Manuscript Penmanship On Covers And Stamps.

jamesw
Interestingly, here in Guatemala, an "X" is used to indicate preferred choice. Maybe a royalist Latin American immigrant postal employee canceled yours.

Just got this in the mail today. It is very similar to the "H" on my #117.

I found this one going through some piles I purchased from a member here. I know it's not US but I liked it anyways, plus it has almost perfect centering.

Nice! Non US is very welcome on this thread.

I've been told and have read that true manuscript cancels on 20th century postage stamps are uncommon. So when I saw this one, I bought it. It could be as early as 1938 when the Prexie series was first issued or possibly as late as early 1950s.

I would think that cover to Mrs. Granville Goodrich would be an earlier use of that stamp. According to the US Census, Mr. & Mrs. Granville S. Goodrich (wife's name, Lydia B Goodrich, age 61) resided at Turkey Hill Street, West Newbury, Mass., in 1910. That would make Mrs. Goodrich somewhere around 90 years old in 1938. Mr. Goodrich was a farmer by trade, and since there is a Goodrich Farm in West Newbury, Massachusetts, it's probably owned by the descendants of the addressee of that cover.

Thanks, I had googled Granville Goodrich and only came up with a man who lived in both Ohio and Missouri at one time or other. Sounds like the 90 year old lady is the most likely probabability for the addressee. Such a shame not to have a sender's address. However, the lack of the sender's address might reinforce the possibility that he/she may have been from the same town and known by the postmaster.

How does one research persons listed on U.S. Census rolls?

I find the best way? Ask WT1

Sorry, couldn't resist.
I'm afraid the closest I have to a script cancel on a US stamp looks more like a dribble!

Very interesting post - picked out 8 pen cancels from the early Chile Colon stamps. Quite like the Columbus 'Blindfold' and pleased to find two that appear to be initialed by same individual 'PP'.

James, looks like your stamp was cancelled with water soluble ink.
revicbaxter- nice manuscripts, bottom left has "February", so it is most likely part of a date manuscript.

Two new items I recently received.

This is for my York, Pa cancel collection. Dated 1825 and a bit rough, it is the oldest I have.


I love this "all over the map" manuscript.

With early U.S. revenues, manuscript cancel is the norm. It's the most common, and the cancel with which the stamps are valued in Scott. So it's less a matter of devaluing, but rather not having a premium associated with handstamped or printed (typeset) cancels.

It also depends on the TYPE of manuscript cancel. An ugly X, scrawled line, or smeared/smudged cancel is likely to have negative aesthetic appeal (and an effective reduction in value/price), whereas a neat, precise, ornate, unusual, or fancy manuscript is likely to garner a premium.

Some examples:

rev, I really like the last one, it is very classy. I frequently look at revenues for extraordinary manuscript cancels of which I currently have only one which is really nice and is shown in this post. I almost got a revenue with doodling on Washington's face. But as expected, it did not go cheap.

And the very simple