Postally Used Vs. CTO

Are CTO stamps (Canceled To Order) worth any more or less than postally used stamps?

I recently received about 3000 CTO stamps from Czechoslovakia ... some have the gum in tact, some have no gum. Does the presence of gum or lack thereof affect the value?

Thanks!

Other way around -- postally used are worth much more than CTO.

Hello outlaw....

....and welcome to the club.


CTO's are neither mint nor used....Some collectors accept them simply because they can be had very in-expensively. Others will not have them in their collection at all.

There is nothing wrong with collecting CTO's.....as long as you understand that their value in relation to mint and used is very low and those without gum are worth less than those with gum.

No one can say that collecting CTO's is wrong. It is up to you to decide what you want in your collection.

Welcome to the stamp community outlaw13!

Thanks for the info guys. About 95% of my collection is used stamps. I can get more for my money, and IMHO, a good cancel adds so much more character to a stamp. Anyone can get a mint or, as the Germans are fond of saying, a "post office fresh" stamp that looks like any other. But if you get a well-placed, awesome cancel, you have a one-of-a-kind!

BTW - I will probably add CTOs to my collection but will use them as a placeholder until I find a suitable canceled stamp.

There are a couple of discussions on the site here that concern CTO's. I personally have increasing doubts as to
the distinction between them and postally used particularly Germany and Russia.I hace postally used covers (FDCs as well as
normal mailings and can't see any difference between them and CTOs.many of the postmarks are exactly alike. Soak the
gum off the CTOs and I can't tell the difference. Besides the gum is a pain in the assets. plus a lot of times CTOs are
the only ones you can get. One collector I talk with says there is no difference between a soaked single and a CTO single.
they were both canceled on purpose for collectors. But then how does that explain the FDC's that are actually used in
the mail? (i.e.- the East German covers I have).

I am almost 99% convinced now that there is no difference for me. I collect stamps because I enjoy them, not because I consider my collection and investment. If doing something I love, in turn, creates some something that is valuable in somebody else's eyes, that is fine. But for me, the beauty is in the stamp and not the conditions under which it was canceled.

Hi Stampaholic,
There is no difference between most FDC's and CTO's. If your East German covers were sent through the mail system not covered, then they are postally used. For example, if I made up my own cover on the first day and got a regular cancel from the post office and put it in the regular mailbox then this is not CTO. If covers are sent for special cancellations then they are sent under cover and are CTO's.

As most CTO's are low catalogue value anyway, I see no problem with putting a much nicer looking CTO in an album ahead of a dirty poorly cancelled but postally used copy. For thematic collections they are ideal.

Londonbus1

Good Morning Everyone
An Example Of GB C.T.Os
The 30p,25p

Were These Remainders ? I Do See Quite I Few In The Regionals.
Also ,Due To The Lack Of Good used Copies, I See More
And More First Day Cancel .
These Are Obviously Soaked Fron FDCovers.

DJD

Just my opinion, but I avoid CTO's like the plague - when I can tell the difference.

For instance, although I'm not aware of U.S. CTO's being out there, if there were it wouldn't be hard to tell the difference because our hand cancels are obvious and the machine cancells most often are downright ugly or destructive!

The Germans, however, seem to be able to produce beautiful, artistic and neat cancels on their postally used covers. Soak off those stamps and maybe you can't tell the difference.

We also have to consider a third class of stamps and FDC's as mentioned by Londonbus1. These are items that were cancelled in the normal manner but never intended to go through the mails. Modernview sold me several sheets of individual German stamps nicely spread over 8.5 x 11 inch paper that were hand cancelled. These aren't CTO's as we normally think of them - we usualy call these favor cancels or something like that. But in the end, they are CTO's - the only difference is that off paper you can't really tell the difference.

Sorry for the long post - I'm just avoiding work!

In the case of Czechoslovakia..many of us have stock pages bulging with postally used issues up until 1954 or so..then it seems like a complete reversal and its C.T.O.s that take over....so I use the C.T.O.s since many are attractive engraved stamps..value wise they are worth almost nothing but they color up a page..Outlaw when you get your 50 posts I am pretty sure I have some dupes you can use !

That's certainly true. As I think about it, I suppose they would be a good way to introduce youngsters to the hobby without spending a lot of loot up front. If they take to collecting then you could move to non-CTO material.

Over the years, I've been back and forth on this issue. Currently, I'm in the soak 'em (to remove the hassle of the glue, not to deceive) and mount 'em until something better comes along. As always, collect whatever you and however you wish. And if you can do it knowledgeably all the better.