Stamp Listing Abbreviations Explained: A Buyer's Decoder for MNH, OG, VF, SE, CDS and More
Stamp listings are written in a shorthand that grew up in dealer price lists and auction catalogs. "MNH VF OG, wmk 191, SE at right, small thin" packs a lot of information into very little space, and some of it is the kind of detail that changes whether you should buy at all. This decoder covers the abbreviations you will meet most often, grouped by what they describe, with notes on which ones deserve a follow-up question.
Quick answer
- Gum terms (MNH, MH, LH, HR, OG, NG, RG) describe the back of a mint stamp, and they matter a lot for mint material.
- Centering grades (VG, F, F-VF, VF, XF, Sup) describe how well the design sits within the margins. They are opinions, not standardized measurements, unless backed by a certificate.
- Fault words (thin, crease, SE, reperf, toned) are the ones that most often get buried at the end of a listing. Read to the end.
- When an abbreviation is unfamiliar or vague, ask the seller to spell it out, in writing, before you buy.
Gum and hinging terms
These apply to unused stamps. They describe whether the stamp still has the gum it was issued with and whether anything has disturbed it. For the full background, see original gum, hinged and never hinged.
| Abbrev. | Stands for | What it means in practice |
|---|---|---|
| MNH / NH / ** | Mint never hinged | Full original gum with no hinge mark. Many catalogs use a double asterisk for this. |
| MH / H / * | Mint hinged | Original gum with evidence a hinge was once applied. A single asterisk is common shorthand. |
| LH / VLH | Lightly / very lightly hinged | A small or faint hinge mark. Degree is the seller's judgment. |
| HR | Hinge remnant | Part of an old hinge is still stuck to the gum. |
| HHR | Heavy hinge remnant | A large remnant or multiple hinges; gum is significantly disturbed. |
| OG | Original gum | The gum applied at printing. Says nothing about hinging on its own; check for NH/H alongside it. |
| PO / POG | Part original gum | Some of the original gum remains. |
| NG / (*) | No gum | Unused but without gum. Some classic stamps were commonly issued or found this way; for others it's a significant difference. |
| NGAI | No gum as issued | The stamp was issued without gum, so no gum is normal, not a fault. |
| RG / regummed | Regummed | Gum added later. An alteration, not original condition. See our regumming guide. |
| DG | Disturbed gum | Gum is cracked, glazed, fingerprinted or otherwise not as issued. |
"Mint" alone is not precise. Some sellers use it for any unused stamp, including no-gum examples. "Unused" can also mean no gum. If gum condition matters to you, ask exactly: original gum, never hinged, yes or no?
Used-condition and cancel terms
| Abbrev. | Stands for | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| U / used / ⊙ | Used | Postally used (normally). A circle-with-dot symbol is common in catalogs. |
| CTO | Cancelled to order | Cancelled by the postal authority without passing through the mail, often with gum still on the back. |
| CDS | Circular date stamp | A round postmark showing town and date. Clear CDS strikes are generally preferred. |
| SON | Socked on the nose | A cancel struck squarely in the center of the stamp, ideally fully legible. Valued by some collectors for the date and town. |
| Pmk | Postmark | The town or date marking. |
| Pen / MS | Pen cancel / manuscript | Cancelled by hand with ink. On some revenue and classic material this is normal; on others it can mean fiscal rather than postal use. |
| Fiscal | Fiscal use | Used to pay a tax or fee rather than postage. Collectors often treat it differently from postal use. |
| Light / heavy cxl | Cancel | How much of the design the cancel obscures. |
Centering and grade terms
Centering describes how evenly the design sits within the perforations or margins. The grade words below are widely used, but the exact boundary between, say, F-VF and VF is a matter of judgment and varies by issue, since some older stamps were printed with very tight spacing. Our centering and margins guide explains the reasoning.
| Abbrev. | Grade | Typical meaning (general) |
|---|---|---|
| P / G | Poor / Good | Design cut into by perforations or margins; usually also faulty. |
| VG | Very Good | Design clear of perforations but noticeably off center. |
| F | Fine | Off center but design untouched. |
| F-VF | Fine to Very Fine | Between the two. A common catalog baseline grade. |
| VF | Very Fine | Slightly off center; margins look balanced at a glance. |
| XF / EF | Extremely Fine | Nearly perfectly centered. |
| Sup / Gem | Superb / Gem | Exceptional centering and margins; often used with numeric grades from grading services. |
Some grading services also issue numeric grades for stamps on a scale up to 100. Those numbers come from the service's own published standards. A seller's self-assigned number without a certificate is just an opinion expressed as a number.
