What are they? How do you collect them?

Scott numbers 3132 (Jukebox), 3133 (Flag Over the Porch), 3404-07 (Berries), and 3680-83 (Snowmen) are the four linerless coil issues that the USPS has produced. What are they though?

Most self-adhesive stamps come on a backing paper (called a “liner”). It’s the paper used to keep the stamps from sticking together. Backing paper is used for coils, booklet, and sheet stamps.

With linerless coils though, there is no backing paper (or “liner”). They work just like a roll of scotch tape. As you peel the tape off, the roll advances. The “face” of the tape underneath has a coating on it to prevent it from sticking to the self-adhesive of the tape on top of it.

Linerless coils are the same way. The “face” of the stamps has a substance applied to it so that as the stamps are peeled off, the stamps on top of the roll don’t pull off the ink and destroy the stamps below it. As you peel the stamps off, there is no backing paper to dispose of.

Here is the dilemma. If you collect mint stamps, how do you mount these linerless coils? If you just put them in your album, the back has a self-adhesive on it and it’s going to stick to the album page.

The solution is easy. You can “paste” the linerless coils onto any backing paper from any other USPS issue. True, they are now no longer “linerless” because you applied them to paper. But the backing paper will preserve them and keep them in mint condition.

Now you know what they are and how to collect them if you’re interested in mint stamps. The introduction of backing paper isn’t going to change their value one bit. And it will preserve these issues in mint condition.