Son Canadian Cancel Question

Could someone please explain the rule of thumb for these types of stamps.... I was looking on ebay to figure out price range and it was really tough... I would see a 50 cent jubilee with SON go anywhere between $30-$180.... I saw some with cancels barely visible that were selling for high values as well.. I know centering of the stamp and cancel is important. Being able to read it as well. My guess is that the older the stamp for one but also the canceling town or city..... Some info would be appreciated. Thanks.

I wonder if there really is a 'definitive' answer to your question? I guess it really boils down to the old rule, whatever the buyer is willing to spend.

On the online auctions, you have sellers and buyers who are not aware of 'real value', and, in a lot of cases, the prices / bids are shown accordingly.

I try to get as best a cancel as possible as long as the design is not blocked out and at the best price.

Most collectors use catalogues, as a guide only, and take it from there. Also bear in mind that the expensive classics are known to sell for above catalogue value. There is always the chance of being lucky and getting a bargain real cheap too.

Maybe another member can post another version to this?

Chimo

Bujutsu

As someone who regularly searches for used stamps with nice margins and nice cancels, I can tell you from experience that the market value is based on a few factors.

1/ the rarity/desirability/era of the stamp itself (mainly we are talking about pre-WWII, but not exclusively.

2/ the cancel (town, railroad - some are very scarce and there are collectors looking for specific ones - get two bidding on the same item and who knows the end price) - how clear is the cancel?
In the case of a non-dated cancel (eg. fancy or simply a light cancel) - is it a rare fancy?, does it look nice? (eg. a corner CDS cancel) - does it cover the face?

3/ the margins (how well centered, how wide)

The main difference in price I see in the classics (including the large queens, jubilees, etc) seems to be based on how nice the cancel is and how nicely centered the stamp is.

You can sometimes get one or the other, but it can be very difficult to find a nicely centered, nicely cancelled, classic stamp with no faults. These will always fetch a premium. Sometimes a very significant premium.

3dadeo
So with fancy cancels,,, are you saying its more desired over the face and centered or off to the side? How do you know the rarity of the fancy cancels?

How a cancel on a stramp is valued will vary depending on the seller / dealer and the auction price realized.

If it is advertised / sold with a poor description or title then maybe it will get a good price but when decribed correctly with country, era of stamp (QEII, KGV, KGVI, etc), name of town or railway, the word 'CDS' and/or 'SON', the topic of the stamp, etc, it can bring a better price.

Sometimes it depends on how common the stamp and cancel actually are.


Some collect towns from various regions and provinces, some want a calendar of dates / a year from the same town or even post office.

Some colletcors desire the cancel to be off center and wish to see the design as much as possible while other, possibly more experienced or detailed and concentrated collectors wish the cancel centered on a well-centered stamp.

Some like their birthday or a non-official first day of issue cancel, and others want every 1c stamp or 13c stamp, with a nice readable cancel, or certain years or months or days.

It can get really detailed.


Just be sure to describe exactly what you are selling so anyone searching will be able to find the stamp / cancel. As best you can anywzay.

The more people who want a certain type of cancel or stamp, the better the price will be also.

I agree with everything you say Puzzler, especially as a seller. When I sell a stamp with a cancel, I describe the stamp and cancel to the best of my knowledge.

However, not every seller has specialized knowledge about every stamp and/or type of cancel. The best bet there is to have a very good close-up scan and the buyer can then make the call based on what they want and what they see. The price will always be in the buyer's favour in these instances (as you mentioned).

Regarding fancy cancels (e.g stars, etc.), for Canadian stamps there is a reference that has been built upon over the years by Lacelle. Search that name under Canada fancy cancels. Pricing a fancy cancel is difficult, many are common, but some are scarce and to find it on a scarce stamp is a double bonus.

As far as basic cancels, many use the term "face-free" to indicate that the stamp image is not obscured on the face of the person depicted. Also they use the term "lightly cancelled" if the stamp is not of a person.

If you can't have a full and readable CDS, railway or other type of cancel, then "face-free" and lightly cancelled are best.

The stamps with lots of wavy/straight lines seem to be the least popular overall as cancels go.

Is there a list of all the railway cancels out there and which are more common?

An interesting ebay realised pricing project about Railway Postmarks:
The Railroad Postmark Pricing Project
http://www.eskimo.com/~rkunz/rpoprice.html

A great reference for links and info
British North America Philatelic Society (BNAPS) site:
RPO Study Group
http://www.bnaps.org/studygroups/rpo/rpo1.htm

includes info anout catalogues.

Online I think ebay would be a resource worth searching, or Delcampe or perhaps BidStart.

Great reference on the RPOs. Looks like they are focussed only on complete covers (which always go for more than a cancel alone).

Thanks for the links. Some of them didn't work for me, some did.
How do you know which cancels are rarer than others? The only rarity scale I've seen is the small one in the Canadian specialized catalog and they only cover early on, and just a handful of places? What about post offices from the 30's and up?
Thanks again for all the info.

As well,,, if a stamp cancelled with an RPO only has 1 place visible,, is it impossible to figure out the second place on that stamp? Or we're they pretty standard?

Alberta Stamper
If you are looking for a listing of RPO's, you should obtain a copy of
CATALOGUE OF CANADIAN RAILWAY CANCELLATIONS AND RELATED TRANSPORTATION POSTMARKS, by LEWIS M. LUDLOW, FRPSL

This is a compilation of research by a number of internationally recognized postal historians and is worth every penny that you pay for it. For a source, I would try Ian Kimmerley in Ottawa who stocks a huge supply of literature.

GJP

Thanks for the book name and author :)

RE RPO Catalog:

There is an updated version of the Canadian RPO cancels by Ross Gray. Should also be available at Ian Kimmerly. The Ludlow reference is quite out-dated at this point.