Cancellations



Many people call them postmarks, but the philatelic term is "cancellation." A cancellation (or cancel for short) is a postal marking applied on a postage stamp or a piece of postal stationery in order to deface the stamp and prevent its re-use in the mails. They come in a wide variety of styles, shapes, sizes and even a few different colors. Modern United States cancellations, as well as those from many other countries, commonly include the date and post office where the mailing took place, in addition to lines or bars designed to cover the stamp itself.



The portion of a cancellation that is designed to deface the stamp and does not contain any information is also called the "killer" or "obliteration." Some stamps are issued pre-cancelled with a printed or stamped cancellation and generally do not receive any additional cancellation. Cancellations can affect the value of stamps to collectors, either positively or negatively. The cancellations used by many countries have been extensively studied by philatelists and many stamp collectors and postal history collectors collect cancellations in addition to the stamps themselves.



We'll talk more about cancellations in the next few days.