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In order to get the postal clerk to cancel the stamps lightly, collectors may rubber-stamp or write "philatelic mail" on the envelope. Cancellations may significantly affect the value of the stamps. Many stamps are rarer, and consequently much more expensive, in unused condition, such as the Penny Black, which in 1999, catalogued for $1,900 ...
Similar to cancel to order is postmarked to order which occurs when the stamps are purchased at full value, placed on a piece of mail, and then cancelled by the clerk on request. The mail then is handed back to the customer instead of travelling through the post. [2] This is sometimes called favour cancellation, or hand-back. Some countries ...
Test stamp – a label not valid for postage, used by postal authorities to test sorting and cancelling machines or machines that can detect a stamp on an envelope. May also be known as dummy or training stamps; Variable value stamps - dispensed by machines that print the cost of the postage at the time the stamp is dispensed
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper attached to mail that indicates that the postage (the cost of sending the mail) has been paid. Because stamps are sent on most mail, the stamp on a received item can be removed and placed on a different piece of mail to be sent, thus reusing the stamp without paying the proper postage.
A design on the left side of the envelope (a "cachet") explains the event or anniversary being celebrated. Ideally the stamp or stamps affixed relate to the event. Cancels are obtained either from the location (e.g., Cape Canaveral, Anytown) or, in the case of the United States, from the Postal Service's Cancellation Services unit in Kansas City.
Signed, Sealed, Delivered. The U.S. Postal Service is raising postage costs for the second time this year. On July 9, the price of a first-class stamp will rise to 66 cents from 63 cents.
In Great Britain, the first postmark employed for the cancellation of the then new adhesive postage stamps was the Maltese Cross, so named because of its shape and appearance. This was used in conjunction with a date stamp which was applied, usually to the rear of the letter, which denoted the date of posting.
A used postage stamp with a pen cancel is usually worth much less than a stamp cancelled using a handstamp or machine. [5] In particular, the additional information from the handstamp is lost and the pen cancel may indicate fiscal (revenue) rather than postal use. Pen cancelling is, however, a common method of cancelling stamps used fiscally.