That's not a dangerous question. A dangerous question would be, "Why do some stamp collectors insist on wasting good money for gum?"
I've always assumed that "on piece" means that most of the original cover or wrapper or postcard has been cut away. If only the back of a cover has been removed (curses on they who perform such sacrilege!), what remains is a "front".
Sober Bob
Bob is right on.
"Bildsiete" means "picture side" - presumably used only for picture postcards. but I have never run across that description myself.
Roy
agreed with Bob and Roy. Piece is essentially a small fragment; front is a mostly complete half an envelope with much information beyond the stamp and its killer
Briefvorderseite is the term that Dr. Richard Fischer uses in his glossary of German Philatelic terms. He's a German dealer, in Bonn, so one would hope he would have a pretty good handle on the language. No, we are not related, just in case someone wants to know. He spells his name with an "sc" while mine is spelled with just an "s". Then the Jewish folks spell it with a "c" instead of an "s", just to make it interesting, I suppose. LOL No religious slurs intended or implied.
Mike
Another type of vandalism perpetrated against covers is to cut an end off them, usually the left-hand end, presumably to make them fit onto an album page. This seems to happen most commonly to covers that were formerly #10 size, too wide to fit horizontally on a portrait-oriented letter-size or A4 sheet. Dealers describe them as "cut-down" and usually discount them heavily as well.
And then there is the crime of obliterating the address and return address on a cover. The worst of these that I have seen were two covers from a Canadian POW being held in Japan during the Second World War. The addresses of both covers were covered with a product like White Out or Liquid Paper. Fortunately, the dealer had one cover that had not been destroyed. When I got it home, I compared it with my other POW cover sent to a Canadian prisoner of the Japanese, and pleased — REALLY pleased! — to discover that my new cover was addressed to the prisoner's mother, and my other one was from the mother to her son!
Bob
Briefvorderseite! Yes, that sounds like it will fit nicely. Thank you.
Bruce
Potentially Dangerous Philatelic Question Number One, In A Series
Would you identify a cover front as also on piece, or are they considered to be different by most sober-minded philatelists (assuming such a person exists)?
Bruce
Harmless PS: Anyone know the German philatelic term for cover front? The closest I've managed is Bildseite.
re: Front or On Piece or Both?
That's not a dangerous question. A dangerous question would be, "Why do some stamp collectors insist on wasting good money for gum?"
I've always assumed that "on piece" means that most of the original cover or wrapper or postcard has been cut away. If only the back of a cover has been removed (curses on they who perform such sacrilege!), what remains is a "front".
Sober Bob
re: Front or On Piece or Both?
Bob is right on.
"Bildsiete" means "picture side" - presumably used only for picture postcards. but I have never run across that description myself.
Roy
re: Front or On Piece or Both?
agreed with Bob and Roy. Piece is essentially a small fragment; front is a mostly complete half an envelope with much information beyond the stamp and its killer
re: Front or On Piece or Both?
Briefvorderseite is the term that Dr. Richard Fischer uses in his glossary of German Philatelic terms. He's a German dealer, in Bonn, so one would hope he would have a pretty good handle on the language. No, we are not related, just in case someone wants to know. He spells his name with an "sc" while mine is spelled with just an "s". Then the Jewish folks spell it with a "c" instead of an "s", just to make it interesting, I suppose. LOL No religious slurs intended or implied.
Mike
re: Front or On Piece or Both?
Another type of vandalism perpetrated against covers is to cut an end off them, usually the left-hand end, presumably to make them fit onto an album page. This seems to happen most commonly to covers that were formerly #10 size, too wide to fit horizontally on a portrait-oriented letter-size or A4 sheet. Dealers describe them as "cut-down" and usually discount them heavily as well.
And then there is the crime of obliterating the address and return address on a cover. The worst of these that I have seen were two covers from a Canadian POW being held in Japan during the Second World War. The addresses of both covers were covered with a product like White Out or Liquid Paper. Fortunately, the dealer had one cover that had not been destroyed. When I got it home, I compared it with my other POW cover sent to a Canadian prisoner of the Japanese, and pleased — REALLY pleased! — to discover that my new cover was addressed to the prisoner's mother, and my other one was from the mother to her son!
Bob
re: Front or On Piece or Both?
Briefvorderseite! Yes, that sounds like it will fit nicely. Thank you.
Bruce