Whether it is the thrill of the hunt, thoughts of exotic locales, or learning something new, stamp collecting can be an adventure filled with wonderful memories. Share this passion or explore new collecting interests in this easy-to-read, fully illustrated guide, Linns Complete Stamp Collecting Basics. Written by Scott Stamp Monthly editor Michael Baadke, this comprehensive book will help you start enjoying the stamp hobby and will serve as an essential reference for years to come.

Here are just a few of the subjects covered: Where to find the stamps you want for your collection; How to safely remove stamps from envelopes - and when to leave them on; How to store and display your stamps safely; How to identify your stamps and learn their value; Important facts to consider when buying collectible stamps; How to measure perforations and die cuts; and How to check for watermarks and tagging.

With a complete subject index and an extensive glossary that explains the most commonly used stamp hobby terminology, Linns Complete Stamp Collecting Basics is an all-in-one information source that every stamp collector will enjoy.

It s the inside scoop on all 171 collectible varieties of stamps and postal stationery issued by USPS in 2009. Get all the detailed information on each and every issue including how it came about, what problems and controversies accompanied it, how it related to previous issues and all relevant production facts and figures.

The largest iron meteorite discovered in the United States, weighing 15.5 tons, was unearthed in West Linn in 1902 and featured in the 1905 World’s Fair before journeying to New York’s American Museum of Natural History, where it remains. West Linn was carved onto the map years before, when Robert Moore purchased 1,000 acres of land in 1840 from the Wallamut Indians at Willamette Falls. Soon a lumber mill and flour mill were established, and the region was given a new name—Linn City—after free-state advocate Lewis F. Linn. Hugh Burns and the Miller, Fields, and Walling families also figured in early West Linn history. Though an 1861 fire, then flood, destroyed what was Linn City, the falls continued drawing industry. Officially incorporated into Oregon in 1913, West Linn, known for its hills, trees, rivers, and famous meteorite, is a sought-after community in which to raise families and made the 2005 top-100 list of best places to live.

In the first book of the Scotus O'Linn trilogy, an unemployed, young man gets elected to the Irish parliament only to be appointed to a nonsensical post - Minister of Supernatural Affairs. A laughing stock throughout his country at first, Scotus soon finds himself embroiled in all kinds of mysterious happenings when he is charged with his first task: prove to a group of annoyed Romanian dignitaries (worried that Ireland is trying to usurp their tourist dollars) that Dracula - and not just its author - was really Irish. This takes Scotus into the strange world of the Sidhe - an ancient Irish fairy race with some very vampiric traits - including a thirst for blood and stealing pretty, young women to be their brides. With zombie hotels and ghost estates festooning the Irish countryside in post Celtic Tiger Ireland - and historic fairy raths demolished to make way for these eyesores - Scotus encounters the Sidhe when they happen to be in a very vengeful mood due to the destruction of their sacred sites. They soon steal the girl he loves from afar - she being the fiancé of one of Ireland's top builders - and are also plotting total revenge on the plundering Gaels of Ireland. Scotus O'Linn is soon the busiest politician in the land with a major crisis on his hands. But it is not an economic or a social crisis, it is a supernatural crisis.

In the first book of the Scotus O'Linn trilogy, an unemployed, young man gets elected to the Irish parliament only to be appointed to a nonsensical post - Minister of Supernatural Affairs. A laughing stock throughout his country at first, Scotus soon finds himself embroiled in all kinds of mysterious happenings when he is charged with his first task: prove to a group of annoyed Romanian dignitaries (worried that Ireland is trying to usurp their tourist dollars) that Dracula - and not just its author - was really Irish. This takes Scotus into the strange world of the Sidhe - an ancient Irish fairy race with some very vampiric traits - including a thirst for blood and stealing pretty, young women to be their brides. With zombie hotels and ghost estates festooning the Irish countryside in post Celtic Tiger Ireland - and historic fairy raths demolished to make way for these eyesores - Scotus encounters the Sidhe when they happen to be in a very vengeful mood due to the destruction of their sacred sites. They soon steal the girl he loves from afar - she being the fiancé of one of Ireland's top builders - and are also plotting total revenge on the plundering Gaels of Ireland. Scotus O'Linn is soon the busiest politician in the land with a major crisis on his hands. But it is not an economic or a social crisis, it is a supernatural crisis.

The book is directed to the collector who has just become fascinated with revenue stamps or to the collector looking for something else to collect. The book is divided into four parts: 19th-century U.S. revenues; beyond the first three issues and through the 20th-century; private die proprietary stamps; and other back-of-the-book areas and non-Scott listed revenues. It includes sewing-machine perforations, playing cards revenues, medicine stamps used for advertising, lock seals, telegraph stamps, savings stamps, motor vehicle stamps.