Marker Monkeys And Other Stamp Crimes.

I am picking up on this thread on its 19th page and I'm not going to read through all of the previous posts to see if my "solution" has already been addressed. I've seen some of the prior posts examples submitted that were already machine canceled, but nevertheless also hit with a magic marker or pen. To lessen the risk that a magic marker or pen be used to cancel the stamp(s) why not take what you're mailing to the postal clerk and have him/her hand cancel it? Yes, it does take additional time and effort on your part, but it greatly reduces the possibility that your missive will be hit by a pen or magic marker. I sell on ebay and EVERY lot sold and mailed out is hand canceled by a smiling, dutiful and very cooperative postal clerk. I even take non-eBay lots to the clerk to have hand canceled. All of the clerks know me and seem to enjoy having a look at what stamps I've used. Dave

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All well & good, Dave, but you are missing two points.

The first is that the markering falls on the recipient, while the waiting for a hand cancel falls on the sender.

The people posting to this thread are the recipients, while you are talking to the sender ... who may not even be here.

The second is something that I have been meaning to address in its own thread: The Ethics of a Hand Cancel. TBD.

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

ikey/Pikey, I'm going to take exception to your first point. I believe that recipients as well as senders are involved in this thread. If not, then all recipients when they become senders should take heed of the most likely solution - take the missive to the postal clerk and have it hand canceled so as not to have the sender who is now the recipient disappointed.

Your second point regarding the Ethics of a Hand Cancel should be an interesting new thread. Dave

Nonsense. Philately is simply missing a monetization opportunity here. Here's a future cert and auction catalog blurb, noting the Marker Market Quarterly (MMQ) value.

I got this one in the mail last week. It looks like someone took a blue ball point pen to the additional ounce stamp.

Many years ago I received an insured or registered mailing from a Canadian seller that needed to be picked up at the PO. I got there about 5-10 minutes before they closed on a Saturday.

The cover included one of the large $8 Black Bear definitives as well as others. They certainly did not look cancelled but who cares- they were Canadian stamps. I watched as the cretin at the postal counter cancelled all the beautiful stamps with a blue pen.

When asked why she did that, she said it was policy to pen cancel stamps on cover which lacked a visible cancel. I said, these are Canadian, why would USPS care so why would you deface the stamps with a pen???

She told me to step aside, and called out "next in line." Miserable friggin human being.

Not mine. I saw this on a different site and thought it belonged here.

Personally autographed by Scooby himself... nice item, congrats.

Not mine. I saw these on a different site and thought that they belonged here.

As we may observe,
Monkey 1, was obviously a follower of Mondriani,
Whilst Monkey 2, favoured the fluid freehand of Picasso.

A philatelic crime that I am guilty of is sometimes going to the post office and asking for a meter rather than a stamp on the mailing of something. The reason being is that for the meter, a post receipt is given that shows the postal code on it for the item sent. This is a way of showing that I did mail something to that postal code. It is just a small way of showing it without having to resort to more expensive means eventhough it might not be a fully acceptable proof. I haven't asked about whether I can mix a meter for a smaller part of the amount with stamps for a larger part of the amount.

I received these today.

The two forever stamps were on the left of the envelope and the two inverted jennys were on the right of the envelope.

As you can see the jennys need to be pushed up a little more so that the marker lines will match.

First time I have received the inverted jennys but at $2.00 a stamp it is understandable.

I like them and if they were a forever stamp I would buy them.

They will forever be worth pre-pay two bucks postage, so why not buy them?

If you had enabled PMs in your profile, I would have offered you a few GPU (Genuinely Postally Used).

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

Ikey - eraserman will be able to use email after he reaches 50 posts. I like and hate this thread.

#METOO.

The comforting validation of my individual pain'n'anger is getting swamped by visions of an ugly ocean of defaced postage.

And a little jealousy. People are getting all of these cool covers, and some must getting thru with, like, clean postmarks!

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey