US Precancels (667 Towns And Counting...)

I have been casually documenting every different city/state that I come across as I go through shoeboxes full of precancels from around the US. (I even have Honolulu, Hawaii.) As of this moment, I'm up to 667 different cities/towns across the nation and I still have at least three shoeboxes more to go through.

However, what I don't have is any represntative precancels from the State of Alaska. Did Alaska use them before they became a State? (I assume they did since Hawaii did but maybe I just haven't come across one yet.)

If that is an incorrect assumption, please let me know.

Thanks.

There are no Alaska precancels at all listed in the PSS Bureau Precancel catalogue. There are quite a few listed in the PSS Town & Type catalogue, 180 towns and 310 types, but almost all of them are the modern vinyl handstamps. My old Hoover Bros. catalogue, which lists all individual Bureau and town & type precancels up to 1935, has one single precancel in its listings for Alaska (from Juneau) - by comparison, there were around 250 different town & type stamps up to 1935 from Hawaii.

Ryan

Hmmm, I just looked through my PSS Washington Bicentennial catalogue, and there were some Alaska precancels on these stamps (that series of stamps was released in 1932 for the 200th anniversary of George Washington's birth). There are other areas of this catalogue that reference the 16th edition of the Hoover Bros. catalogue, so there was knowledge of Washington Bicentennial precancels at that time - it's surprising (to me, anyway) that there is such a divergence between the two catalogues regarding Alaska listings, as the Hoover catalogue attempted to be complete up to 1935. According to this PSS catalogue, there were a total of 32 different precancel towns / denominations among the Washington Bicentennials.

Ryan

Thanks for the info. I guess I'll have to keep looking. Whichever catalog is accurate, it's obvious there's at least something from Alaska to look out for.

I guess I should have checked this section of posts more thoroughly. Advanced down to "The Jefferson Collection" post from 2009 and there is a page of Alaska precancels from the Prexie Series to the Liberty Series and even into the 1970's. Again, something more to look out for. (BTW, my running list of different precancel towns across the U.S. are now 669.)

I have a nearly complete Alaska T&T collection and there are definitely territorial precancel issues.

There are also precancels issues for Hawaii, Arizona & New Mexico as territories.
Also Guam, Canton Island and various US Pacific Trust Territories, the US Virgin Islands, Canal Zone & finally Puerto Rico.

since Alaska didn't become a state until 1959. should there be state precancels before then?

Wow, I have not spent the time to check the total number of cities and towns in my collection of perhaps 47 states and the District of Columbia...i would imagine it wold be about half the number you stated ..my precancels are not a hot priority with me..they rank along with worldwide to 1969 and the used modern Canada stamps and souvineer sheets I receive from friends...i am digging into Argentina now...covers, departmentals and officials...as we know it takes time to become familiar with a certain area..much research to be done !! Its all fun !

For Alaska I have precancels from Ketchican of the Bureau Print series of 1922-25..odd that the 1939 Bureau Print precancel album does not include the territories..but it does include playing card stamps and error varieties !!

My precancel from Alaska are Buckland #1031(841),Kodiak #1033(841),I think it's Kenteken #807(704),St Paul Is #1510(848.5) and Anchorage #1047(804)this is all I have,I hope this helps.
regards Harry

That Saint Paul Island in the middle of the Bearing Sea is likely the most remote precancel around.

Thanks for all of the info. If I had only thought to check the PSS Album Pages on line first I would have found out that there are many precancels from Alaska ... in fact, 14 album pages worth! The rarer ones are apparently Napakiak (pop. 353) and Akiachak (pop. 585). Never heard of either one of them ... but then I wouldn't seeing that I never visited Alaska.