| Abbreviations, Quality and Condition, and Images: |
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Superb |
VF |
F-VF+ |
F-VF |
Fine+ |
Fine |
Average |
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| Superb |
Perfectly centered.
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| XF |
Extremely Fine. A descriptive term usually found in descriptions of U.S. stamp issues.
A middle range between Superb and VF.
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| VF |
Very Fine. Will please the most discriminating collector.
Perforated Stamps:
Very well centered with almost equal margins.
Perforated Stamps with Naturally Small Margins:
Very well centered, however, depending upon the standards of the stamp issue, the perforations may
cut or touch the design on one or two sides.
Imperforate Stamps:
All four margins are clear of the design and will not cut or touch the design.
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| F-VF+ |
Fine to Very Fine Plus. A middle range between VF and F-VF. |
| F-VF |
Fine to Very Fine. A middle range between Fine and VF.
Perforated Stamps:
Well centered, but off in one direction with two opposite margins roughly equal.
Perforated Stamps with Naturally Small Margins:
Depending upon the standards of the stamp issue, the perforations may cut or touch the design on two or three sides.
Imperforate Stamps:
Three margins are clear of the design. Margin may cut or touch the design on one side.
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| F+ or Fine+ |
Fine Plus. A middle range between F-VF and Fine. |
| F or Fine |
Fine.
Perforated Stamps:
Design off in two directions, however, the perforations do not cut or touch the design.
Perforated Stamps with Naturally Small Margins:
Depending upon the standards of the stamp issue, the perforations may cut or touch the design on three
or four sides.
Imperforate Stamps:
Two margins are clear of the design. Margin may cut or touch the design on two sides.
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| Ave |
Average.
Perforated Stamps:
The perforations do cut or touch the design on one or more sides.
Perforated Stamps with Naturally Small Margins:
Depending upon the standards of the stamp issue, the perforations may cut or touch the design on
all sides.
Imperforate Stamps:
Margin may cut or touch the design on three or four sides.
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| SD |
Slightly Damaged. A presentable example, but may have a thin, crease, pulled perf,
etc. that it usually not fully obvious or detracting from the front.
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| SF |
Space Filler. A seriously damaged example with obvious defects, even to the extent of
a piece missing.
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NH, UM,
 |
Never Hinged Original Gum, Unmounted, Postfrisk. |
Mint, MM
|
Mint Hinged, Mounted Mint
Stamps are Mint with original gum, but are hinged. Generally this will also indicate that the stamps are Lightly Hinged (LH) unless otherwise mentioned. |
| LH |
Stamps are Mint Lightly Hinged with original gum. |
| OG |
Original Gum. |
NG
 |
No Gum. |
| RG |
Regummed. |
| pp |
Pulled perforation. |
Used
 |
In most general sense, means stamps are not mint, i.e. the stamps are canceled. Will generally mean stamps are postally used. |
Postally Used
|
Stamps are genuinely Postally Used, thus are not canceled to order and not with first day cancels, etc. |
Canceled
 |
In most general sense, means stamps are not mint, i.e. the stamps are canceled. Specifically will mean that the stamps may be canceled to order, have first day cancels, or perhaps may be postally used but that cannot be determined positively. |
| fl, flr, fluor |
Fluorescent, sometimes also listed in catalogs as phosphorescent. Shows reaction under Ultraviolet (UV) light. The color of the reaction depends upon the chemicals used in or on the paper. For Scandinavian stamps, a LONG-WAVE UV light source is required. For stamps of other areas, including the U.S. a SHORT-WAVE UV light source is often required. See this article for more information. |
| nfl, nonfluor |
Non Fluorescent. No reaction under UV light. |
| yfl |
Yellow Fluorescent reaction under UV light. |
| wfl |
White Fluorescent reaction under UV light. |
| FDC |
First day cover. |
| Unaddressed |
In the context of First Day Covers: No address has been
written or typed onto the FDC, thus it could not have been mailed. In some
cases, an address may have been printed on the FDC at the same time
the cachet was printed (if it has a cachet); in those cases, the address is
considered to be part of the cachet and the FDC is not considered to be
addressed. |
