, history and geography, natural scenery and precious animals and plants as stamp patterns. More than 3, kinds of stamps have been issued all over the world, with all kinds of designs. Stamp collectors can gain rich encyclopedic knowledge by collecting and studying stamp patterns. Therefore, stamp patterns are the main research objects of stamp collectors.
(2) the name of the country on the stamp: refers to the name of the country or region printed on the face of the stamp. Generally, words and abbreviations are used to represent country names. Such as: Japan Post, China People's Post. The United States uses the abbreviation USA and the Soviet Union uses the abbreviation CCCP to represent country names. There are also some countries that use special symbols to represent them. For example, early stamps in Britain used the head of the king as a symbol. The current commemorative stamps in Britain are printed with the head of the Queen of England instead of the country name. By identifying the name of the country on the stamp, we can learn about the geography, history, language and writing of the country concerned.
(3) face value of stamps: refers to the postage amount and currency unit printed on the face of stamps. Most countries in the world use Arabic numerals to represent the face value of stamps and domestic currency units to form the face value of stamps. If the postage of an ordinary letter in the United States is 22 cents, the face value of the stamp consists of Arabic numerals 22 and C. The postage of ordinary letters of the People's Post of China is 8 cents, and the face value of stamps consists of Arabic numerals 8 and cents. There are also some countries that issue stamps without face value, such as military stamps and official stamps. The commemorative stamps issued by the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Border Region in 1938 and the stamps with the characters "Ping", "Ji", "Kuai" and "Draft" issued by Huainan District in 1943 all belong to the stamp with no face value and free of capital. From 1978 to 1985, the United States issued a series of stamps without face value, with the words "A", "B", "C" and "D" printed on their faces, representing the face value of 15, 18, 2 and 22 cents respectively. This is because the US Postal Service wants to adjust the postage of letters, but when printing stamps, the postage of new letters has not been finalized, so it is impossible to print new denominations on stamps. However, if it is printed after the postage is determined, stamps cannot be supplied. Therefore, this kind of stamp with no face value is issued. Studying the face value of stamps can help us understand the change of a country's currency.
(4) Perforations on stamps: In order to facilitate the tearing of stamps, holes are punched between the stamps. After splitting, the semi-circular part of the edge of a single stamp is called a hole, and the protruding part is called a tooth, which is collectively called a perforation. When the British black penny stamps came out, there were no perforations, so it was inconvenient to use them. They had to be cut one by one with scissors. It was not until 1854 that perforated stamps appeared in England. According to the shape of tooth holes, tooth holes can be divided into smooth teeth, rough teeth, blind teeth and missing teeth. Smooth tooth: it means that after the stamp is punched, the circular scraps of paper in the tooth hole fall off completely, and the edge of the hole is smooth, which is called smooth tooth. Hairy teeth: the paper scraps in the tooth holes do not fall off completely, and the edges of the holes are not smooth and hairy, which is called hairy teeth. Blind teeth: after the stamp is punched, there are only marks, the scraps of paper in the tooth holes do not fall off, and the holes are not transparent, which is called blind teeth. Tooth leakage: It is called tooth leakage if a hole should be punched. The degree of perforation is a measure of perforation. The measurement method is to put the stamp on the tooth measuring ruler and see how many teeth and holes there are in the length of 2 cm. If a stamp has 12 teeth and 12 holes, then the perforation degree of this stamp is 12 degrees; If there are 11 teeth and 12 holes, then this stamp is 11 1/2 degrees. The method of measuring the degree of perforation was put forward by Legras, a French philatelist, in 1866, and it has been used ever since. Measuring the degree of perforation is one of the contents of studying stamps, and it is also one of the important basis to distinguish the authenticity of stamps and different editions. The perforation of stamps in China is mostly 11 degrees, 11 1/2 degrees, 12 1/2 degrees and 14 degrees.
(5) Stamp stamp inscription: Stamp number, stamp number, stamp number, color code, designer and printer name are printed on the edge of the whole stamp paper, which are collectively called stamp inscription. Stamp inscription is an important material for studying stamps, so many stamp collectors like to collect stamps with stamp inscription. For example, on April 29th, 1981, J63 "Stamp Exhibition of the Chinese People * * * and China. Japan" was issued in China. On the edge of the whole paper, various patterns such as chicken, goldfish, kite, Temple of Heaven and butterfly were printed, as well as the stamp name, designer, printing factory name, version number, Zhang number, color code and so on. These stamps are regarded as important philatelic materials by philatelists. Some philatelists say that this is a gift from the printing factory to the stamp collectors, and it is an important basis for studying the layout and printing of stamps.
(6) Watermark on stamps: stamps are proof of prepaid postage. In order to prevent forgery, in the process of papermaking, a mark pressed in paper by a special method is called watermark. Watermark is a colorless sign, mostly a simple pattern. On a whole stamp, there is only one watermark pattern called the whole watermark. The repeated appearance of watermark patterns in the whole stamp is called double watermark, and there are various watermark patterns, such as crown, sun, moon, Tai Chi map and so on. The black penny stamp issued by Britain on May 6, 184 is a watermark with a crown pattern. The Xiaolong stamp issued by Daqing Post in 1885 and the Cricket stamp issued in 1898 are watermarks with Tai Chi pictures as patterns. The watermark on the stamp is easy to identify, and you can find it by looking at the back of the stamp carefully in the sun or light. For less obvious watermarks, you can spray a little gasoline on the back of the stamp and the watermark will appear immediately. Gasoline volatilizes quickly, which is harmless to stamps and adhesive. Experienced philatelists generally use this method to identify watermarks on stamps. Watermark is an important basis for studying and identifying the authenticity, edition and release date of stamps.
