That is a great question.
To me they would be akin to stamps that are cancelled to order (CTO). If there is a minisheet, souvenir sheet or large block of stamps that are cancelled I might buy that item. For example I have the US 1976 Bicentennial Minisheets with FDC cancels. Of course I didn't realize at the time that they were cancelled, but I am happy to add them to my collection.
As a bullseye cancel collector they are definitely worth more than what a used or cto stamp would be worth to me. First day bullseyes used to be very popular.
doug, i think the correct answer is probaly neither. They are not properly postally used (unless they went through the mails, but im assuming yours did not). And they are not CTO as they were intended to be sold as FD covers or, in the East bloc, FD cancels.
As a collecter who prefers postally used, i would rather have a SON cancel Than a FD cancel, but would prefer FD. To CTO. Better yet would have been to keep them on cover, assuming that is wherenthey began.
David
I have ended up with a big box of covers,about 90% of them looks like they have gone thru the mail like the ones below
I do not have much luck selling covers, so I soak them off and sell as used
Lee
Here are some more
Hi all
I too like Lee have several boxes of FDC posted to Australia from many parts of the world .including the UN in New York Rhodesia,Pakistan .Mauritius and many other places some of them are even registered.New Zealand ,Cyprus GB,Canada(Rosecraft) USA and the list goes on .
Just because a stamp has a FD Cancel does not mean it has not seen postal duty.
Admitted being on the addressed cover gives it more validation though.
Brian
I wrote the following some time ago for one of the stamp sites and saved it for the day when it might apply to an ongoing discussion of the different kinds of cancellations that we find on covers.
CTO = Cancelled to Order. Stamps cancelled either during the printing process or immediately thereafter before being sold on the open market, usually to bulk packet dealers and aimed at newbies.
Handback = Favor Canceled = Cancelled at the post office and returned to the collector either to get a clear example of the cancellation or to create a nicely cancelled stamp for the collection. Because there is often a dearth of postally used recent stamps, dealers sometimes will take a sheet of stamps to their post office and have them cancelled completely so that they will have cancelled stamps for their customers.
Also, whole sheets or blocks of stamps may be cancelled to pay for a charge for postage due for already delivered mail and when that is done the payer often is sharp enough to use high value somewhat difficult to find current stamps.
Controlled mail-cancellation = Stamps used on an envelope or parcel and mailed to oneself or to someone who will return the cover or the torn corner to the sender. This is something that I do with X-mas and birthday presents to my fourteen grand children ( And counting) to generate postally used examples for my collections.
There are sheets of stamps very neatly cancelled "Harrisburg, PA" dated between 1940 and 1945. During the war gasoline was rationed. But drivers and vehicle owners had to register or re-register their licenses annually and, of course, pay a fee to the state for their tag or sticker. Many were leery of entrusting money to the regular mail without paying a registration and insurance fee. One very enterprising dealer, whose name escapes me at the moment, made the trip from his hometown to the DMV monthly and carried the license and renewal applications to Harrisburg. Before he arrived at the DMV he stopped at the Harrisburg post office, counted the number of envelopes he was carrying and paid the appropriate first class mail fee as is required by Federal law. Even if you pass a friend's house and leave a note in his mailbox, first class postage is required. Well the dealer would have the clerk issue and cancel the correct number of stamps. Obviously he selected stamps that were difficult to get at that time and took the postally cancelled stamps, still with gum intact home to use to fill customer's orders for the stamps.
These stamps are often found in old albums and since so many years have passed, their interesting history is missed. They would be classified as Postally Used, Favor Canceled
Handbacks.
Philatelic Mail = Usually attractive stamps used by collectors or dealers, often from the discount postage pile, on mail being sent to someone who is thought to appreciate the courtesy.
Occasionally one may come across a lot of SOTNs with a careful "Snow Camp, NC", or "Smithville, Ontario" or even "Station B, Winnipeg" cancellations. Many collectors know that the stamps were likely used by "Jay Smith's Scandinavian Stamp business" or "Vance Auctions" or even from an earlier era, "Kas Bileski" a renowned dealer and philatelic expert, all dealers who are very careful to see that mail to their customers bears attractive stamps that are neatly cancelled.
First Day of Issue stamps ("FDCs") can be postally used as some of the examples on display here show especially if they carry even the simplest message; "Here are some stamps you may like." Usually they will carry both an address and a return address, plus routing marks.
If they do not then they are, in my opinion, merely "Contrived Souvenirs", However they are often collected in large numbers by devoted collectors and disposed of by the file drawer inch to packet dealers for a pittance. Once the stamps are cut from an envelope and soaked from paper it can be hard to distinguish them from genuine postally used.
A sub category of FDCs or perhaps CTOs are "Remainders," Stamps that were issued for a specific purpose for a limited time. The remaining inventory is cancelled with the expiration date and sold for pennies, probably by the pound, to dealers. An example of this are Netherlands TB stamps cancelled January 31st, 1907, with a neat Amsterdam circular cancellation.
