Playful Philatelic Puzzlers

 

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content: Frederick Highland
website: amg
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6.  philatelic stamp-whys from Guatemala

Is half a stamp better than none? It is, when it qualifies as a:

a) cut square
b) remainder
c) bisect
d) tab

answer

How stamp-wise of you if you answered (c) bisect.

Authorized bisects usually paid for postage at half the face value of the complete stamp. The problem is identifying a legitimate bisect, and so the collector is on safest ground if the bisect is on a cover or tied to a postmark. This Guatemalan bisect (Scott 300) is easily identified by its diagonal perforation of 11 1/2. The original stamp (Scott 235) was issued in 1929, the bisect in 1941. The stamp bears half of the portrait, and we hope the better half, of Justo Rufino Barrios, Guatemalan president from 1873- 1885.

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