What Classfies As An Unused Stamp?

I have been sorting through tens of thousands of stamps I inherited in shoe boxes. Very interesting but alot to do at once. My newbie question(s) for today is about unused stamps.

1) I have heard that if a stamp is not cancelled then it is considered unused. I assume that to be true so far and have found quite a few. Some are still on envelope remnants and others have been removed from them. is this a true statement?

2) Most bulk rate and presorted never get cancelled, but are they unused by default or excluded because they are supposed to be tha way?

3) I look at these stamps and see no cancellation marks, but, is it possible they have barely detectable cancellations? is there a way to confirm they are unused AKA uncancelled.

Not sure I covered all the bases here so any other input would be appreciated that might help me wrap my head around this topic

Thanks, John

"Unused" is a tough one, see here: https://www.linns.com/news/postal-u...re-not-.html

Thank you for the link. After reading that I guess it says that it depends on your opinion, LOL. Which I pretty much what I get everywhere informally. Bit the other questions are still unanswered and of course I would love other opinions on question 1

If it has been used, it is not unused. The cancellation makes it cancelled. An unused item will differ from an uncancelled item by the lack of gum. Some stamps, however, were issued without gum and could still be unused.

The USPS has a strong stance (and it's theirs that counts if you are thinking of reuse). It gets discussed in a couple of threads here every year it seems:
https://www.stampcommunity.org/topi...PIC_ID=43500

From a collecting standpoint, it is a personal preference of how much cancel you want on your used stamps.

In addition, and as a rough guide, if you find Vctorian stamps without gum, it's usually because they were soaked from an old album or were soaked by a previous owner because if potential damage to the stamp from the gum (especially in humid climates). The postal authorities were very keen to prevent re-use. If they're from the last thirty years or so, it's probably because the post office failed to cancel them. In the UK, stamps in either of these categories would be termed "unused" - no gum, but no cancellation either - but collectors will tend to regard them rather differently.

If a stamp has seen postal use but for whatever reason escaped cancelation, it is used. In short, "used is used." But then again, we don't know what kind of stamps you're talking about. Postage? Revenue? US? World? Year of issue? Etc.

Regarding US postage stamps, a subject that encompasses 176 years worth of stamp production, in the big scheme of things there are only a handful of mostly 19th-century stamps that were issued without gum.

There is a larger handful that were pre-canceled but can be obtained in unused condition. So "welcome to the rabbit hole." Basically, your question can't be answered with a blanket statement, not even mine above. But if you can demonstrate that a stamp was used and, for whatever reason it escaped cancelation as it's commonly recognized, "used is used."


Here again, used is used.


Yes, it's possible that some of your stamps fit the description of "extremely lightly canceled" but you'd have to devote time to examining them individually to make that determination. And again, not knowing what you're dealing with, it's hard to say if there's any liklihood that a majority of your stamps received deficient cancels.

Having genuine unused copies would be the best point of comparison. Perhaps even high quality scans would suffice.

HTH

[edited for formatting]

If a mint stamp was for whatever reason soaked, or a stamp was used on an envelope but wasn't mailed, they are without gum but they are unused and legally should be allowed to be used, no?

Direct from the USPS website:

https://faq.usps.com/s/article/Post...s-The-Basics

Is it possible to reuse stamps?
No, a used stamp cannot be reused. If the stamp was already used to send mail through the USPS®, it cannot be used to mail a different mailpiece even if the stamp was not canceled, or defaced by the Postal Service™ to make a stamp unusable.

Stamps that have not yet been used, but have been attached to an envelope may still be used. However, you may not cut an unused stamp from an envelope and use tape to apply to a new envelope. The tape will prevent the stamp from being canceled.

A returned domestic or international shortpaid mailpiece can have the necessary additional postage affixed to the original piece and does not have to be placed in a new envelope or wrapper.

A returned undeliverable as addressed or refused by the addressee mailpiece may not be re-mailed unless it is placed in a new envelope or wrapper with the correct address and new postage.

There, always, will be ways to come up with situations where you can argue this.
If you remove the gum from an unmounted mint stamp and 'clean up' the colour to have a listed 'shade' you, technically, have an unused stamp.
If your child applies a stamp to your unmounted mint Penny Black, also it is unused. However, no collector will treat it as such.
But yes, you should be allowed to use an unused stamp on your mail.

Two basic things.

One is, the USPS of course wants you to use another stamp even if you have one that is uncancelled. Not cancelling it was their mistake but you need to make up for it. They need you to do your part to stop their bleeding of money.

Two is, an uncancelled stamp is unused. A new car not yet sold but with 37 miles on the odometer is still new. A pair of sneakers that you try on and walk in are still new.

If the USPS (that is, a human clerk or machine) failed to apply a cancelation, I see no grounds for reusing the stamp. Ask yourself: what does the stamp represent? It's a receipt, albeit a fancy one, for payment of a service: delivering the mail. And purchase of that service doesn't carry with it a 100% money back guarantee if the stamp isn't canceled. Or lightly canceled. Or whatever.

To put this another way, it seems inconceivable that that post office would offer what is tantamount to a full refund on that service merely because it failed to cancel a stamp.

People can come up all kinds of specious arguments to the contrary, but none of them will ever hold any water.

Now, do people reuse uncanceled stamps? Of course they do. Does that make it right? Is it justifiable behavior? Of course not.

I see nothing specious about the argument that a stamp that is uncancelled no longer has any use other than as a piece of paper. It is not only plausible that the stamp still has value for a service but is factually correct. You have to divorce what is the right thing to do from what is technically correct.

Let us hope that the USPS is more focused on stopping the Fentanyl deliveries being made through the mail as well as the Chinese counterfeit stamps flooding the marketplace. Of course, they just purchased a new fleet of EV vehicles so as they lose money, they can feel good about themselves.

You pays your money to mail a letter. Recipient gets it. Stamp is uncanceled. Does that give them the right to reuse it? According to the information I posted above, directly from the USPS, the answer is "no":




I'd say "case closed."

This tenet has not changed since the issuance of the first stamps, at least in the US. The purpose of cancelation requires no explanation. The absence of one indicates a mistake, not an opportunity to take advantage of a flaw in the system.

Just sayin...

What else would you expect the postal service to say? "If you receive a stamp that is uncancelled because we cannot perform the most basic of tasks feel free to use it and we may get it right a second time"

That's really funny (seriously LOLOL!) If only the government had a sense of humor, maybe that would be the rule.