| Term |
Meaning |
| Want list |
A list of needed stamps or
covers, identified by catalog number or some other
description, submitted by a collector to a dealer,
usually including requirements on condition and price. |
| War stamps |
Stamps issued under wartime
conditions and so designated or inscribed, e.g. the
issues of the various factions during the Mexican and
Spanish civil wars. It may also be applied to the
various War Effort propaganda issues of Canada and
South Africa (1942). |
| Water-activated adhesive |
Stamp gum designed to adhere
to envelope paper only if the gum is moistened. All
gummed stamps before 1963 used water-activated
adhesive. |
| Watermark |
A design, device or pattern
in paper, generally visible by transmitted light,
formed by the dandy roll at the wet pulp stage of
manufacture, in which the pressure of the attached
bits results in a thinning of the paper. The watermark
may serve to identify the paper-maker, but is usually
incorporated in the paper used for stamps as a
security measure, to defeat the forger. With more
sophisticated printing methods in recent years the use
of watermarks is dying out. British stamps ceased to
use them in 1967. See also Batonne. |
| Web |
A continuous roll of paper
used in stamp printing. |
| Wing margin |
Early British stamps from
the side of a pane with selvage attached. British
sheets printed before 1880 were perforated down the
center of the gutter, producing oversized margins on
one side of stamps adjacent to the gutter. Such copies
are distinctive and scarcer than normal copies. |
| Wove paper |
A paper showing few
differences in texture and thickness when held to
light. In the production of wove paper, the pulp is
pressed against a very fine netting, producing a
virtually uniform texture. Wove paper is the most
commonly used paper in stamp production. |
| Wrapper |
A flat sheet or strip open
at both ends that can be folded and sealed around a
newspaper or periodical. Wrappers can have an
imprinted stamp or have a stamp attached.
|