(7) Stamp number: Commemorative stamps and special stamps issued by the People's Post of China after the founding of New China are printed with the serial number and year of stamp issue at the bottom of the ticket face, which is called the stamp number. For example, on July 7, 1952, the 15th Anniversary of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression was printed with "Ji 16.4-1" and "Ji 16" on the left side of the stamp bottom, indicating that this set of stamps is the 16th set of commemorative stamps; "4-1" means that there are four stamps in this set, and this is the first one. "(78)1952" is printed on the right side of the bottom of the stamp, (78) indicates the total number of the tube stamp in the commemorative stamp, and "1952" is the printing year of this set of stamps. For the first time, China issued stamps with the prefix "Ji", starting with Ji 1 "Celebrating the First Plenary Session of China People's Political Consultative Conference" on October 8, 1949 and ending with Ji 124 "Learning from the 32111 Hero Drilling Team" stamp on March 1, 1967. In the meantime, 124 sets of commemorative stamps with the prefix "Ji" were issued. Special stamps are expressed in the same way as commemorative stamps, except that the word "Ji" is changed to the word "special". The stamps issued from April 1967 to January 197 cancelled this symbol. Stamps issued from August 197 to October 1973 were printed with a new serial number on the left side of the bottom of the stamp and a printed generation on the right side. For example, the "(1)" on the left at the bottom of the stamp of Modern Peking Opera (Taking Tiger Mountain) is a serial number, and "197" is the year of printing. Since 1974, the stamp number has used "J" for commemorative stamps and "T" for special stamps. For example, on May 15th, 1974, the stamp "Centenary of the Universal Postal Union" was issued. "J1 (3-1)" is printed on the left side of the bottom, "J" stands for commemorative stamps, and "1" is the first set. (3-1) means that there are 3 stamps in this set, and this is the first one. "1974" printed on the right side of the bottom of the stamp is the year of printing. The stamp number is a unique symbol on the new China stamps. This stamp number is very convenient for collecting stamps, and you can know the printing year, the number of complete sets and the total number of each stamp without looking at the stamp catalogue.
(8) stamp appearance: stamp collectors are very particular about stamp appearance. The so-called stamp appearance is the appearance of the stamp. There are the following points to measure the appearance of a stamp: new ticket: the face is complete, there is no damage, no crease, the pattern is correct, the color is bright, and it does not fade and change color; Perforation is complete, without missing corners; The back glue is intact. Old tickets: the face is intact, not thin, and the postmark is clear. The postmark is sold in a corner of the stamp (about 1/4 of the face), and such stamps are top grade; Light postmark printing does not damage the beauty of the face, which is a Chinese product; Postmark heavy oil affects the beautiful pattern as inferior; If you study the postmark, it is better to stamp it completely, and you should be able to see the place name, year, month, day and time on the postmark. This mainly depends on the purpose of the collection. Pay attention to the appearance of stamps when collecting stamps, and don't grab them by hand. Grasping stamps by hand is easy to break corners and teeth. Sweat on your hands, contact with stamps will make the face lose its original luster. Use tweezers. The tweezers for stamp collecting are flat, smooth, embroidery-free and moderately elastic. The quality of stamps is relative. Ordinary stamps are easy to get, so you can choose. Anyone with the same design can compare the quality of the products, try to weed out the products with different quality and collect the good ones. If a stamp is extremely rare, it is very precious to collect one, and there is no need to be critical about the appearance. If those who are not good in appearance don't take it, then it will be difficult to get what you want. There are several kinds of common stamps with poor appearance: (1) Damaged. When tearing stamps, use too much force to tear the edges of stamps (when tearing stamps, fold them several times according to the perforation, and use even force, not too hard). (2) Creases When taking stamps with tweezers, the force is uneven, resulting in creases. Most of the creases of letter-selling tickets are caused by folding when posting tickets or in the process of letter delivery (generally, soft creases can be eliminated by soaking them in water and flattening them again). (3) Incomplete tooth holes are short of teeth holes, and some teeth are missing, missing and broken. (4) Uncovering When uncovering stamps, the paper on the back of the ticket is damaged, thinned or split into two layers due to the incomplete soaking. (5) Scratched letters in the process of mailing, the stamp picture was worn. (6) Moldy stamps are damp or the adhesive on the back is deteriorated, resulting in mildew or black spots. (7) Ink stains or ink are put on stamps (put salt in hot water and soak the stamps, and the ink stains will fade). (8) When the ink is too thick, the stamp pattern is blurred. (9) Fingerprints When you take stamps by hand, the picture is stained by oil stains or sweat on your fingers. (1) Faded stamps are exposed to light or sunlight for a long time, so that the original brush color fades or discolors (note that stamps should not be exposed to strong light for a long time). In order to keep stamps clean, intact and beautiful, the above possibilities of easily damaging stamps should be prevented.