Fronts

What is the general consensus about cover fronts? I get these occasionally in large lots, and I must admit they puzzle/frustrate me. The cover has been irrevocably damaged by reducing it to a front. It may have a valuable stamp or cancel or auxiliary marking but I regard it as I would a faulty stamp. Every so often I see an item listed for sale/auction that would fit very nicely within an area I'm working on, but then see it's a front. Most times I pass. Just wondered what others think about this.
Roger

I personally dislike them but I do have at least 2 in my collection. That's because the seller neglected to mention it..

Kind of a large cut square?

Or a stamp "on piece." If the front is illustrative of a cancel, routing, franking, etc., I see no reason not to collect it.

Don

You need to realise, that was the collecting NORM back int the days before collecting became so concerned about aux markings. There used to be a lot more "fronts" seen than now.

Art

I don't own any. It would have to be an absolutely spectacular use or, realistically, the only way that use existed for it to make sense for me.

There WAS, I've been told, a cover front to Russia with a 10c, 24c, 5c and a 1c. It was a 20 cent Bremen-Hamburg mail rate. Only one intact cover with that rate exists. This front was broken up years and years for the stamps, which included a buff and a steel blue. Now that? That I might have bought.

If the front has a postal marking I am looking for, I will buy it. I would also expect a discount from a full price a cover would bring.

I get cover fronts on occasion in box lots. I've put them up on ebay and they still sell. I just make sure I mention it is a cover front in the description twice. I do the same if a cover is missing a stamp too. Again like others said, it might be a good stamp, postmark or something else. One thing I like about covers is that it can appeal to someone for a multitude of reasons.

I have some of these myself and I am not personally keen on them, but, some of them have interesting cancellation, so, are worthwhile keeping. Apart from that, I tend to stay away from fronts.

Chimo

Bujutsu

As Don indicated, I would consider it nothing more than a stamp on piece. Actually, I think it might nag at me after a while - kind of a tweener.

I have a couple that I've picked up over the years, mostly because I wanted the stamp, and the example on the front was better than what was in the dealer's stock.

Most of the responses pretty much echo my thoughts. Thanks for your thoughts.
Roger

I agree. To me they are only used stamps on a large piece, and have no value as covers.

I totally agree, they are definitely NOT covers. They are merely large "on piece" items. However, I would value them a bit more than the stamp alone though!