The 1/- shows a February 1 date. Set is likely soaked off a First Day cover.
Roy
CTOs typically feature one quadrant of a one-on-four (one cancel on four stamps) CDS.
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey
I guess that makes them special if off first day covers but still did not do postal use.
My Epson scanner has a problem getting accurate color when scanning a cream color page.
Hi Experts,
Can I ask some newbie questions?
Why does someone obtain CTO's? Why are they created? Are they purely a collector's construct?
In the top row, I do not see the cancels, but they are implied by the others?
Thanks, very interesting and super cool stamps!
Johnny
CTO's are just regular stamps. People collect them because they are stamps. The only difference is they are cancelled which negates their postal use. They are either extras from the normal print runs or sunsequent runs cancelled to sell to the stamp market at reduced prices. They are normally cancelled in the corners so 4 stamps can be cancelled at the same time and do not have gum. Since the 1950s the majority of used stamps through out the world are probably CTO's.
As much as CTO's detract from used values, SON CDS's add to the value and the most popular way of collecting used stamps. SON CDS stand for socked on the nose circular date stamps.
That being a near perfectly centered cancel in the middle of the stamp.
BTW, CTO's do not bother me much. On inexpensive stamps, I prefer them over true postal used that have bad cancels.
"My Epson scanner has a problem getting accurate color when scanning a cream color page."
to add to Mitch's comment, some countries printed stamps specifically to be used as CTOs and often ran them through the printer for the cancels, meaning it wasn't a cancelling deviced, per se, but the printer that applied the CDS.
Czech, Romanian, Russian, and Hungarian stamps were printed in the bucketloads, often with one stamp of the series in much smaller print runs, for use in the CTO trade. Finding these mint is more difficult, and finding them postally used often extremely difficult.
David
To expand upon what others have said.
CTOs are generally sold by the postal authorities to the stamp trade. It is a means for the respective governments to obtain needed cash, especially the East European countries following World War II.
Some CTOs issued recently, like in Australia command premiums and are sought after.
Countries like Belize, printed the cancellation on the stamp on their earlier issues from the 1970s. That, too, was designed to raise needed capital.
Why sell CTO and not just sell unused stamps? When the stamps are canceled, they cannot be used for postal purposes. Pure profit for the postal authority/government.
For some countries, they would never likely be postally used anyway.
But leaving them uncanceled and, therefor, an open liability (to someday actually deliver a piece of mail) would violate the robust, vigorous, and strictly enforced accounting standards routinely found in governments of countries that issue CTOs.
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey
Ha! It is just a product and adding a cancellation makes it seem philatelic.
These look like CTOs.
re: British Antarctic CTO's
The 1/- shows a February 1 date. Set is likely soaked off a First Day cover.
Roy
re: British Antarctic CTO's
CTOs typically feature one quadrant of a one-on-four (one cancel on four stamps) CDS.
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey
re: British Antarctic CTO's
I guess that makes them special if off first day covers but still did not do postal use.
My Epson scanner has a problem getting accurate color when scanning a cream color page.
re: British Antarctic CTO's
Hi Experts,
Can I ask some newbie questions?
Why does someone obtain CTO's? Why are they created? Are they purely a collector's construct?
In the top row, I do not see the cancels, but they are implied by the others?
Thanks, very interesting and super cool stamps!
Johnny
re: British Antarctic CTO's
CTO's are just regular stamps. People collect them because they are stamps. The only difference is they are cancelled which negates their postal use. They are either extras from the normal print runs or sunsequent runs cancelled to sell to the stamp market at reduced prices. They are normally cancelled in the corners so 4 stamps can be cancelled at the same time and do not have gum. Since the 1950s the majority of used stamps through out the world are probably CTO's.
As much as CTO's detract from used values, SON CDS's add to the value and the most popular way of collecting used stamps. SON CDS stand for socked on the nose circular date stamps.
That being a near perfectly centered cancel in the middle of the stamp.
re: British Antarctic CTO's
BTW, CTO's do not bother me much. On inexpensive stamps, I prefer them over true postal used that have bad cancels.
re: British Antarctic CTO's
"My Epson scanner has a problem getting accurate color when scanning a cream color page."
re: British Antarctic CTO's
to add to Mitch's comment, some countries printed stamps specifically to be used as CTOs and often ran them through the printer for the cancels, meaning it wasn't a cancelling deviced, per se, but the printer that applied the CDS.
Czech, Romanian, Russian, and Hungarian stamps were printed in the bucketloads, often with one stamp of the series in much smaller print runs, for use in the CTO trade. Finding these mint is more difficult, and finding them postally used often extremely difficult.
David
re: British Antarctic CTO's
To expand upon what others have said.
CTOs are generally sold by the postal authorities to the stamp trade. It is a means for the respective governments to obtain needed cash, especially the East European countries following World War II.
Some CTOs issued recently, like in Australia command premiums and are sought after.
Countries like Belize, printed the cancellation on the stamp on their earlier issues from the 1970s. That, too, was designed to raise needed capital.
Why sell CTO and not just sell unused stamps? When the stamps are canceled, they cannot be used for postal purposes. Pure profit for the postal authority/government.
re: British Antarctic CTO's
For some countries, they would never likely be postally used anyway.
re: British Antarctic CTO's
But leaving them uncanceled and, therefor, an open liability (to someday actually deliver a piece of mail) would violate the robust, vigorous, and strictly enforced accounting standards routinely found in governments of countries that issue CTOs.
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey
re: British Antarctic CTO's
Ha! It is just a product and adding a cancellation makes it seem philatelic.