Design Elements

“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure” – Unattributed.

Most people tear them off and throw them away.  But to a small group of collectors, the thrill of the hunt and the discovery of an elusive item is well worth the effort.  The technical term for the material they search is marginal markings, which have been defined as “any marking found on a plate except for the stamp itself.”  Marginal markings have varied through the years. 

This site will deal with all of them. They include Color Registration Marks, Design Elements, Imprints, Initials, Inventory Tracking, Labels, Legal Notices, Letters, Lines, Pane-Position Diagrams, Perforation Alignment Marks, Plate Numbers, Price Markings, Stars, Words, and Zip Code Insignia.

You can pick and choose which markings you collect and how (used/unused, singles/blocks, on or off cover) you collect them – there is no right way or wrong way to build your collection.

Plate Identification

Production Markings

Inscriptions

Almanac