Linn's Stamp News

"Linn's Stamp News" is the largest weekly newspaper for stamp collectors, boasting a paid circulation of nearly 45,000 (as of 2003).It is published by Amos Press, who also publish the Scott stamp catalogs.

The front page of the newspaper features major news in the stamp world, including significant new stamp issues around the world, major auctions of rare items, significant new discoveries, philatelic controversies, and oddball news, such as a high price paid for an obvious fake put up on eBay.

In addition, each issue will have a number of additional news stories inside, typically of limited and/or specialized interest. The bulk of the content, however, is in about a dozen "regular features" and an additional two dozen departments.

While many of the regular features go into more depth on traditional philatelic topics such as airmail or postmarks, several are especially notable:
* "The Insider", by Les Winick, reports on and analyzed behind-the-scenes politics, whether it be hobbyist organizations wrangling over how to pay the bills for a money-losing stamp show, or direct-mail industry lobbyists cutting deals in Washington DC.
* "Kitchen Table Philately", by a pseudonymous writer "E. Rawolik" ("kiloware" backwards), reports in great detail on the contents of stamp mixtures (aka kiloware) bought from dealers advertising in "Linn's", using counts and pricing to determine whether a particular mixture was a good value, or overpriced.
* "Collector's Forum" is about unusual stamps or usages reported by mystified collectors. In some cases the "Linn's" staff can answer easily, in other cases, the answer comes from another collector in a subsequent "Forum Update".
* "Stamps on the Internet" reports on online resources, similarly to the "Glassine Surfer" column in "The American Philatelist".
* "Stamp Market Tips" reports on stamps that are rising in price and thus may be worth buying soon.

The "Stamp Events Calendar" and "Auction Calendar" are essential for planning attendance at future events.

Finally, there is an extensive classified advertising section. Perhaps the most famous alumnus of this section is Michael Dell, who sold stamps in this section at the age of 12, and later went on to found Dell Computer.

During the 2006 and 2007, the periodical's format changed. The page dimensions shrank in two steps. Despite use of a small typeface, the length of feature articles shrank accordingly. In the most recent of the two reincarnations, the change in production technique allowed for a greatly expanded use of color. Linns now is produced by Amos Advantage, the owners of Scott Publishing Co., which also produces Scott Stamp Monthly magazine. Linns' only significant, independently-owned rival in the U.S. is Global Stamp news.

References

* Michael Dell, Catherine Freedman, "Direct from Dell: Strategies That Revolutionized an Industry" (1999) ISBN 0-7567-1877-5

External links

* [http://www.linns.com Linn's Stamp News web site]