| Addressed |
In the context of First Day Covers: An address has been
written, typed, or labeled onto the FDC, thus it may have been mailed. In some
cases, an address may have been printed on the FDC at the same time
the cachet was printed (if it has a cachet); in those cases, the address is
considered to be part of the cachet and the FDC is not considered to be
addressed. |
| Addressed Used |
In the context of First Day Covers: An address has been
written, typed, or labeled onto the FDC, and there is postal evidence,
such as postmarks or sorting machine marks, that the FDC actually passed
through the mail. |
| Registered |
In the context of First Day Covers: The FDC has been sent
through the mail via registered mail and thus usually bears a registered
mail label and usually bears postal markings on the reverse. Covers having
been sent in this manner often also have manuscript notations of delivery
attempts by postal workers; these are not considered to be defects on
registered mail FDCs. Of course the FDC must have been addressed to be
sent by registered mail. |
| Covers will show signs of wear normal for passage through the mails. |
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IMAGES: "Exact Actual" v.s. "Representative"
Some images are of the "actual" item being sold. Other images are representative of
what the design of the item looks like, but not specifically the condition or quality
of the item. When you hover with your mouse pointer over the image, you should see text
that states if it is an "exact actual" image of the actual item OR if it is a "representative"
image.
"Exact Actual" Images: For unique items the image shown is the actual image of the specific item that
will be supplied. A good example of this is are covers or postmarks or stamps with specific,
detailed descriptions. Also, actual images are often used for older stamps that are described
with more than just basic Quality [VF, F-VF, Fine, Average, SD] information (i.e. more than just "VF" or "F-VF")
-- those normally have actual images of the specific item being offered.
If the written description includes BOTH the Condition [NH, Mint, Used] AND the Quality [VF, F-VF, etc.], then
the image is usually the "exact, actual" image of the specific item you will receive.
"Representative" Images: For "normal stamps" or any other item that I have multiple
examples of that are all served by the same description, representative images are usually used.
Such images show the DESIGN of the item or stamp, but NOT the specific details of the
Condition [NH, Mint, Used] AND Quality [VF, F-VF, Fine, Average, SD]. The most common example is that "normal stamps" are often offered
with up to 14 prices for various levels of Condition and Quality -- yet the same image is used
for all of them. In this case, the image is used only to help indentify the design of the
stamp. If the descriptive text ONLY includes the Quality / Centering [VF, F-VF, Fine, Average, SD] then it
is almost certain that the image is representative. (The placement of the prices in the Condition columns [NH, Mint, Used]
tells you the Condition of the stamp.
Another example would be images of Swedish booklet stamps which exist with straight
edges on one side or the other -- the image is only showing one random position and not the
specific right or left (or top or bottom) straight edge side. (If a specific position is needed,
it should be requested by sending a want list.) Representative images are generally
used whenever the description of the item (WITHOUT condition and quality) information would
be the same for all examples offered -- the description plus the condition and quality information
is what fully defines the item.
NOTE: There is a potential problem for some users on tablets and phones. Currently if your computer does not have a mouse to hover over the image, then you may not see the "fly-out" or "pop-up" that states whether the image is exact/actual or if it is representative of the stamp design. I am working on fixing the problem. However, some logic can be used: If the image is of a canceled stamp, then (in our practice) the image MUST be Actual because every canceled stamp is different. If the image is of a UNcanceled stamp AND if the same image is repeated on multiple quality rows (or even if there are simply multiple quality rows for the same database product/item number (which consists of 5 or 6 digits), then the image must be Representative. If you are using a tablet or phone, this information will help.
If you are still unsure if the image is "exact actual" or "representative", please feel free to email
and ask.
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