Just Trying To Understand Why...

Hi all,

Going through my late mother's stuff and found this sheet of unused stamps "The World of Dinosaurs" from 1997. She liked to collect stamps and she was a smart lady, but there are 2 things I don't understand. First, she or someone affixed the entire sheet to the blank envelope it came in. Second, the stamps have been hand cancelled. (She used to live in Grand Junction but long before she got these stamps.) So they're unused... but cancelled.

Is this a thing in the world of stamp collecting, or was it just a whim of hers? I don't get it.

Thanks

They are First Day of Issue canceled.

They were purchased as a First Day Cover (FDC) and the whole sheet was cancelled. Once cancelled, stamps are used, whether they went through the mail stream or not. Worth a couple dollars to a first day cover collector.

Thank you both, now I understand.

just to further the information: I believe this item was purchased through the USPS catalog from the Fulfillment Center. I have a full sheet Mint & this similar piece in my collection. The postmark was a pre-curser of the FDC markings (w/design) and the DCPs (Digital Color Postmark) now offered through the Fulfillment Center.