A repeated annoyance with a dealer on Long Island some years ago was several sets of these that he had in his binder priced at $25.00tom $30.00. When I pointed out that remainders of this issue generally sold for 20¢ to 30¢ as minimal value stamps he'd apologies and take them out of the sales binders. A few weeks later I'd find them back there being sold at the premium price. When that happened the third time, instead iof discretely pointing out the error, I spoke at a full "Bosun's Mate" baritone, clear enough to be heard out in the parking lot and minced no words as to what I though of them being foisted on unsuspecting collectors. Needless to say I was "persona non grata" at his store or booth from then on.
Charlie:
I don't think I would show you my collection. You know too much about philately
and I suspect all of my enjoyment would evaporate were you to comment on my
stamps (but you would be polite and not critical).
The stamp-selling strategies against which you rail are part and parcel of the
business of stamps and the hobby of stamps. I have purchased oleomargarine
advertised as indistinguishable from butter, "genuine" mother of pearl,
books with their covers removed, bogus stamps - it's all a part of the world I live in.
I have "stuff" in my collection for no other reason than I want it there. I really enjoy
my stamps, their monetary value is transitory and only exists fleetingly for me at the
time of purchase. Today, I gave away a small (catalogue) fortune in German stamps
to a like-minded collector. His enjoyment was exceeded by mine.
We all collect stamps for selfish reasons.
Very much enjoy your insights and am encouraged to see you back on Stamporama
in fighting form.
John Derry
Don't purposely collect FDCs, usually only to soak off the stamps; but, some are in
my albums together with news clippings and other flotsam and jetsam
which would bring tears to an old tar's eyes.
Charlie, switching gears just a tad to welcome you back and hope you're fully recovered. David
A few years ago I purchased an ounce of kiloware from Aland on ebay for about $30. I was very disappointed when I realized that most of the stamps had First Day Cancels.
Bob
When I was about 11 or 12, I used to prepare and mail out envelopes to cities for FDC cancellations. Then I learned that most dealers only wanted cachets. Now the USPS sells FDC's in batches that never saw the inside of a real Post Office. Another example of the over commercialization of our hobby. Here is a an example which I found in one of the collections that I bought a Scott 750 First Day cancel.
re: Used Stamps with First Day cancels
That is a great question.
To me they would be akin to stamps that are cancelled to order (CTO). If there is a minisheet, souvenir sheet or large block of stamps that are cancelled I might buy that item. For example I have the US 1976 Bicentennial Minisheets with FDC cancels. Of course I didn't realize at the time that they were cancelled, but I am happy to add them to my collection.
re: Used Stamps with First Day cancels
As a bullseye cancel collector they are definitely worth more than what a used or cto stamp would be worth to me. First day bullseyes used to be very popular.
re: Used Stamps with First Day cancels
doug, i think the correct answer is probaly neither. They are not properly postally used (unless they went through the mails, but im assuming yours did not). And they are not CTO as they were intended to be sold as FD covers or, in the East bloc, FD cancels.
As a collecter who prefers postally used, i would rather have a SON cancel Than a FD cancel, but would prefer FD. To CTO. Better yet would have been to keep them on cover, assuming that is wherenthey began.
David
re: Used Stamps with First Day cancels
I have ended up with a big box of covers,about 90% of them looks like they have gone thru the mail like the ones below
I do not have much luck selling covers, so I soak them off and sell as used
Lee
re: Used Stamps with First Day cancels
Here are some more
re: Used Stamps with First Day cancels
Hi all
I too like Lee have several boxes of FDC posted to Australia from many parts of the world .including the UN in New York Rhodesia,Pakistan .Mauritius and many other places some of them are even registered.New Zealand ,Cyprus GB,Canada(Rosecraft) USA and the list goes on .
Just because a stamp has a FD Cancel does not mean it has not seen postal duty.
Admitted being on the addressed cover gives it more validation though.
Brian
re: Used Stamps with First Day cancels
I wrote the following some time ago for one of the stamp sites and saved it for the day when it might apply to an ongoing discussion of the different kinds of cancellations that we find on covers.
CTO = Cancelled to Order. Stamps cancelled either during the printing process or immediately thereafter before being sold on the open market, usually to bulk packet dealers and aimed at newbies.
Handback = Favor Canceled = Cancelled at the post office and returned to the collector either to get a clear example of the cancellation or to create a nicely cancelled stamp for the collection. Because there is often a dearth of postally used recent stamps, dealers sometimes will take a sheet of stamps to their post office and have them cancelled completely so that they will have cancelled stamps for their customers.
Also, whole sheets or blocks of stamps may be cancelled to pay for a charge for postage due for already delivered mail and when that is done the payer often is sharp enough to use high value somewhat difficult to find current stamps.
Controlled mail-cancellation = Stamps used on an envelope or parcel and mailed to oneself or to someone who will return the cover or the torn corner to the sender. This is something that I do with X-mas and birthday presents to my fourteen grand children ( And counting) to generate postally used examples for my collections.
