A Glossary of Terms for the Collector of United States Stamps

V - prefix letter used by Avery Dennison in front of the plate number on its modern postage stamp production.

VAMP - see Vending and Affixing Machine Perforations.

V-Mail - a mail system used during World War II to expedite messages from active duty military personnel overseas.  Messages were written on standard forms, mailed to processing centers, photographed in quantity on microfilm, and sent to the U.S. by air.  The microfilm was then processed, printed, and dispatched to the addressee by ordinary mail.

Variety - a stamp or other philatelic items that differs in some way from the norm.  Example: the second type of the 1970 Christmas stamp (Scott 1414).

Vending and Affixing Machine Perforations - perforations privately applied to imperforate  stamps by The Attleboro Stamp Company, The Brinkerhoff Company, The Farwell Company, International Vending Machine Co., The Mailometer Co., The Shermack Co., and U.S. Automatic Vending Co.  These privately perforated stamps were sold in coil format for use in vending machines and affixing machines.

Vending and Machine Perforations Society - predecessor organization to the United States Stamp Society.

Vending Booklet - 1.) traditional booklet of stamps (one or more panes attached to a set of cardboard covers) intended to be sold from a vending machine.  2.) contemporary booklet of self-adhesive stamps folded and sealed to form a booklet intended to be sold in a vending machine.

Vending Machine - a machine that sells stamps or other postal material to the public.

*Vignette - the central portion of a stamp design, often surrounded by a border or frame.

War Emergency Rate - a tax, levied in the form of increased postage rates, to help pay for World War I.  The war emergency rate was in effect from November 2, 1917 until restoration of the pre-war rates on July 1, 1919.

War Savings Stamps - stamps issued by the Treasury Department during World War I and World War II that were redeemable during WWI for War Certificates and during WWII for Defense Bonds or War Bonds.  Scott numbers begin with WS.

*Washington Bicentennials - commemorative  stamps and stamped envelopes issued in 1932 for the bicentennial of Washington's birth.  Scott 704-715 and U523-U528.

*Washington-Franklin Head Issue - the Third Bureau Issue; a series of about 350 definitive  postage stamps issued between 1908 and 1922.  Found between Scott 331 and 547, and K1-18.

*Water-activated gum - gum on a stamp that must be moistened in order to affix the stamp to an envelope.

Waterbury Cancels - fancy cancels used in Waterbury, Conn. that were created by its postmaster.

*Watermark - a pattern embedded in paper during the production process, created by an intentional thinning of the paper.  Watermarked paper has been used for stamps, stamped envelopes, and postal cards.  The design of the watermark on stamps generally consists of the letters USPS.  Watermarks on postal stationery vary, but generally contains the letters US.

Way Letter - a letter collected by an official mail carrier (stage, horseback, boat or railroad) in the absence of a route agent.  The letter was delivered to the first post office reached for dispatch to its destination.  A fee was charged for this service.  The word "Way" is written or stamped on all such letters.

*Web - a roll of paper used on a printing press.

Web-fed - the process of printing from continuous paper on a roll (a web), as opposed to printing from individual sheets of paper.

Wells Fargo - see Express Mail.

Wet Printing - intaglio printing on paper that has been dampened to facilitate the transfer of the ink.  Wet printing of Bureau Issues ended in the late 1950s.  see also: Dry Printing.

Window Envelope - envelope with a transparent window for displaying the name and address of the recipient.

Wine Stamps - see Cordials, Wine, etc. Stamps.

Wrapper - a sheet of paper imprinted with a stamp-like indicium that can be folded and sealed around a newspaper or periodical for mailing.  A wrapper is an item of postal stationery.

Wrinkled Tagging - Short bright or untagged lines overlying a stamp's tagging that resemble "chicken wire" when viewed under ultraviolet light.  Caused by tagging roller surfaces that became wrinkled from pressure and age.

Z Grill - 1.) one of several types of grills used in the 19th century, about 11x14mm in size.  2.) a nickname for Scott 85A, of which only one copy is known to exist in private ownership.

*Zepps - nickname for the high face value air mail stamps of 1930 issued for mail carried on the dirigible Graf Zeppelin.  Scott C13-15.

ZIP Block - a margin block with inscription urging the use of ZIP Code, or depicting the "Mr. Zip" character.  Zip Blocks appeared on the margins of many stamps between 1964 and 1993.

ZIP Code - originally standing for "Zone Improvement Plan" this number, a part of every address, helps facilitate the sorting of mail.  Begun in 1963.

ZIP+4 - the nine digit ZIP Code which includes the basic five digit ZIP Code plus four additional digits representing the sector/segment of the address.  The ZIP+4 encodes an address to a block face (one side of a city block).

Zone - a number that was part of addresses in many large cities from the 1940s until the institution of the ZIP Code in 1963.  The Zone number was placed between the name of the city and state.  Example: Brooklyn 32, N.Y.  The zone number helped facilitate the sorting and distribution of mail.