Format and position terms
| Abbrev. | Stands for | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| SE | Straight edge | One or more sides have no perforations because the stamp came from a sheet or pane edge. Often considered less desirable on stamps normally perforated all around. See reperforation risk. |
| Imperf | Imperforate | No perforations at all, either as issued or as an error. |
| Perf / P | Perforation gauge | Number of holes per 2 cm, e.g. "perf 12" or "P 11 x 10½". |
| Wmk | Watermark | Often followed by a catalog watermark number or description. |
| PB | Plate block | A block with the plate number in the selvage. See plate blocks. |
| PNC | Plate number coil | A coil stamp or strip bearing a plate number. |
| LP | Line pair | A coil pair with a printed guideline between the stamps. |
| BP / Bklt | Booklet pane | A pane from a stamp booklet. |
| SS / MS | Souvenir sheet / miniature sheet | A small sheet with one or more stamps and decorative margins. |
| Sel / selvage | Sheet margin | The unprinted or inscribed paper around a sheet. Also called margin. |
| Pr / Blk / Strip | Pair / block / strip | Multiple stamps still joined. |
| FDC | First day cover | An envelope cancelled on the first day of issue. |
Fault and alteration terms
This is the group that matters most for avoiding a bad purchase. Sellers are expected to disclose faults, but the disclosure is often a single word at the end of the description.
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Thin / Th / sm thin | Paper is thinner in a spot, often from a hinge or peeling. Visible when held to light or in watermark fluid. |
| Crease / cr | A fold line through the paper. May be faint and only visible at an angle. |
| Tear / tr | A break in the paper, sometimes closed or repaired. |
| SP / short perf | A perforation tooth shorter than the others. |
| PP / pulled perf | A perforation torn away into the stamp. |
| Toned / tropical | Brown or yellow discoloration, often from humidity. Spots may be called foxing. |
| Reperf / RP | Perforations added or re-cut after issue. An alteration. |
| Rep / repaired | Paper has been mended, filled or rebuilt. |
| "As is" | Often means the seller is not guaranteeing condition. Read carefully. |
| Space filler | A seriously faulty example sold only to fill an album space. |
For detailed descriptions of each fault, see our faults guide.
Catalog and reference abbreviations
Listings usually include a catalog number with a prefix that tells you which catalog is meant. Common ones are "Sc" or "#" for the Scott catalogs (common in North America), "SG" for Stanley Gibbons (common in the UK and Commonwealth), "Mi" for Michel (common in Germany and central Europe) and "Yv" for Yvert et Tellier (common in France). The same stamp has different numbers in each, so a number without a prefix is ambiguous. Our catalog numbers guide explains why they don't translate directly.
"Cat" or "CV" usually means catalog value. Treat it as a reference figure published by the catalog, not as what a stamp sells for. Catalog values and real-world results can differ widely, especially for common material and faulty stamps.
"Cert", "w/ cert" or an expertizer's name means a certificate of opinion accompanies the stamp. See what certificates do and do not prove.
How to use this when buying
- Read the whole description. Faults are commonly listed last.
- Check the photos match the words. A "VF" listing whose photo shows the design touching the perfs is a red flag about the seller's grading.
- Ask for clarity on gum. "OG" alone doesn't tell you about hinging. "Mint" alone doesn't tell you about gum.
- Ask for a back scan on any mint stamp where gum matters.
- Research sold comparables with the same condition terms, not just the same catalog number. An MNH VF example and an HR F example of the same stamp are different items.
A practical exercise: search the same issue with different condition words and compare. For example, MNH VF listings on eBay next to hinge-remnant listings. Then look at what actually sold: sold MNH XF stamps with certificates. You will see how much the description, not just the stamp, drives the result. Our guide to using eBay sold listings for stamps covers this method in depth.
If you are checking condition yourself, a good loupe makes thins, short perfs and hinge marks much easier to see: browse 10x loupes on Amazon.
FAQ
What is the difference between MNH and OG?
OG means the stamp has its original gum. MNH means it has original gum and has never been hinged. A stamp can be OG and hinged, so OG alone doesn't tell you about hinging.
Are centering grades standardized?
Not across all sellers. The words are widely used, but where one dealer draws the line between F-VF and VF can differ from another. Grades from grading services follow that service's published standards.
Is a straight edge a fault?
It's a characteristic rather than damage, but on stamps normally perforated on all sides, collectors usually prefer fully perforated examples. Some straight-edge stamps have been reperforated to look fully perforated, which is an alteration.
What does a single asterisk mean in a stamp listing?
In many catalogs and listings, a single asterisk means mint hinged, a double asterisk means never hinged, and an asterisk in parentheses means unused without gum. Check the seller's or catalog's key, since conventions vary.
The bottom line
Abbreviations are efficient, but they hide nuance. For most buyers the high-impact terms are the gum words on mint stamps, the centering grade, and any fault or alteration word at the end of the listing. Learn those, ask when something is vague, and compare sold results only against items with the same description.