There are sheets of stamps very neatly cancelled "Harrisburg, PA" dated between 1940 and 1945. During the war gasoline was rationed. But drivers and vehicle owners had to register or re-register their licenses annually and, of course, pay a fee to the state for their tag or sticker. Many were leery of entrusting money to the regular mail without paying a registration and insurance fee. One very enterprising dealer, whose name escapes me at the moment, made the trip from his hometown to the DMV monthly and carried the license and renewal applications to Harrisburg. Before he arrived at the DMV he stopped at the Harrisburg post office, counted the number of envelopes he was carrying and paid the appropriate first class mail fee as is required by Federal law. Even if you pass a friend's house and leave a note in his mailbox, first class postage is required. Well the dealer would have the clerk issue and cancel the correct number of stamps. Obviously he selected stamps that were difficult to get at that time and took the postally cancelled stamps, still with gum intact home to use to fill customer's orders for the stamps.
These stamps are often found in old albums and since so many years have passed, their interesting history is missed. They would be classified as Postally Used, Favor Canceled
Handbacks.
Philatelic Mail = Usually attractive stamps used by collectors or dealers, often from the discount postage pile, on mail being sent to someone who is thought to appreciate the courtesy.
Occasionally one may come across a lot of SOTNs with a careful "Snow Camp, NC", or "Smithville, Ontario" or even "Station B, Winnipeg" cancellations. Many collectors know that the stamps were likely used by "Jay Smith's Scandinavian Stamp business" or "Vance Auctions" or even from an earlier era, "Kas Bileski" a renowned dealer and philatelic expert, all dealers who are very careful to see that mail to their customers bears attractive stamps that are neatly cancelled.
First Day of Issue stamps ("FDCs") can be postally used as some of the examples on display here show especially if they carry even the simplest message; "Here are some stamps you may like." Usually they will carry both an address and a return address, plus routing marks.
If they do not then they are, in my opinion, merely "Contrived Souvenirs", However they are often collected in large numbers by devoted collectors and disposed of by the file drawer inch to packet dealers for a pittance. Once the stamps are cut from an envelope and soaked from paper it can be hard to distinguish them from genuine postally used.
A sub category of FDCs or perhaps CTOs are "Remainders," Stamps that were issued for a specific purpose for a limited time. The remaining inventory is cancelled with the expiration date and sold for pennies, probably by the pound, to dealers. An example of this are Netherlands TB stamps cancelled January 31st, 1907, with a neat Amsterdam circular cancellation.
A repeated annoyance with a dealer on Long Island some years ago was several sets of these that he had in his binder priced at $25.00tom $30.00. When I pointed out that remainders of this issue generally sold for 20¢ to 30¢ as minimal value stamps he'd apologies and take them out of the sales binders. A few weeks later I'd find them back there being sold at the premium price. When that happened the third time, instead iof discretely pointing out the error, I spoke at a full "Bosun's Mate" baritone, clear enough to be heard out in the parking lot and minced no words as to what I though of them being foisted on unsuspecting collectors. Needless to say I was "persona non grata" at his store or booth from then on.
re: Used Stamps with First Day cancels
Charlie:
I don't think I would show you my collection. You know too much about philately
and I suspect all of my enjoyment would evaporate were you to comment on my
stamps (but you would be polite and not critical).
The stamp-selling strategies against which you rail are part and parcel of the
business of stamps and the hobby of stamps. I have purchased oleomargarine
advertised as indistinguishable from butter, "genuine" mother of pearl,
books with their covers removed, bogus stamps - it's all a part of the world I live in.
I have "stuff" in my collection for no other reason than I want it there. I really enjoy
my stamps, their monetary value is transitory and only exists fleetingly for me at the
time of purchase. Today, I gave away a small (catalogue) fortune in German stamps
to a like-minded collector. His enjoyment was exceeded by mine.
We all collect stamps for selfish reasons.
Very much enjoy your insights and am encouraged to see you back on Stamporama
in fighting form.
John Derry
Don't purposely collect FDCs, usually only to soak off the stamps; but, some are in
my albums together with news clippings and other flotsam and jetsam
which would bring tears to an old tar's eyes.
re: Used Stamps with First Day cancels
Charlie, switching gears just a tad to welcome you back and hope you're fully recovered. David
re: Used Stamps with First Day cancels
A few years ago I purchased an ounce of kiloware from Aland on ebay for about $30. I was very disappointed when I realized that most of the stamps had First Day Cancels.
Bob
re: Used Stamps with First Day cancels
When I was about 11 or 12, I used to prepare and mail out envelopes to cities for FDC cancellations. Then I learned that most dealers only wanted cachets. Now the USPS sells FDC's in batches that never saw the inside of a real Post Office. Another example of the over commercialization of our hobby. Here is a an example which I found in one of the collections that I bought a Scott 750 First Day cancel.