Collection

Stamp collecting?

I just started collecting stamps. With stamps i have heard 2 tems i am not familiar with. Coil and re-engraved. What do they mean and what is the difference between them and a regular stamp? Any help will be appreciated

Public Comments

1. coil is when the stamp is shaped differently than a square stamp. re-engraved is when it was not aproved by the U.S. stamp assosiation but is put to sale for collecting reasons
2. Poop's answer is nonsense. Coils are stamps printed in long strips, usually 100 or 500, instead of printed in sheets. You buy them rolled up, or buy them out of a stamp-dispensing machine (not many of those left). Re-engraved stamps have been very slightly modified by the engraver, so that the second issue, or the second printing, has minor differences. This is done to correct errors, strengthen lines, or clarify the design. In general, this does not have much to do with the value, although in some cases in the 19th Century, the "original" design saw a very small printing, so that the re-engraved design is much more common. Stamp collectors distinguish between changes made by the engraver(s) and changes accidentally made during the printing process, such as doubling of the design, or in an extreme case, inverted centers, etc.